The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1903-04-07
whom he talked for one minute.


stood that admission to all meetings
would be by ticket only, there was a
great clamor for seats and offers ran
into the dollars, with few acceptances.
The doors were opened at 1880
o'clock but Tor more than an hour
previous persons were in line. BY the
time the doors opened 1000 or more
were clamoring for admittance, and
there was wild rush for seats. The
president spoke on the tariff.
After referring to the Cuban treaty,
the Philippine tariff and the removal
of the duty on coal, the president
said:
1--WE are now in condition of pros
perity unparalleled not merely in our
own history, but in the history of any
other nation. This prosperity is deep
rooted and stands on firm basis be-
cause it is due to the fact that the
average American has in him the
stuff out of which victors are made
in the great industrial contests OF
the present day, just as in the great
military contests of the past; and be-
cause he is now able to use and de-
velop his qualities to best advantage
under our well-established economic
system. We are winning headship
among the nations OF the world be-
cause our people are able to keep
their high average of individual cit
izenship and to show their mastery
in the hard, complex, pushing life OF
the age. There will be fluctuations
from time to time in our prosperity,
but it will continue to grow just SO
long as we keep up this high average
Of individual citizenship and permit
it to work out it's own salvation under
proper economic legislation.
THE present phenomenal prosper
ity has been won under tariff which
was made in accordance with certain
fixed Gnd definite principles, the most
important of which is an avowed de.
termination to protect the interests OF
the American producer, business man,
wage-worker, and farmer alike. The
general tariff policy, 20 which, without
regard to changes in detail, believe
this country is lrrevocably committed
is fundamentally based upon ample
recognition of the difference between
the cost of production-that is, the
cost of labor-here and abroad, and OF
ithe need to see to it that our laws
shall in no event afford advantage in
our own market to foreign industries
over American industries, to foreign
capital over American capital, to for
eign labor over our own labor. This
country has and this country needs
better-paid, better-educated, better
fed, and better-clothed workingmen
OF higher type, than are to be found
in any foreign country. 1t has and il
needs a higher, more vigorous, anG
more prosperous type of tillers of the
soil than is possessed by any Other
country. The business men, the mer
chants and manufacturers, and the
managers of transportation interests
show the same superiority when com
pared with men of their type abroad
! The events OF the last few years have
I; shown how skillfully the leaders o.
the American industry use in interna
ticnal business competition the
mighty industrial weapons forged fo1
them by the resources of our country
the wisdom OF our laws, and the skill
the inventive genius, and the admin
istrative capacity of our people.
ut is, of course, mere truism tt
say that we want to use everything il
our power to foster the welfare O
our entire body polite. In othel
words, we need to treat the tariff a:
a business proposition, from th'
standpoint of the interests of th'
country as whole, and not with ref
erence to the temporary needs of an!
political party. 1t is almost as neces
sary that our policy should be stable
as that it should be wise. A natiol
like ours could not long stand tn
ruinous policy of readjusting it's bus
ines to radical changes in the tarif
at short intervals, especially when
as now, owing to the immense exten
and variety of our products, the tarii
schedules carry rates of duty on thou
sands of different articles. Sweepin,
and violent changes in such tariff
touching so vitality the interests of al
of us, embracing agriculture, labor
manufactures and commerce., wOul
be disastrous in any event, and the
would he fatal to our present we'll be