The Indianapolis journal., 1904-04-27

dentally, protect American capltaI ana
! He claimed, thirdly, that he was in favor
| of a higher tariff than the difference pc
| tween wages in this country ana WAGES
| abroad, thus announcing himself to be
better protectioniSt than those VINO auNo-
] cate the so-called Iowa idea; and ne an
| nounced, fourthly, that, if he could con-
i troll the situation. he would not at once OF
i hurriedly greatly change or modlfy tne
j tariff but do it gradually reduce 1t shgnt-
I ly every year so as not TO greatly ulsluIo
i business or agitate commerce. Mr.. Champ
! Clark, of Missouri one of the strong DEM
ocrats in the House, afterwards mace
\ speech on the tariff in which he took pre-
/ cisely the same ground. When these gen
tlemen were confronted with their oft-re-
! peated assertions in the House that they
were free-traders and glorled In IL. tney
/ replied that they were yet theoretlcally
! free-traders, but that they did not
/ believe in coming TO ii too suddenly, OF, 10
use the language of Mr. Williams, grad
ually, as l could, if L had the power,
would bring about a Democratic tarln; put
/ it would take some time TO do 1t. AnG
| yet both of these men in their speeches an
nouHced unequ:vocally and with mucn
| fervid defamation that the tarln was ROD
! berry, that it was hothousing the few ana
plundering the many, that it was vicious,
| illogical and unjust, and that it was NOR
ally, politically and ethically an infamous
! wrong.
If this be true, why tamper with it? Why
not destroy it at once? If the dog is mad
and ought to be killed. why fasten him up
! and cut off a piece of his tail to-day ana
! part of his foot tomorrow and a piece or
| his nose the next day? Why not XIII him
at once and spare the community all pos
| sibility of harm? If we believed the tarlH
| to be as wicked as they allege, and we
were in power, we would destroy 1t utterly
| in day.
Free Traders in Disguise.
Why, then all this inconsistent talk? Why
this babel of confusion among Democrats
on this question? Simply this-they are
all free-traders and are afraid to say so, to
openly avow their real belief. They know
that, with recent experiences in mind, no
party can ride into power in this country
OH a free-trade wave. They seek, there
fore, to sugar-coat the pill so that the peo-
pie will swallow it without knowing the
nature of the dose. They proclaim that
they are tariff revisionists, and that they
would not at once abolish all custom
houses, but come to it gradually.
Let US see the legitimate conclusion of
such logic. What is the only way in which
tariff bill can be passed, the only method
by which revenue legislation can be enact
ed? This is an emnently practical question:
and its answer is all-suffcient reply to
TINS demand for an annual revision OF the
tariff.
All bills having reference to this subject
are referred upon introduction to the COM
mittee on ways and means That commit
tee, in its own good time, brings into the
House tariff bill embodying the best judg
, ment and highest wisdom of its members
.
! become law, just as it left the hands of
, the committee. there might be some justi-
) fication for an annual modification of
some of the tariff schedules. But 1t
cannot. Just as soon as it is put
, upon its passage, every member has the
right to propose just as many amendments
as he sees tit TO propose, thus throwing 1t
open to such alterations, radical. extreme
or even wild, as 1863 men may see fit to
, make. All important legislation is a series
, of compromises, but all tariff legislation
peculiarly so, because it touches every ar
ticle of commerce and deals with the prod
ucts or every section of the country. In
: the meantime the people are quite likely to
, suffer. Manufacturers begin to limit their
! output, for they cannot foresee the future
: No man will fill his warehouse with the
, | products OF his factory that to be put
I on the market in six, nine or twelve
' months, when those very wares may be
comps SompeiIea TO IL meet the compesition of like
two-thrds the cost of his own, and so he
? cuts down his force. Uncertainty, like a
Y black pail rails over the country. Old in
/ stitutions languish and new ones are aban-
= | doned. Capital goes into hiding and labor
5 goes unemployed. Distrust, dismay anC
| lack of confidence follow in the wake and
s we are quite apt to plunge the country
: once more into the whirling vortex of panic
All these consequences do not necessarily
i | result, may not, In fact, result from every
: modification of the tariff by it's friends, bu,
they are quite likely to produce this very
= condition If it is attempted by its enemies
\ | and then what? We find that we have
+ ! no better tariff rates than we had before
r | No man has ever risen to prophesy wha,
the 476 members of Congress, in House ant
q | Cleveland found this out when his pei
q | measure, the Wilson bill, the object of hi:
devotion and the hope of his administra
: tion,. came back from the Senate with ga
: amendments TO 1t. and so radically chang
O | ing its entire spirit that ne, as President
:. would not contaminate his name by at
, | tach1ng 1t to the measure, which he de
: nounced as one of perfidy and dishonor
: and 1T became law without his signature
: There Is there can be; no such thing a:
a perfect tariff law. There must be i'm
O perfections in them all, and 1 assert tha
Z the Dineley bill represents and embodie.
y the highest and best expression of the wis
: dom OF the country on that question o.
o any tariff bill ever enacted into law in thi
n land. Why, then, should We adopt this
annual,revision plan of the Democracy
a with all its means of doubt. of uncertainty
n when the new law may be full of imper
q fections as the DID, and when. in passin,
, from the old to the new, in that umbrs
q business of the Nation must suffer ant
g may be for time destroyed? Such fre
. quent revisions are the extreme of folly
n the very height of commercial! and indus
= trial stupidity.
v Weighty consideration alone should
! therefore, impel us TO tariff revision. Ant
J. when it is revised it should be by those VIII,
formulated it. by those who believe in it
% How can man be trusted to revise th
: opposing the whole system as vicious i'll
Q logical and immoral? But" say our oppo
!, nentS, ITS friends never will revise il
n But we will, whenever the exigencies of tn
, occasion demand it, not because they wan
:, it, but because 1t is needed. Eight time
! the Republican party has modified the tar
g if, and IL will do il again when necessit,
! requires. Should the Democratic party b
4 permitted TO attempt revision? If the cree,
- of the church had to be revised would yo,
's turn the job over to a committee of athe
h lists? Is ii not manifest that they wou
- revise it out of existence? We should con
- stantly bear in mind that destruction is no
m roxricn
n haps. without serious injury to the bust
Is ness interests of the country, for those in
,r terests know that the Republican part
~ will not destroy the tariff, but only modif
" il. But the mere election of a Democrat
ar President pledged to radically change tarii
schedules is enough to plunge the Natio
into financial distress.
What considerations, therefore deman
radical tariff revision in the immediate fl
'e ture? Let the Democracy answer Wha
lie reasons have you, Mr.. Democratic Leader
lv for modification of the tariff at this time
State them that me may throw the search
io light of truth them. And the Demo
M cratic leader invariably responds when thu
m questioned Tariff rates should be lowered
" because can't sell much abroad a
Is we could with lower schedules. People wi
I'D not buy of us unless we buy of them an
II we cannot buy of them with such hig
- rates on all our Imports
Is How often we have heard this argumen,
al But what are the facts?
As Argument VS.. Facts.
- When the Dingley tariff was under dis