The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-11-05
EX-PRESIDENT CLEVELAND
 PLEADS FOR CONSERVATISM

| | agination of parental pride. Before | they were a day old they recognized in the policy of high protection the way | to growth and strength and wealth.
 Though 1t IS sometimes now said that | the tarin has nothing to do with | trusts. Mir. Havemeyer. the most com l petent of all men to give expert testi-
 mony on the subject. has declared The tariff Is the mother of trusts, ,'
 and the trusts themselves were preco- cious enough to know this at the be-
 ginning of their infantile existence.
 builds high wall around American in :
 dustries which guards them against
 competition or disturbance from
 abroad. and they know that nothing
 prevents the raising of prices to the | full height of this wall except compe-
 tition among these industries them
 selves resulting in the mderseiling of each other at home and within the for l tified area of their operations.
 l They know that this barrier standing between our consumers and the exac- l ton of prices as high as the wall of l tarin protection. must be removed and the margin between prices as modified 1 by home competition and the prices at- | tainable without such competition, be
 under the control of these industries. tent the fruits of government favorit- | ism.
 They knew that home competition | could be eliminated by such agree cQ. as would regulate prices and produc- ton and concentrate management: but above all things they knew we'll, that all devices would entirely fafl to ac- breach in the wall of protection again st foreign interference was permitted and they knew that the higher this wall was raised the greater would be the scope for their extortionate mach. nations. 7. Nor is 1t alone in this direct and pal pablo way that high protection is an essential factor Tn industrial combina- tion. Those who manage these affairs take into account and consider as an | asset of their undertaking the in- creased profits which must result when tarin protection is coupled with the suppression or home competition; and counting this as money m hand they are enabled to confidently venture up- on the purchase of similar independent enterprises at high valuations paid m watered stocks. or to force their CO., operation by threats of ruinous at- tack.
 The Aims of the Trusts.
 Schemes of this sort, secured against foreign interference by protective | tariff and shielded from domestic dis turbance by convenants of joint partici- padio9 pat esi, ana defense. when consummated profits by what is called economy in administration, which is another phrase Tor consolidation of management, but iCdiiy iHCduS l6SS WOTk TOT many employees and laborers, and the re- duction of wages to the lowest possible limit have said that the higher the wall of protection was raised the lar | tions of these trusts and combina- tions.
 The Mckinley tariff law which somewhat increased the average rate was passed on the 1st day of October. 1890. The trusts and combinations formed prior to the latter date were not numerous, have seen list od leading corporate Industrial combina- tions numbering 2I3 of which I could count only 13 existing at the time thlk law became operative.
 protseeio1 argsd stimulus sv of tarin they began to multiply. The statement has been made that under | this tariff or rather prior to the passage | of the Dingley law in 1897. only SO of 1 been formed. It must be noticed, how 1 ever. that during about three years immediately before that date, the VII | son tariff law was in force.
 This was a Democratic measure which repealed the Mckinley enact ment and lowered duties. While the l Wilson law prevailed, the creation of | trusts and combinations almost entir-
 pected. in view of the fact that tl' ,. l atmosphere of Democratic tariff legis-
 lation and the policy of the. Demo cratic party Is unfavorable to the
 growth and development of these par l ticular infant industries.
 The Dingley tariff law of 1897 raised
 the average of import duties to some
 thing over fifty per cent and made
 the high water mark in our country S tariff legislation. Its fond parents
 have placed upon the family record
 Republican Campaign Text Book
 1904 the following mention of the
 child's birth and its lovely traits:-
 Went into effect July 24. 1897, known
 tective and stated in its title that its
 purpose was to provide for the Gov
 ernment and to encourage the indus
 tries of the United States
 Has Burdened the People.
 It has indeed provided revenue for
 the Government. but 1t has grieviousIy
 ny to shame and invited extravagaIt
 schemes and wasteful expenditures
 and among the industries of the Uni-
 ted States-which 1t has encouraged
 the promotion of trusts and combtna-
 tions stands high on the list. In the
 month of March, 1903, distinguished
 Republican member of Congress on the
 floor of the House of Representatives
 presented a carefully prepared list oi
 industrial combinations existing on the
 1st day of January in that year. They
 numbered 453, more than four-fifths of
 them apparently organized within six l years under the thoroughly protec-
 tive" Dingley act.
 TO what extent this number has beer | increased since that time, I do not know: but the work has gone merrily l on. Whatever the number may be, we ! only have to compare the general situ- 1 ati0n and known facts now existing l with those existing when the Dingley ! law took effect to see how prolific this | most exorhitant of all schemes for l tariff protection, has been or these in' dustrial cOntriVanCeS.
 I ought not to fatigue your intelll'
 gence by detailing further facts show
 ing that the protective policy which l inc Republican party has Imposed upor
 the country and which that party 1T
 the pending campaign noisily defends 1 not only has something to do with | trusts. but that by it's very nature as 1 well as by its natural results it is the
 parent and accessory of the robbins | marauders which vex and anlict oul
 peoples life and demand tribute IT 1 every home of our land.
 They dictate the prices we shall pay
 for the food we eat the clothes wt ! wear and the habitations in which wC
 live. We are within their shadow
 from the cradle to the grave. Ever
 beyond the grave they follow us. We 1 hear of a tombstone trust. protected bS ! a tariff duty of from B to SO per cent
 and the newspapers informed us only 6 1 few days ago that convention of as
 sociated undertakers was thrown into
 consternation by the non-appearance ol | it's treasurer.
 You cannot wonder that I am startled by the difference between condition | now and those that prevailed when 1 visited Newark in the Presidential campaign of 1884. Then the peopl,