The San Francisco call., 1904-09-12
QUESTION OF WHAT
TARIFF is BEST rs
ONE OF EXPEDIENCY

OF course. II our opponents are not sincere
in their proposal to abolish the system of a
protective tariff there is no use in arguing the
matter at all. save by pointing out again that
II on one great issue they do not mean what
they say II Is hardly safe to trust them on any
other Issue. But II they sincere in this
matter. then their advent to power would
mean domestic misfortune and misery wide
spread and far-reaching that which we
saw ten years ago. When they speak OF pro-
lection as robbery" they Of course must
mean that 1t is immoral to enact tariff de-
signed las is the present protective tarifD to
secure to the American wage Garner the benefit
Of the high standard of living which we desire
to kept up in this country. Now to speak
of the tariff in this sense as robbery" there
by giving It moral relation, is not merely
rhetorical; Ii is on its face false. The ques-
tion of what tariff is best for our people Is
primarily of expediency, to be determined
not on abstract academic grounds, but In the
ness; for fundamentally ours is a business
people-nanufacturers, merchants. farmers.
wage-workers. professional men. all alike. Our
experience as people in the past has
tainly not shown US that we could
afford IN this matter to follow those
fined themselves to study in the closet; for
the actual working of the tariff has emphati-
to time schedules must undoubtedly be rear
ranged and readjusted to meet the shifting
needs OF the country; but this can with safety
be done only by those who are committed to
the cause of the protective system. To uproot
and destroy that system would be 10 insure
the prostration of business the closing Of fac
tories, the impoverishment of the farmer, the
ruin of the capitalist and the starvation Of the
robbery" and Il our opponents really believe
what they say, then 1t is precisely to the de-
structicn and uprooting Of the tariff. and
therefore of cur business and industry, that
they are pledged. When our opponents last
obtained power It was on platform declaring
effort to put tnis declaration into practice was
one of the causes Of the general national pros
tration lasting from 1893 to 1897 II a protec-
tive tariff is either unconstitutional or rob
berry," then ii is just as unconstitutional Just
as much robbery to revise it down. still leav-
ing 1T protective. as 1t would be to enact it,
In other words. our opponents have committed
themselves to the destruction of the protect
i've principle in the tariff, using words which
IL honestly used forbid them from permitting
this principle to obtain in even the smallest
degree.
reciprocity. Their action on the most impor-
tant reciprocity treaty recently negotiated
that with Cuba-does not bear out this asser-
ton. Moreover. there can be no reciprocity
unless there is a substantial tariff; free trade
and reciprocity are not compatible. We are on
record as favoring ARRANGEMENTS for reciprocal
trade relations with other countries, these
rangements to be on equitable basis of
benefit to both the contracting parties. The
Republican party stands pledged to every wise
and consistent method of increasing the for
eign commerce of the country. That II has
the domestic trade of this country exceeds in
volume the entire export and import trade of
has in addition secured more than eighth of
the EXPORT trade of the world. standing first
among the nations in this respect The United
States has exported during the last seven years
nearly ten billions of dollars worth of goods
ON average half much again annually
as during The previous eur years. when many
of our people were consuming nothing but nee
essaries and some of them scanty supply
even OF these.
Two years ago. speaking at Logansport, In
diana, / said
"The one consideration which must never be
omitted in tariff change is the imperative
need of preserving the American standard of
living for the American workingman The
tariff rate must never fall below that which
will protect the American workingman by al
lowing for the difference between the general
labor cost here and abroad, 80 as at least to
equalize the conditions arising from the dif-
ference In the standard Of labor here and
abroad-a difference whicn II should be our
aim to foster in so far as 1t represents the
needs OF better educated. better paid better
fed ana better clothed workingmen of higher
type than any to be found in a foreign coun-
try. At all hazards, and no matter what else
is sought for or accomplished by changes OF
the tariff, the American workingman must be
protected in, his standard Of wages, that is. in
the fullest opDortunity Of employment. Our
laws should in event afford advantage TO
They should in no event do less than equalize
the difference in conditions at home and
abroad"
1t is a matter Of regret that the protective
tariff policy. which, during the last forty odd
years has become part of the very fiber OF the
country. is not now accepted definitely
established. Surely we have a right to say
that it has cassed beyond the domain Of The
ory, and q right to expect that not only its
original advocates. but those who at one time
acquiesce I'm the results that have been proved
over and over again by actual experiences.
has