Bisbee daily review., 1904-07-12
The Continuation of the Speech
 of John Sharp Williams

uSsng lniS power at least when glN- en rate, after investigation and full hearing of both sides, has been de cided by the commission to be unrea- sonable. to declare what rate would be reasonable in its stead. and to make due process of law by appeal. review this rate operative until set aside by Congress or otherwise.
 A more ridiculous piece of official impotency than is the interstate com exist. It can declare a given rate of fifty cents. let us say, to be unreason- able. but it cannot prescribe what would be reasonable in its stead, the railroad can do one of two things: It can either take an appeal, which sus- bends the decision of the commission while the appeal is being long drawn out by the railroads interested. or it can charge the rate of 49 3-S cents and when that has been declared Unreason- able can change it again to 49 1-4 cents and so on ad infinitum, compelling the newly aggrieved citizen in each case to bring suit al the risk of being pun ished industrially by the railroad for ] what it calls "unfriendly conduct" and without the hope of any substantial immediate redress.
 Democrats Turned Oowne6.
 A bill to give the interstate com merce commission power, not to de clare rates. generally. not to fix a schedule of rates for all the roads in the country engaged in interstate con- merce. but merely to declare a reason able rate in its stead, particular cases where a rate has been declared unreas oEable. this rate to be maintained un- til set aside by the law, has been pending before the committee on inter- state and foreign commerce in the house of representatives since this congress met, and although the Demo crats on that committee again and again demanded consideration of the bill and although delegation after del egation of merchants and members of merchants and shippers association have been to Washington begging en- actment of il or like legislation. notb Ing has been done. The Republican party here, as elsewhere. stands pat ' read from the platform again:
 Public interest" in this connection considering the voice which has ui tered the words is good. Public in
 crest from the men who wrote it an he convention which adopted it. really means protected interests How ca, public interest demand" the alters ion? How can it make demand O. his sort heard, and that is to vote town the men who say that all is well enough" and that the gospel O humanity. as far as the tariff is cor cerned. is ali included in the phrasr
 stand pat. Is it possible that the American people can be deceived by empty yerbiage like that? Does noI everybody know that the Republican party has uo idea of making any alter ations in the tariff unless it can there. oy purchase the support of additional special interests, or to tie to those al ready bought by special interests by yet closer bonds?
 Are there no conditions demanding any changes in any Of the schedules of the present tariff law. when dozens of highly protected steel and iron prod ucts, including rails, locomotives, barb ed wire and agricultural implements of American make are being sold daily in competition with the so-called pauper labor of the world. in the home Of this same pauper labor? More than that. when they are being carried right by the south door of Great Britain. on through the Straits of Gibraltar to Great Britain's own colony of South Africa. and sold there. and when even more than that they are sold. after freight has been paid and profit ob- tained. at a less price than the same things are sold to Americans in Amer ican markets five miles from the fac tory? Will any sane man say that public interests" has not demanded" some alterations in the tariff?
 The trouble is. and will be as long as the Republicans are in power. that private interests won't allow any. The curious thing about a man who is obtaining benefits by special legisla- ! ton is that he insists upon playing | two antagonistic rules. One day he is an industrial baron, boasting of having conquered the markets of the world
 and of being able to keep them be
 cause his goods are better or cheaper | The next day he is knocking at the doors of the. committee rooms of the
 national legislature. begging contin uance of protection against the pauper
 labor of the very market in which ht
 actually already sells his goods.
 | Contains Historical Lies.
 Of course this platform had to con
 tain the usual historical untruth, to
 wit. that a Democratic tariff has al
 ways been followed by business adver sity. a Republican tariff by business
 prosperity. Designing and ignoran | men have repeated it so often that an afraid to tell it to really good peo
 pie and yet it is bad history again. Tn,
 great panic of 1873, if it was caused b. any tariff law at all. was necessaril, caused by the then existing tariff law
 which is the first ever passed by th'
 Republican party. It was passed as
 war measure. Speaker Cannon, in hi!
 address to the Republican convention said and when the Republication part. came into power 1t '1recurred to tn T