The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-09-12

PoiIcy OF our government, SO closely In i
terWoven, so mutually interdependent, that
neither can hope to maintain Itself at the
high-Water mark Of progress without the
other. Whatever makes to the advantage
OF ono Is equally to the advantage of the
other.
So Il Is as between the capitalist and
the wage worker. Here and there there
may be an unequal sharing as between the
two In the benefits that have como by
protection; but benefits have come to
bothi and reversal In policy would mean
damage to both. and while the damage
would be heavy to all. 1t would be heav.
lest, and It would fall soonest, upon those
who are paid In the form OF wages each
week or each month for that weeks or
that months work.
Conditions change and the laws must
be modified from time to, time to fit
new exlgencies. But the genuine UNI
derlylng principle of protection, as it
has been embodied in all but one of
the American tariff laws for the last
forty. years, has worked out results 50
so advantageous alike to farmers and
capitalists and workingmen, to COM
merce and trade Of every kind, that the
American people, if they show their
usual practical business sense, will in
sist that when these laws are modified
they shall be modified with the utmost
care and conservatism, and by the
tective system. They cannot afford to
trust the modification to those who
treat protection and robbery as synony-
nous terms.
In closing what I have to say about
the system of promoting American in
dustry, let me add a word of cordial
agreement with the policy of in some
Ind 70 "
appropriate legislation, the American
| merchant marine. It is not creditable
to us as q nation that our great export
and import trade should be well-nigh
exclusively in the hands Of foreigners.
Reduction Of Army. =
It is difficult to know if our oppo-
mand for the reduction of the army. If
insincere,. there is no need for COM
ment, and if sincere, what shall we say
in speaking to rational persons of an
appeal to reduce an army of 10000
men which is taking care Of the inter
ests Of over eighty million people9 The
army. is now relatively smaller than it
was in the days Of Washington, when
on the peace establishment there were
$500 soldiers, while there were a lit
tie less than four millions Of popula-
ton; smaller than it was in the peace
ful DAYS Of Jefferson, when there were
5,l00 soldiers to 100000 population.
l There Is now one soldier to every four
teen hundred people In this country-less
than one-tenth Of one per cent. We can
not be asked seriously to argue as to the
amount of possible tyranny contained in
these figures. The army as 1t Is now Is as
small as 1t can possibly be and serve Its
1 purpose as an effective nucleus for the
i organization, equipment and supply OF a
4 volunteer army in time OF need.
! 1t is now used, as never before, for
aiding in the upbuilding of the organ,
lied militia Of the country. The war
department is engaged in a systematic
effort toe strengthen and develop the
National Guard in the several states
as witness, among many other instances
which have just closed. If our op
ponents should come into power they
could not reduce our army below its
present size without greatly impairine
it's efficiency and abandoning part OF
the national duty. In short, in this mat
ter, it our opponents should come into
power they would either have to treat
this particular promise Of the year 1901
as they now treat the promises they
made in 1896 and 1900, that is, as pos
sessing no binding force; or else they
would have to embark on policy which
! would be ludicrous at the moment ant
!; fraught with grave danger to the ma
tional honor in the future.
Extravaganza Charged.
Our opponents contend that the gov
eminent is now administered extrava
gantly, and that whereas there was {
surplus of $80,000,000 in 1900, their
, is ga deficit of more than $4,000 ,000'
in the year that has Just closed.
: This deficit is imaginary, and is OBJ
tanned by including in the ordina nGa cur cur
which was paid for the right Of way Of
: the Panama canal out of the accumu
lated surplus in the treasury. Compar
ing the current or ordinary expenditure
for the two years, there was a surplus o.
nearly, eighty million dollars for tn
) eight millions for the year that has JUS
closed. But this diminution of the an
nual surplus was brought about de
) signed1y by the abolition Of the wa
taxes in the interval between the tw'
dates. The acts Of March 2, 1901, ant
April 12, 1902, cut down the interna
: at one hundred and five millions a year
! In other words, the reduction Of taxa
3 ton has been considerably greater thai
! the reduction in the annual surplus
Since the close of the war with Spail
there has been no substantial change il
3 the rate of annual expenditures. A
3 compared with the fiscal year ending il
9 June, 1901, for example, the fiscal yea
that has just closed showed a relativel..
$ small increase in expenditure (excludin
7 the canal payment already referred toy
Q while the year previous showed a rela
9 lively small decrease.
e The expenditures of the nation hav
I been managed In a spirit of economy a
z far removed from waste as from nIggard
q Illness; and In the future every effort wi
be continued to secure an economy a
:, strict as Is consistent with efficlenc,
! Once more our opponents have promise
q what they cannot or should not per
/ form. Is az
7 The prime reason why the expense
: OF the government have increased o
. recent years is to be found in the fac
: that the people, after mature though
). have deemed it wise to have certain ne,
/ forms of work for the public undertal
. en- by the public. This necesitates sue
t expenditures, for instance, as those fo
t rural free delivery, or for the inspectio
t OF meats under the department. of ayr
z culture, or for irrigation. But thes
e new expenditures are necessary; no on
g them; and yet it is idle to declail
T government unless it is intended to CT
It down the very expenditures whic
n cause the increase. The pensions t
J the veterans of the civil war are d
/ manded by every sentiment of regar
L and gratitude. The rural free deliver
n is of the. greatest use and convenient
IS to the farmers a. bodv of men who liz