Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-07-30

~ ueSS7 uOuS II against tAS SoANihSOu
and violent opposition of the mass OF
our present opponents who still re-
fuse to recant the unsound opinions
which for the moment they think 1T In
exped1ent to assert. We know what
we mean when we speak OF an honest
anu stable currency. We mean tne
same thing from year to year. we DO
not nave to avoid definite and con-
elusive committal on the most 1mpor-
.ant issue which has recently been be-
lore the people, and which may at any
tlme IN the near future be before them
again. Upon the principles which un.
derlle this issue the convictions OF
nalf OF our number do not clash with
tnose OF the other half. So long as
the republican party is in power the
gold standard is settled, not as a mat
ter of temporary political expediency,
not because of shifting conditions in
the production of gold in certain min.
ing centers, but in accordance with
what we regard as the fundamental
principles of national morality and
wisdom.
Financial Legislation.
Under the financial legislation
winch we have enacted there is now
ample circulation for every business
need; and every dollar of this circula.
tlon IS worth a dollar in gold. We
nave reduced the interest-bearing debt
ana IN still larger measure the inter-
est on that debt. All of the war taxes
imposed during the Spanish war have
Deeh removed with view to relieve
the people and to prevent the accumu-
iatlon OF an unnecessary surplus. The
result is that hardly ever before have
the expenditures and income of the
government so closely correspondent.
IN the fiscal year that has just closed
the excess of income over the ordina-
ry expenditures was $9000,000. This
does not take account Of the $780,
O00,00O expended out of the &C.
cumulated surplus for the pur.
chase of the Isthmian canal 1t
is an extraordinary proof of the
sound financial condition of the ma
ton that instead of follow
ing the usual course in such mat
tiers and throwing the burden upon
posterity by an issue of bonds, we are
able to make the payment outright,
and yet after it to have in the treas
ury surplus of $16OO0O,O0O. Morrow
er, we were able to pay this $50,O00,-
900 out of hand without causing the
slightest disturbance to business con-
| ditions.
Tariff Laws.
eve have enacted a tariff law under
which during the past few years the
country has attained height of mate
rial well-being never before reached.
Wages are higher than ever before.
That whenever the need arises there
should be readjustment of the tariff
schedules is undoubted; but such
changes can with safety be made only
by those whose devotion to the prin-
ciple of protective tariff is beyond
question:; for otherwise the changes
would amout not to REIMBURSEMENT but
to repeal. The readjustment when
made must maintain and not destroy
the protective principle. To the farm
En- the merchant. the manufacturer,
this is vital; but perhaps no other man
is so much interested as the wage
worker in the maintenance of our pres
ent economic system, both as regards
the finances and the tariff. The stan
dard Of living of our wage workers is
| higher than that of any other country
and it can not so remain unless we
have protective tariff which shall al
ways keep as minimum a rate of du-
| ty sufficient to cover the difference be.
tween the labor cost here and abroad
Those, who like our opponents, de
nounce protection as robbery there
by explicitly commit themselves to the
proposition that if they were to re.
wise the tariff no heed would be paid
| to the necessity of meeting this diff.
| ference between the standards of liv-
ing for watNo workers here and in 9th.
er countries; and therefore on this
point their antagonism to our position
is fundamental. Here again we ask
that their promises and ours be judged
by what has been done in the immedi.
ate past. We ask that sober and sen,
sible men compare the workings of
the present tariff law, and the condi,
lions which obtain under it, with the
workings of the preceding tariff law
of 1884 and the conditions which that
tariff of 1894 helped to bring about.
Mckinley Reciprocity.
"We believe in reciprocity with for.
eign nations on the terms outlined in
President McKinley's last speech
which urged the extension of our for.
eign markets by reciprocal agreements
whenever they could be made without
injury to American industry and la.
Dor. 1t is a singular fact that the only
great reciprocity treaty recently adopt.
ed-that with Cuba = was finally op.
posed almost alone by the represent.
atives of the very party which now
states that it favors reciprocity. And
here again we ask that the worth OF
our words be judged by comparing
their deeds with ours On this Cuban
reciprocity treaty there were at the
outset grave differences of opinion
among ourselves; and the notable
thing in the negotiation and ratifica
ton of the treaty, ard in the legisla
ton which carried it into effect, was
the highly practical manner in which
without sacrifice Of principle these diff
ferences of opinion were reconciled
There was no rupture of a great party
but an excellent practical outcome, the
result of the harmonious cooperation
| Of fv,o