Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1904-08-03
Prosperity and Plumber.

The full dinner pail and prosperity
cry of the Republicans will have to be
laid away In cold storage for another
campaign. The numerous stsikes and
lockouts, the large number of men
hunting a job and the railroad and
other. large industries reducing their
force of workingmen must be causing
a scanty table in many homes. With
the number Of bank failures greater
than at any time since the height OF
the panic. prosperity cannot be very
prevalent. These and other causes
have had most disastrous effect upon
general business, for according to the
latest report of business failures. they
far exceed previous years since 1897.
Dun's report for the first quarter Of
this year gives the number as 1914.
and the amount as $4S066,721 and 1t
is to be feared that for the quarter
just ended the number will show a
further Increase.
If the Republicans had not falsely
boosted in their platform that a Re
publican tariff always has been fol-
lowed by business prosperity, that
fact that the Dingley bill was trust
breeder and overshot the mark would
not be SO remarkable. The constant
advance in prices, which through the
enormous protection to the trusts that
the Dingley law provided, has been
too great strain upon the pockets Of
tho Uraot ,,,o iOrt<y of tho nnnnln and
they have been forced to curtail their
purchases. Hence the large number
of failures of business men. The Re-
publican platform could have truth
fully said that the Republican tariff
had been followed by trust prosperity.
Giving an advantage by law to a
special class of people at the expense
of the great majority is bound to be
disastrous in the end, even to the
pampered tariff beneflciaries. for when
the consumers are reduced to the nee
essity of curtailing their purchases by
lack of means, trust sales are reduced
and trust profits are. decreased accord
ingly. That is the present condition
Of affairs. And yet the sacred sched-
ules of the Dingley bill, which were
purposely Increased, to allow the reel
procity clause to be.put in force by
treaties and stiff have ample protec-
ton TO foster the trusts. must not be
touched.
Every one remembers that the Ding
ley bill gave President Mckinley au-
thority to make, reciprocity treaties
with France and other countries, but
the power of the trusts with the Re.
| publican Senators was toosgreat to nj.
low the treaties to be ratified. So
many of the rates of duties collected
under the Dingley law are still 20 pei
cent higher than Dingley and McI<in.
| ley intended them to be, when the
first named reported the bill to Con.
gress and the President signed it.
\ That 20 per cent increase of rates
has allowed the trusts to extort higher
prices from the people and many OF
them are suffering from inability te
pay such great increase. II the yot
ers are satisfied with such high prices
| they should continue the Republican,
In power, but they must remember
that the trusts are selling to foreign
ers at lower prices than they ars
charging here. and those who are sui
fering from high trust prices vii
hardly indorsey the INDUSTRIOUS legisla
ton that permits our own people be
ing plundered for the benefit of for
eign nations.