Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1904-05-19
PLAN OF CAMPAIGN.
BATTLE CRY OF THE DEMOCRATIC
HOSTS FOR 1904.

"TnrifP Reduction and Genuine Rec
i,,rocity," witch Means Free Trade
ON the InstaIIment Plan, to Be In
scribed on the bourbon Banners.
Recent speeches in congress by Dem
ocratic leaders have practically deter
mined what is to be the Democratic
attitude toward the tariff in the cam
pagn of 1904, just as recent speeches
by Republican leaders have substan-
TALLY indicated the policy of the Re-
sition is that the Democrats will at
tack and the Republicans defend. In
his speech in the house on March %
Champ Clark of Missouri closed with
the following plain declaration: 1--WE
so forth with tariff reduction and gen
uinc reciprocity inscribed on our ban
ncrs.'
Here we have two converglng at
taclls-tariff reduction direct by legis-
lative vote upon the schedules and
tariff reduction indirect by means of
genuine" rcciprocity-that is to say
wide open trade dickers which will
make it still easier for foreigners to
come in and take possession of the
American market. First, the present
tariff is to be scaled down 10, 20, 80,
10 and 80 per cent, nobody knows how
much, and in the case of articles pro-
duccli by trusts (also by nontrust con-
Germs engaged in the same lines of
prOduction) the tariff is to be removed
altogether Second. the remaining
rates of duty thus lowered directly by
legislative enactment are to be still
further lowered by special reciprocity
concessions. Tariff reduction and
genuine reciprocity" is TO be inscribed
on The Democratic banners this year;
not. tariff reduction alone or genuine
reciprocity alone, but both together
Between the two it is easy to see
that not much will be left of practical
protection. 1t is not intended that
much shall be left. The less the better
is the Democratic idea. Not long ago
John Sharp Williams wrote maga-
zine article in which he characterized
protection as robbery. Now, robbery
is an atrocious thing, thing not to be
tolerated by statesmen actuated by
moral principles; hence protection must
90. Still more recently Mr.. Williams,
the Democratic leader in the house and
very much the ablest and most inf1uen-
tial leader the Democratic party has
had in congress for several years past,
expressed his views more in detail
Gicd a bill of particulars, as it were,
setting forth his idea of the principle
that should govern tariff reform legis
lHtion. Said Mr.. Williams in this
speech:
u will first tell you just the limits to
which we can get along without i'm
port duty; just the line of demarcation
beyond which those duties are robbery
and within which they are legitimate
taxation, because they are taxation
and like all taxation, a necessary evil
after all | have stated it once before
upon the floor of this house during the
extra session or at the beginning of
this, | have forgotten just when, but
viii repeat the phrase again. You
have right to levy import taxation or
any other sort of taxation upon the
citizen, you have a right to weigh him
Gown-it is weighing him down-just
to the extent of the necessities of Il
government carried on economically,
constitutionally and effectively, and
above that you have no right to do it.
Above that you not only have no gov
Crnmental right, but it ceases to be
moral; it becomes robbery, q crime un-
der the thin cloak of law. The moment
hn fob
out of my pocket that Is not needed for
public purposes that government has
taken advantage of it's power, as
highwayman does, to hold me up and
rob me-
Herein we may discover the outlines
Of the shape which tariff reduction
would take-must take-with men like
John Sharp Williams to plan and exc
cute. Given a Democratic majority ii
10th branches of congress and Il Dem
ocrat in the executive chair, and who
can doubt that tariff reduction or tar..
reform would eliminate completely the
principle of protection? To this com
peEion it must come at last, yheneve?
the people of the United States shall
have tired of being too prosperous uE
der protection and shall decide, as they
did in 1892, to have a change and see
what will come of it. They are to de
eide that question this year. If they
decide to place the Democratic part :"
in power they will do so with theii
eyes open Messrs. williams. Clark
and the general body of Democratic
speakers and writers have left no room
for doubt as to what the Democratic
party will do to the tariff if it gets the
chance