Ottumwa tri-weekly courier., 1904-01-26
R0OSEVELT'S
VIEWS ON THE TARIFF
An Extract From His Memorable Ad-
dress Delivered At Minneapolis
Last April.

and if business has prosrerea under 1t
and is prospering It may be better TO
endure some lnconvcaiences and In. 4
equalities for a. time than i,y making
change to risk causing disturbance and
perhaps paralysis In the Industries and
business of the country. The fac.
that the change In given rate of duty
may be thought desirable does not set
tie the question whether 1T is advisable
to make the change Immediately. Eg-
cry tariff deals with duties on thcsl-
sands of articles arranged In hundreds
OF paragraphs in many schedules
These duties affect vast numbe. of
interests which are often conflicting.
II necessary for our welfare, then Of
course congress must consider the
question of changing the law as a
whole or changing any given rates of
duty, but we must remember that
whenever even a single schedule Is
considered some interests will appear
to demand a change In almost every
schedule In the law; and when IL
comes to upsetting the schedules gem q
orally the effect upon the business In
terests OF the country would be ru!1- f
Gus.
Revision Cannot Solve Trust ProbIen,. 4
mind. The question of tariff revision, 4
speaking broadly. stands wholly apart
from the question of dealing with the
trusts. No change In tariff duties can
have any substantial effect In solving
the so-calIed trust problem. Certain
great trusts and great corporations are
wholly unaffected by the tariff. Prac-
tically all the others that are Of any
Importance have as matter of fact
numbers of smaller American com
petitors. and of course change In
the tariff which would work injury to
the large corporation would work not
merely injury but destruction TO It's
smaller competitors; and equally Of
course such change would mean dis
aster to all the Wage-workers connect
ed with either the large or small cor
porations.
From the standpoint Of those inter-
ested in the solution Of the trust prob
lem such change would therefore
merely mean that the trust was re.
Iieved of the competition Of It's weaker
American competitors, and thrown
only Into competition with foreign
competitors; and that the first effort
to meet this new competition would
be made by cutting down wages, and
would therefore be primarily at the
cost OF labor. In the case OF some Of
Our greatest trusts such a charge.
might confer upon them positive.
benefit. Speaking broadly. 1T is eyi-S
dent that the changes in the tariff VIII
affect the trusts for veal or woe sim
ply as they affect the whole country.
The tariff affects the trusts only as It
affects all other interests. 1t makes
all these interests, large or small, pro-
fitable; and It's benefits can be taken
/ from the large only under penalty OF
taking them from the small also.
s Business Needs Must Determine.
To sum up, then, we must as peo-
pie approach matter of such prime
economic Importance as the tariff
1 from the standpoint of our business
needs We cannot afford to become
fossilized or to fail to recognize the
fact that as the needs Of the country
| change 1t may be necessary tosmeet
| these new needs by changing certain
/ features Of our tariff laws Still less
can we afford to fall to recognize the
further fact that these changes must
not be made until the need for them
outWeigha the disadvantages which
may result; and when 1t becomes rec-
essary to make them they should be
made with full recognition Of the need
LOT stability in our economic system and
of keeping unchanged the principle Of
that system which has now become
a settled policy Of our national life.
We have prospered marvelously at
home. rs nation we stand at the
very forefront in the giant internation-
al Industrial competition Of the doy.
We canot afford by any freak of folly
! to forfeit the position to which we
have thus triumphantly attained.