The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1904-08-04
of revision

tariff schedules is undoubted; but
such changes can with safety be made
| only by those whose devotion to the
principle of protective tariff is be-
yond question; for otherwise the
, changes would amount not to readjust.
ment but to repeal The readjustment
when made must maintain, and not
destroy, the protective principle The
farmer, the merchant, the msnufac-
turer this is VITAL but perhaps no
other man is so much interested as
the wage-worker In the maintenance
of our present economic system, both
as regards the finances and the tariff.
The standard OF living of our wage
workers is higher than that of any
other country, and it can not SO re-
main unless we have a protective
tariff which shall always keep as a
minimum rate of duty sufficient to
cover the difference between the labor
cost here and abroad. Those who,
like our opponents, "denounce protec-
ton as robbery" thereby explicitly
commit themselves to the proposition
that if they were to revise the tariff
no heed would be paid to the necessity
of meeting this difference between
the standards of living for wage
workers here and in other countries;
and therefore on this point their an
tagonism to our position is fundament-
al. Here again we ask that their
promises and ours be judged by what
has been done in the immediate past.
We ask that sober and sensible men
compare the workings of the present
tariff law, and the conditions which
obtain under it, with the workings
of the preceding tariff law of 1898 and
the conditions which that tariff of
1893 helped to bring about"
III respect of labor and capital:
"We recognize the organization of
capital and the organization of labor
as natural outcomes of our industrial
system. Each kind of organizsti on
is to be favored so long as it acts in
spirit of justice and of regard for the
rights of others. Each is to be
granted the full protection of the law,
and each in turn is to be held to q
strict obedience to the law; for no
man is above it and no man below it.
The humblest individual is to have
his rights safeguarded as scrupulous-
ly as those of the strongest organiza-
ton, for each is to receive justice, no
more and no less The problems with
which we have to deal in our modern
industrial and social life are manifold;
but the spirit in which it is necessary
to approach their solution is simply
the spirit of honesty, of courage, and
of common sense.''
Mr.. Roosevelt expressed Republican
belief in reciprocity with foreign ma
tions on the terms outlined in Presi-
dent McKinley's last speech. The
harmonious results of Cuban reciproc-
ity were cited as ian illustration of
the governing capacity which entities
US to the confidence of the people, not
only in our purposes but in our prac-
tical ability to achieve those pur-
poses. In this instance, and in
every other 'We have already shown
in actual fact that our policy is to do
fair and equal justice to all men, pay
ing no heed to whether man is rich
or poor; paying no heed to his race,
his creed, or his birthplace.
The candidate traversed hastily the
important events that have made the
construction of the isthmian canal an
assured fact; this country's domin-
ance in the Caribbean Sea and main
tenance of the Monroe Doctrine; its
friendship with the nations of the
new and old world; the growth Of
American interests in the Pacific; the
matter of progressive self government
for the Filipinos. On the latter SUBJ
jeot he said:
"To have gone faster than we have
already gone in giving the islanders
a constantly increasing measure of
self-government would have been dis
astrous. At the present moment to
give political independence to the
islands would result in the immediate
loss of civil rights, personal liberty
and public order, as regards the mass
of the Filipinos. for the majority of
the islanders have been given these
great boons by us, and only keep
them because we vigilantly safeguard
and guarantee them. To withdraw
our government from the islands at
this time would mean to the average
native the loss of his barely won civil
freedom. We have established in the
islands government by Americans as
sisted by Filipinos We are steadily
striving to transform this into self
government by the Filipinos assisted
by Americans.
In conclusion Mr.. Roosevelt said
"The principles which we uphold
should appeal to all our countrymen,
in all portions of our country. Above