Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-03
TALKED AT RICHMOND
SECRETARY sHAw's ADDRESS TO
VIRGINIA REPUBLICANS.
Defended the Tariff Principle, Main
tanning Protection for the South
as Well as North.


| the republican campaign in Virginia at
Richmond last night, with an address at
| the Academy of Music before a very large
and representative audience. including
| many democrats. Judge L. L. Lewis of
| this city, republican nominee for governor,
presided, and introduced the speakers, Sec
| rotary Shaw being preceded by Jacob Yost
| of Staunton, former representative for the
| tenth district.
| Secretary Shaw was greeted with hearty
cheers when he rose to speak. He said in
| part:
No Tariff Law Perfect.
You must bear in mind there was never
a tariff law enacted that was perfect, or
that any one claimed was perfect No two
Congresses would ever enact the same bill.
Every tariff law Is an aggregation of COM
promises All the republican party ever
claims for any tariff law is that it's prin-
eiple is perfect. The rate will be too high
here and too low there, but protection will
be found in its every feature.
The opposition party never claims that
their tariff measures are perfect. They
only claim that the principle of free trade
OF which they profess to construct their
tariff laws, is the correct principle. They
claim to eliminate every element of pro-
lection from all their tariff laws, as England
eliminates protection from her tariff laws.
i>uSidiiu piOFlueS d ldTlII LOT the sole pur-
pose OF revenue, and the democratic party
processes to do the same. They have
openly and repeatedly denounced protection
as robbery-they strike at the principle.
w lille the republican party never
claimed for any tariff law that it was per-
feet and never promises to enact a perfect
tariff law, 1T does claim that all its tariff
laws are bu1lded on the principal of protec-
ton 1t has never sacrificed one industry
for the sake of building up another. and
never will. Neither will it prejudice one
locality in the interest of another 1t will
be national, and not provincial. 1t will
protect the south as well as the north. the
east as well as the west, and the west as
well as the east.
Protection for All.
Few persons appreciate the difficulty in
making tariff law. Let me illustrate.
The present law places a duty of thirty.
cents on every forty-eight pounds of bar
ley. This is for the protection of the Amer
lean farmer. The duty on hulied barley is
two cents per pound. This protects the
american farmer and the American miller
me tarin on malt is fortyffve cents on
every thirty-four pounds This protects
the farmer and the miller and the malt
maker. The tariff on beer is twenty cents
per gallon in kegs and forty cents per gall
lon In bottles. with the extra, duty on the
bottles. This protects the farmer. the
miller. the malt maker, the brewer and the
bottle maker. l repeat that republican
tariff laws are SO constructed as to protect
every man and every industry. What would
you think of a malt maker or brewer who
would insist that the tariff should be re-
moved from barley to enable him to get
cheap barley from Canada and insist that
the duty on malt and on beer be retained
SO as to keep out cheap beer? He would
be free trader as applied to barley and
protectionist as applied to malt and h~-
'The wool schedule of the Dinghy bill
may not be perfect. 1t may be too high,
or 1t may be too low, or the differentials
may have been incorrectly worked out It
is constructed on the protection principle
however, and under it Virginia farmers sell
their wool and their sheep at far better
prices than during Mr. Cleveland's last adj
ministration, when the duty was placed so
low on both sheep and wool that the indus
try was ruined
Protects Virginia Wool.
Suppose a Canadian or Mexican farmer
desires to sell his sheep In the American
market in competition with the Virginian
He is now required to pay a duty OF 81. 80
per head. If he brings flrst-cass, un-
washed wool, he must pay the public
treasury II cents per pound. The foreign
spinner of wool must pay 271A cents per
80 cents per pound. 1t he has expended
more labor and produced yarn worth more
than 30 cents per pound, he must pay
duty of 1884, cents per pound. Thus the
the wool growers and to every wool opera
tor. skilled or unskiled Wooden CLOTH for
instance, worth over 20 cents per pound,
pays specific duty of Al cents per pound,
and So per cent ad valorem. The duty on
velvet carpet is 60 cents per square yard and
40 per cent ad valorem. repeat that 1t Is
not an easy task to construct tariff law
and work on these differentials. All the
republican party claims Is that 1t con-
structs It's tariff laws on principle What
would you think of a wool manufacturer
who would claim to be a free trader as
applied to WOOL and protectionist as ap-
piled to wooden manufactures?
Il made an informal talk the other day
before the board of trade of Jacksonville
tariff or any other political subject. Fol-
lowing me an ex-governor of the state
was called upon, and before he closed he
expressed the opinion that great and won
derful prosperity would come to this coun-
try if we could once get rid of the mi
quitous tariff, as he called it.
Shaw's Retorts.
while 1 did not wish to discuss political
questions at non-partisan meeting, never
theless, If the board of trade of Jackson
vile would ask it, and the people of Cali
fornia would join In the request / would
do my best to get the ubiquitous tariff re-
moved from citrus fruits. Democrats as
well as republicans cheered to the echo.
They then called upon a man, said to be
the leading lawyer of the state, democrat
who declared that practically all the men
present were protectionists. To this there
was no voice of dissent. He said they were
protectionfsts and sound-money men, but
that they all voted the democratic ticket.
He then told his associates that if they de-
manded protection on their citrus fruits
they must grant protection to other indus
tries.
"All that the republican party claims for
the Dingley tariff law is that it is built on
right principles and that 1t protects all in
terests and all communities. 1t will be
amended in due time, but the principle will
never be amended under republican ad-
ministration. Here and there rate may
be higher than necessary. Here and there
one may be too low, but the principle Is
correct and wisely have the differen-
tials been worked out that the United
States today Is more prosperous than ever
L. ~ hIc4<.~ =