Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-08-29
SECRETARY WRITES TO GOVERN
OR FOR HIS SOURCE OF
INFORMATION.
REPLIES TO SPEECH
Shaw Desires to Know Where the
Governor Read Report OF secre-
thy's speech Referred to in Cum
Minis Address at Reciprocity Con.
vention In Chicago.

Chicago, Aug. 28.-- In accordance
with the intimation that his letter to
Governor Cummins, in answer to the
criticisms made upon him at the re.
cent reciprocity convention, would be
made public, Secretary of the Treas
ury Shaw gave out his caustic reply to
the Iowa executive last evening.
In his speech before the reciprocity
convention that met here the Iowa
governor was somewhat severe on the
secretary when discussing the foreign
treaties. When the head of the treas.
ury department heard of 1t he decided
to reply and wasted no time in writing
to his fellow statesmen. The contro-
versy between the Iowans is on the
exact language used by Secretary
Shaw in a speech delivered at Des
Moines, portion of which the gov
ernor quoted to make his point
Now Mr.. Shaw says that he never
said any such thing in the Des Moines
speech or any other. and if he did he
wants to correct 1t at once.
Chicago, Aug. 26.-My Dear Gov
ernor Cummins: In a carefully pre-
pared address delivered before the re-
ciprocity convention at Chicago, which
the pap>rs say you read lest you
might be misreported,' you used this
language:
1.-The secretary Of the treasury, in a
speech recently delivered in Des
Moines is reported as saying that the
explanation of the refusal Of the senate
to consider the French treaty is that
| 1t gives everything to France and moth
ing to the United States. I must do
| him the Justice to believe that he never
read the treaty, for otherwise lie has
committed grave offense against the
proprieties Of debate
Fails to Find Report.
II did not see th;.t portion Of your
address until / came west, and have
delayed writing that I might ascertain
where 1 was reported to have made
such a statement. knew I did not
say 1t or anything that could be so
about the report. The occasion was an
informal luncheon, and the speech was
impromptu, though not extemporane-
Gus. / find thct both Of The Des
Mones Republican daily papers repre-
sented at the luncheon reported me
as sayin-:
was an enthusiast among those
who favored the reciprocity treaties
Among these treaties was one with
|
an advantage in entering the American
market over every other country on
seventy articles, in consideration of
which she agreed to apply her mini
| mum tariff to our exports to France
except as to twenty articles, including
horses, butter eggs. cheese, leather
goods. machines (machine tools), dy-
namos. etc. That is, if we would
treat France better than we did any
other country, France would treat us
about as well as she did any other ma
| ton.
Britain Versus France.
OF course the treaty was not rati-
fed. say "of course" / near
merely to say it was not ratified. There
were those in the senate who declared
that they Gid not believe this natior
should discriminate against Great
Britain, where we sell $50OO00 900 OF
our exports, for the benefit of natior
which takes less than 100000 ,00O
while the report Is not verbatim, 4
is substantially correct. Whether
| statement is relatively of little i'm
| portance b. If the treaty as negotiat.
ed did not give France a reduction
| from our regular tariff rates on sub
stantially seventy articles (to be ex-
act, sixty-nine articles, counting
every variety of silk manufacture as
one article), then 1t may be conceded
| that had not read 1t; and If 1t did moi
exempt twenty American articles from
the provisions Of the French minimum
rate Of duty-as follows: Horses
butter, lucerne and clover seed, fodder
cast-iron, skins and hides, prepared;
boots and shoes and parts Of same
belts and cords and other leather ar
ticles manufactured for machinery
| dynamos, machine tools. dynamo con-
ductors and parts. arc lamps, known as
regulators; sugar, chicory roots, greer
j or dried; eggs, cheese, honey, porce-
/ lain, cardboard, rough in sheets-ther