Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-06-14
RAILROAD RATE. BILL
SENT TO CONFERENCE

Taft OF any other member of the cab.
met departs on trip to make
speeches the cabinet officer knows
wnat he will say upon certain topics
and the President also knows what
will be said.
The inference should not be drawn
from the foregoing statement that q
cabinet officer previous to making Z
speech or speeches goes to the Presi-
dent and asks for plans and speciflca-
lions OF the address he is to be per-
mitted to make. On the contrary the
cabinet officer writes his speech and
then goes over 1t with the President,
as a general thing. If the President
seems to regard some features Of the
speech as of questionable expediency,
then the matter is discussed and an
agreement reached touching that point.
1t may be the cabinet officer will I'm
ally reach the conclusion the Presi.
dent was right and it may be that the
President will finally come to the con-
clusion that the speech as prepared
was all right.
In Harmony With President.
The speech oftentimes is passed
upon, not only by the President and
the cabinet officer who wrote it. but
also by the entire cabinet and the
President. One thing may be taken
at Its face value and that is. that
cabinet officer does not start off
stamping trip without knowing Just
what he will say in substance. 1t is
equally true that the cabinet officer
and the President are in harmony with
respect to the statements the cabinet
officer makes on the stump.
The suggestions of Secretary Shaw
that the tariff may be taken up for
consideration Immediately following
the Inauguration Of the president in
1909, and disposed of at short SEES
sion called for that specific purposs
undoubtedly reflects the views Of
administration on that subject. T
last tariff bill was prepared in 1897
special session Of congress called
President Mckinley Immediately
lowing his Inauguration. Senator Z
liver, then in the house, was a mel
Der Of the ways and means committe
that spent three or four months I
formulating the Dingley tariff measure
which has produced such benef1cent
results for nearly ten years.
Roosevelt Professionals.
President Roosevelt is a protection.
list. He is opposed to present tinker
ing with the Dingley bill. This does
not signify that he regards the Ding
ley schedules as sacred, but the Pres
ident does not believe that now is thu
opportune time to open up the sub
ject. He does not Perceive the neces-
sity, or the demand for such action. On
the contrary he is perfectly well satis-
fed that to open the tariff question at
this time would do infinitely more
harm than it would do good. The
President in his message to congress
last December frankly and fairly stat
ed his position on the tariff. He said
that the tariff should not be revised
until there was general (not purely
locaD demand for it, and not until the
benefits from such revision would out
weigh the injury that would be done
through disturbance of business.
The Shoe Manufacturers.
Tariff Resolutions.
The passage Of resolutions by counS
ty conventions calling on congress toi
take up certain tariff schedules and
readjust them, is not particularly cred.
table to the convention passing such
resolutions. If the idea prevails that
it is possible to select three or four
schedules which are alleged to be too
high and cut them and let that end the
matter, then such an impression may
well be dismissed. There is but one
way to revise the tariff schedules and
that is to draft an entire new bill
which shall take up the entire subject
and deal with 1t. The moment tn
question is opened the bars are a.
down and every congressman gets in.
to the game. One schedule cannot be
singled out and adjusted. If the tariff
on hides is to be scaled down in the
interest Of Massachusetts, shoe maxi
ers, then the Iowa farmer wants the
tariff on certain other goods which
New England makes, cut Southern
members want this and Ohio members
that and there you are. It is just as
impossible to make repairs on loco.
motive while 1t is running as to try ia
revise the tariff without taking up the
entire subject.
Frank ]. Stillman.
Thof on vnorv ~.z-