Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1906-04-24
EooIing tic voters.

political events have taken, by the con-
centration of public opinion upon rail
road rate legislation. Mr.. Payne, the
Republican leader in Congress and
chairman of the Committee on Ways
and Mems, which controls all revenue
legislation, has declared that there viii
be no tariff bill reported at this SEES
sion of Congress This Republican
stand-pat policy was agreed to last
fall by President Roosevelt and Speak
er Cannon, and the personnel OF the
Committee on Ways and Means was Sc
lected by Speaker Cannon, so that a
majority were ardent protectionists.
Thus those Republican voters who ia
vored the revision of the tariff that
fosters trusts and allows them to
charge plundering profits, were again
fooled, after voting for many Repub-
lican candidates for Congress who
promised to vote to revise those tariff
schedules that protected the trusts, pre-
vented competition and allowed the
trusts to sell cheaper abroad than here.
who were pledged to tariff reform elect
ed Mr.. Cannon as speaker of the House
and adopted rules that gave him auto
cratic power over legislation, they
knew they were selling out their con-
stituents to the protected monopolies,
and giving the party machine the power
to defeat or pass such legislation as 1t
pleased
The same conditions will obtain at
the election this fall, and the question
is: Can the voters be fooled again to
vote for Republican candidates for Con
gress who will stand pat and let the
trusts continue to plumber the con-
sumers? Promises of Republican can
didateS are of no avail unless the
pledge is given to keep out of caucus
and vote for a speaker who will agree
to give tariff revision the right of way.
That Mr. Cannon will never aCcede to,
for he is an ardent protectionist. The
membership of the next Congress will
be more evenly divided between the
parties and the result in any district
may determine which party shall con-
troll The trusts and corporations will
pay money to the Republican campaign
fund with the understanding that their
interests are to be protected, but none
but the voters themselves VIII furnish
funds or efforts for the election of the
Democratic candidates. That alone
should be their recommendation to in
dependent voters, if they measure up
as they should, to the Jeffersonian re-
quirements of ability and honesty.
Another Republican Scandal.
The exposure of the scandal of the
shameful dOings of our cOnsuls in the
East is further proof of the degeneracy
of Republican politicians When Presi-
dent Roosevelt appointed these consuls
on the recommendation of Republican
Senators and Representatives, he knew
they were political strikers for those
Republican leaders. He was on notice
that they We're mostly grafters or the
Republican politicians would not be
urging them for appointment. The only
palliation for the administration is
that Mr.. Pierce. assistant secretary of
state, was detailed to make a special
investigation of the consular service in
the East, and his private report made
to the President lately called for by
the Senate exposes the scandals. Some
of these consuls are stated to be men
who accepted office merely to fill their
own pockets legally or illegally.
The President has, no doubt, endeav-
ored to cleanse and improve the serv-
ice by forcing the resignation of some
of the grafters for 1.-THE good of the
service" but many worthless incum-
bents still remain. While there has
been much progress, says the New York
Post, there are many consuls who do
not reflect credit ON the country.
There are plenty of cases on record in
which the President or the State De-
partment connived at the appointment
of unfit men.
Their records and the disgrace they
have brought on the country make the
ears of every American, when travel
ing abroad, Jingle with the remarks of
foreigners, who point to the official rep
resentatives OF this country as typical
citizens of the United States. The de-
moralization of the Republican peIiti-
clans seems ubiquitous, yet there are
plenty of honest Republicans who
would do us credit, but they seem to
hova no chance in the race for ofFica
as they do not generally belong to the
political machine.