The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1906-09-07
THIS YEARS BATTLE
DEMOCRATS NOT so SURE OF WIN.
MING AS THEY WE'RE.
They Have stai<ed Their Chances To,
Getting Control of the House on the
Proposition That Protective Duties
Should he Abolished.

Washington, June 29.-The eolsres.
sional campaign of the present year
has barely started. The campaign be
gan in Iowa and In some other western
states by giving some ground for Dem.
ocratic hopes, but the situation is chang
ing everywhere. More than that, the
character of reply which Republican
protectionists made TO the free trad
ers in congress was such as to give as.
surance that the facts will be known
and understood by the American PEG.
pie before the polls close in the con.
gressional elections of next November.
The campaign in the house and in
the country has not resulted thus far
to the satisfaction of the Democrats,
who started out bravely with the cam.
paign cry on their lips, IF you do not
revise the tariff, we will" That is q
remark well calculated to arouse the
interests of the people Of the United
States who are concerned about main.
tanning the protective system. Even
the comparatively few people in scat.
tered sections Of the country who con-
fess to belief that the few inequali.
ties in the tariff schedules more than
outweigh the many excellent features
of that beneficent law are beginning
to take notice and to reflect upon what
IL means to have the tariff revised by
the Democratic party.
When the people Of the country come
to reflect upon one point only brought
out in the present day discussion of
the conditions among the people, the
Cumminses and the free trade Demo-
Gratis will be relegated to the rear
These facts have been brought out by
the government census bureau, and
they have been tactfully employed by
the Republicans in congress, from
The point in issue is the growth in in
dustries in this country during the pc
Rod from 1900 to 1906, accompanied
by the increase in opportunities for
American labor and increase in wages
to the American workingman. 1t will
keep the Democrats in all parts of this
country busy during the campaign
making such answer az they can make
to these facts of present day history,
important facts, because they deal with
the vital proposition advanced by the
last Republican national platform,
We insist upon the maintenance of the
principles of protection, and therefore
rates of duty should be readjusted only
tuba,, conditions co ri, hot ha
public interest demands their alteration,
but this work cannot be safely committed
to any other hands than those of the Re-
publican party.
With these words emblazoned on
their banners the Republicans can with
safety enter the congressional cam
paign of this year, and census returns
vindicate the wisdom of their position
that conditions have not so changed"
as to demand alterations in the rates
of duty" The facts from the census
records Of the past five years show:
The number of wage earners in forty
two states of the country have in
creased 1876 per cent since 1900; the
volume of wages paid to these workers
has increased during the same time 315
per cent; the amount of products turned
out by these workers in the busy
haunts of industry has increased 301
per cent.
A condition of affairs in the indus
trial states of this country which shows
a 10 per cent increase in the number of
the employed and 30 per cent increase
in the amount of wages paid to them
is not one which the people will readily
vote to change, even at the behest of
the free trade party, which announces
its purpose to change the tariff if the
Republican party will not do it.
The fact should not be forgotten in
this connection that the record quoted
by, the census statisticians covers a pc
riod of prosperity from 1900 to 1906,
five years, and shows that after nine
years of life Of the Republican protec-
tive tariff of 1897 that bene6cent law
continues to aid in the betterment Of
among the people.
ARTHUR j. DODGE.