The Columbus commercial., 1906-05-08
TARIFF REFORM
is THE BATTLE
Democrats Believe That This Will Be The
Issue Which viii CarD Them to Vic
icY=--RepuhIiCans Sore Over II.
Special correspondence.

. Washington, April 80. Tn
! slogan of the democracy in tn
! approaching congressional cam
paign will be tariff reform. Tht
republicans hoped to pitch tbs
battle along different lines, but
for once in a decade they have
been outwitted by their old time
| opponents and will have to stand
up and fight for their sacred doc
trine Of protection.
When the 59th Congress con-
vened in December last the re-
publicans, under the leadership
of President Roosevelt, endeav-
ored to put the democrats in a
hole by pushing railroad rate
regulation to the front. The
/ President created a demand for
reform along this line by seizing
upon one of the principal planks
in democracy s-piatform, a plank
which had been securely nailed
there since the first Bryan cam
paign. Mr., Roosevelt and his
co-laborers in the republican
vineyard thought to take the wind
out of the sails of the democrats
by adopting Mr.. Bryan's dearest
principle, but the democrats
proved too wise to be caught
mapping by such tactics. Under
the brillian5 leadership Of John
Sharp Williams in the House of
Representatives, and Joseph
Weldon Bailey in the Senate,
every democrat in the national
legislature proved himself a pa
troit by supporting the Presi-
dents rate regulation bill, along
with such amendments as would
render it sound, sensible and
constitutional, and such would
prevent the confiscation of the
carriers property by the Inter-
state Commerce Commission.
This patriotic action on the part
of the democrats made a sensible
railroad regulation law possible
at this session of congress, and
now that that great reform is on
the threshold of the status books
the democrats propose to ar
raign the republicans from every
stump in the land this fall for
maintaining the most oppressive
and wicked policy ever inaugur--
ated under any government, the
policy of a high protective tariff. |
he democrats will tell the peo- |
pie that the tariff policy of the |
republican party is responsible |
for all trusts and will argue that I
by striking down this policy at
the polls in November next the
trusts will be delivered a death
blow.
1t is agreed on all sides that
a compaign pitched upon a de-
mand for tariff revision will unite
all elements Of the democratic
party, and that is what every
democrat is most anxious for
just now, whether he be for sill.
yer or gold, or from the South
or North.
This bright ray of light in
democratic skies is due to the
efforts of four men, three of
whom are Southern men, and
from Mississippi at that. Sena-
tor McLaurin in a great Senate
speech last week rung the
changes on the iniquity of pro-
tective tariff. His subject was
railroad rate regulation, but the
Mississippi Senator SHE'D his
castor at that clause of the re-
publican tariff law that enables
the steel trust to sell steel rails
in European countries from eight
to ten dollars cheaper per ton
than In this country. This, ac-
cording to Senator McLaurin's
adds greatly to the
cost of American railroad equip
ment, which, as a matter of
course, forces up railroad freight
charges. Ia the House Of Rep
representatives. John Sharp Will
Iiams and Adam Byrd, of Miss
and Henry 7. Rainey, of
have waged relentless
warfare on the protective tariff
policy q the republican party
since the present congress as