The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1906-06-08
NOW BE GOOD, WILL YOU?
How the SchooImaster Combs Down
the Editors Of Minnesota.

How the SchooImaster Combs Down
the Editors Of Minnesota.
From Thursdays Daily.
The members of the Minnesota Edi
torial association have been properly
combed down by the little schoolmaster
of the second district. We find i'll the
appendix to the printed report of the
proceedings of the last meeting of the
association, the replies of our senators
and representatives to the memorial of
the editors to congress to remove the
duty on typesetting machines. They had
the audacity to set forth in their me-
mortal that the tariff on these machines
is needless to protect any American in
dustry; that the United States is the
only country that taxes imports of
Them except Canada, where the tax is
| 10 per cent, against our 45 per cent;
that one company monopolizes the pro
duct in this country; that thousands
more would be used but for the eXorbi
tant price made possible by this tax,
and that, owing to this exclusion of
competition, the monopoly has cornered
all the 500 patents issued, while it uses
but 60 of them on its machines.
All the members, save the little dog
matte schoolmaster, replied generally
that, when the tariff is revised, they will
endeavor to see that these editors are
relieved from the tax and patent shelter
ed monopoly so far as removal of the
| impost can relieve. But McCleary stands
by his guns. No wabbling of his feet or
suffering of his tongue or spluttering of
| his private secretary's typewriter. He
tells these editors that they don't know
what they are talking about; they don't
know the A B C of the tariff. He sus-
poets that they are democrats" $50 far
as l know, every editor who signed this
letter Zone containing request similar
| to that in the associations memoriaD is
conducting a democratic paper. Ergo,
every editor who would like to put in a
machine and can't because tariff and
patents give MONOPOLY that puts the
price beyond their modest purses, they
are democrats. And to be democrat
| is anathema with the little schoolmas-
| ter
With fine irony McCleary asks them
to tell him '.just what relation the tariff
has to the issuance of patents" If they
will kindly do this he will ''be both
obliged and enlightened" And there is
a delicate sarcasm in his apprehension
that the Minnesota editorial association
''has been misled into passing resolutions
which would not appeal to the reason
of single member of the association"
Which is only to say that, individually,
you are bright, intelligent lot of fell
lows, but in the aggregation of your as
ISOLATION you are lot of chumps.
Were the tax removed, he proceeds to
'oblige and enlighten' them, the monop-
oily would only build its machines in
some other country and ship them here,
and he thinks you will agree with me
that it is better for the people of this
country to have the manufacturing for
this country done in this country" Some
of these democratic" editors will agree
with him; those who wear collar
labeled "P. NJ, J. L. McC.," ''but we
reckon that the bulk of them will reply
that they don't care tinker's damn
where the machines they desire are
made if they can get them at fair
price. Some of them, more audacious,
might inform the little schoolmaster
that this tax and patent sheltered mo-
nopoly sells its machines across the line
in Canada and in other foreign countries
for 60 per cent of the price they are
enabled, thanks to the standpatters, to
make editors of American papers pay
st. Paul Dispatch.