The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1906-01-26
Third District Member Delivers
Speech in the House.
SOUNDED NOTE OF WARNING.
De ;iared That Republican Party Must
Heed The Wishes of the People
Regarding the Tariff.
FREE PRESS BUREAU.
Nv ASulNCTnN IAN ,

| w ASHlNtTON. JAN. ~.
A most interesting scene occurred in
the house of representatives this weel
during the closing days of the debate
on the Philippine tariff BILL
Representative Charles r. Davis OF
the third Minnesota district delivered q
strong speech in favor of tariff revis-
ion and warned the 'standpatters" thai
the day of reckoning was coming, when
the trust protected articles made from
iron steel, for which the American farm
ers are now paying more money for than
the same implements cost abroad would
10 longer be protected by the sacred
Dingley schedules, but would be lowered
in price through practical revision if
not by this congress, then by some
other.
Mr.. Davis makes no pretentions %
being an orator, but for comparatively
new member he was success from the
start. Mr. Davis boldly advocated tar
| i'll revision, the sooner the better for
the republican party. He took decided
issue with Mr.. McCleary whose Geclara
! ton in that e-minute, tw enty page
speech to the effect that it was safe
policy to only revise the tariff upwarj
caused the member from Mankato ne
little trouble.
Congressman Davis declared that the
kind of protection needed right now wa.
the kind that would protect the consum
er, the man and the woman who goes to
the store and pays good stiff price OF
staple article like spade, or a shovel,
at the same time paying more of a pro
fit to the ust-controlling manufacturer
than to the retail merchant of whom he
buys the article.
He further didiculed the standpatters
by quoting from the republican plat
form of 1896, when there was specific
declaration to protect the then young
but promising industry of beet sugar
manufacturing. But what sort of pro-
lection he asked was it that took Of
a quarter of the duty on sugar i'm
posed by the Dingley bills, and gave ii
to the sugar trust, as was done in the
Cuban reciprocity legislation.
Mr. Davis did not 90 nearly SO far
as he might have gone on this same sub
iect of sugar He might have added that
refined sugar, which we know as the
white graduated sugar is higher today
to the American consumer than it was
before the standpatters took off TWEEN
ty-fve per cent of the Dingley rate il
behalf of Cuba. The Dingley rate, OF
raw sugar was $35 per ton and of
this amount seven dollars Per ton was
taken off, but it did not result in sugar
being lessened in price tenth of a
SOU markee" to the consumer of Thu
country.
| The sugar trust received their sugai
just seven dollars per ton cheaper and il
makes in round numbers a rousing profit
in addition TO what they were receiv
ing of $5,O00,000 per annum.
McCleary Losing Ground.
All of the Minnesota members listen
ed to the speech of Mr.. Davis except one
Mr.. McCleary. That gentleman is
working day and night on his retalia
tory tariff bill which is aimed at Ger
many and intended to scare off the gov
eminent of the empire and prevent ii
from putting its new tariff into effect
March lst next. But the McCleary prop
osition is losing ground.
While it is doubtful if congress will
find it necessary to pass any retaliatory
measure at all, it is certain that the
McCleary bill will never be engrafted on
to the statute books. The proposition
of Senator Henry Cabot Lodge of Mas
sachusetts meets with much more ia
vor and the statement is made this
week, that President Roosevelt favors
the New England plan rather than the
policy proposed by McCleary.
The latter wants to ''do something
and is studying up on the German i'm
ports and exports to America during the
last two years. But in the event that
his bill is reported out from the com
mittee there will be such vigorous op
position within the republican party that
it would never get through the house.
!; 1t should be stated here tnat the bill
of Senator Lodge makes the present
Din.ley schedules the maximum rates
of duties to be levied on any import:
and authorizes the president to lower
these rates twenty-five per cent, when
) ever terms can be made between the
United States and any other country
of mutual character whereby there i!
, reciprocal agreements entered into be
tween the two to the commercial bene
fits of each.
Rural Free Delivery Routes.
The figures submitted to congress OF