The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1906-08-10
They're to Decide Tariff
Revision Question.
VOTE TAKEN IN NOVEMBER.
The Whole Thing in Nutshell, View
Of President Roosevelt on the
Important Subject.

Washington. Aug. 6.-For the purpose
of clearing the political atmosphere, II
will he well to say two or three things
STRAIGHT from the shoulder about the
oncoming congressional campaign:
The tariff will not enter into that cam
paign. so far rs the republicans are con
cerned. That party will stand upon its
record i'm the late session of congress and
upon the popularity of President Roose-
welt. Practically all the tariff talk OF
the campaign will come from the demo
Gratis. who hope to divert public atten-
ton from what the last congress did
At the conference at Oyster Bay the
campaign program was worked out IN
detail. The president represented senti-
ment favorable to the readjustment of
some of the schedules of the present
law, and the other confereeS represent
ed the ''standpat" principle. The presl-
dent assented to having the campaign
this year made along the lines above re-
ferred to. Farther than this he did not
60.
In other words, nothing was agreed to
ct the conference regarding whether re
vision should be undertaken in advance
OF the presidential election Of 1908 or
after it. The future remains sealed
book sufficient unto the day is the
evil thereof" said all those who attend
ed the Oyster Bay conference.
This means that tariff revision, or the
attitude of the republican party toward
it, will depend entirely upon what the
people do at the polls in November.
Should the republicans continue to con-
troll the house by comfortable margin
and margin would be thus comfort
able which was considerably narrower
than that existing in the house at pres
ent-there will be no revision until af-
ter 1905 On the other hand, should the
republicans win by slender majority.
the democrats having made the tariff
their sole issue, and the republicans hav,
ing ignored that issue so far as possible
revision will be forced to the fore
front, and the president may call a
special session of congress next March
to take it up.
Both the president and the standpat
leaders agree that there was enough OF
proper performance in the recent session
of congress to justify the belief that
the republicans will control the next
house, and, therefore, neither side is
fearful of a democratic victory. Whether
revision at the hands of the republicans
will come in 1907 or in 1909, or later
will depend entirely upon what happens
in November.
That is the tariff situation in nut
shell, as Washington understands it
The president had hoped to accomplish
revision during his administration. 1t
is the one remaining big issue he has in
mind. But in view of the support which
he got for the rate bill, for meat inspec-
ton and for various other measures last
winter and spring, he has agreed not to
force the issue, unless the people them
selves, at the polls, indicate that what
was done last session, while important
is not enough.
1t is not my intention to suggest that
there has been any deal between the
president and the standpat leaders. The
president has made no such deal and
the standpat leaders have known bet
ter than to ask him to make it. What
they did, however, was to appeal to his
sympathies and then to his duty as the
head of his party. They pointed to the
practically unanimous way in which all
republicans i'll congress came to the presi-
dents support last session, and then
they gave him the benefit of the stand
pat argument in full form, winding UP
with the conclusion that it would be
political wisdom to inject the tariff in
to campaign which furnished so many
other legitimate issues. As the CHIEF
of his party, they told the president that
he ought to reserve the tariff until
1ofo -
be so plentiful as they are this year
The presidents reply to this state
ment, it is understood here, was that
he would yield so far as to wait until
the election this year was over, reserv-
ing the right to take such action regard
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