Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1907-11-25
The MONEY MARKET STRINGENCY
Opens MANY EYES
To the Fact That Prosperity Is Not
Induced by High Customs Duties.
Money Panic Has Has Dealt Death
Blow to OId-Time Tariff Supersti.
fiOn.

ut is, in fact. an extraordinary feature
OF this period OF apprehension and panic,
that no mortal man has, to our knowl.
edge, thought of the protective tariff as
of any help whatever in the time OF
trouble. Yet if there is word of truth
in what has been said by republicans all
these years, the tariff is the first thing
every body should have been turning to
in the crisis. Is it not high customs du.
ties that keep wages high and every body
employed, make the trade balance favor.
able, and stuff the banks with money?
So we had fondly believed. At the first
alarm, however, the republicans dropped
their tariff fetch. They had not even
the consistency Of the worshippers of
Baal, who stood by their idol even when
it did not seem to be doing it's work we'll.
What we should have witnessed these
past few week, if republicans have writ
their prosperity annals true. was a loud
demand for higher tariff as our only cal.
vation. As in 1896, the republicans
should have initiated the prophets OF
Baal, cried aloud and cut themselves
with knives and lancets, and from morn.
ing until noon called out, oh, Tariff.
hear usp One reason thev did not, may
possibly have been that they feared lest
some free.trader Elijah might stand by
and mock them: Cry aloud; for he is q
god; either he is talking, or he is pursu.
ing, or he is in a journey. or peradven n.
ture he sleepeth, and must he awaked.
But BAal was respectable object of
worship com pared with the tariff.
cot course, sensible republicans have
never believed a thousandth part of the
nonsense about the tariff as our only
hope and stay. Thev have thought of it
as clever political dodge to dilate on
their party as the only one that can
make the nation prosperous by means of
protective taxes, and hvve only hoped
that their good luck in avoiding panics
would keep on. The panic of 1898 was
really their panic, but they ran and left
it on Cleveland's doorstep. For some
time past they have been praying that
good times might not fail till after the
next presidential election. This shows
how they have thought of the whole
thing as political But now their panic
chickens have come home to roost. Here
we are in an off year; the little talk
there is OF tariff reform comes more from
republicans than from democrats; no
political bugaboo can be alleged to be in.
terfering with the benefcent workings of
the high tariff, yet it is visiby failing to
do what it's champions have vowed it
always would do. The advance agent
Of prosperity has been replaced by the
bill collector Of adversely.
"Whatever other effects the panic may
have. it has at least dealt death-blow
to the tariff superstition Perhaps in no
better way could we have gotten rid of
it. Hereafter. any man who uses the
argument that you must not demand the
abolition of tariff outrages, since, if you
do, you will imperl your prosperity, will
be laughed at. The way is at last open
to attack the question Of protective du.
ties in statesmanlike fashion, without
having to face the abuse and prejudice
and idolatrous ignorance which have for
years made it difficelt to deal with the
tariff like rational en."-New York
Evening Post.