Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1907-09-30
WARNS REPUBLICAN LEADERS TO
STAND PAT.
Evidence The Trusts Control the Re.
publican Congress. Uncle Joe Has
Long Served the Steel Trust in
Congress-. This Trust Now Saws
"Stdnd Pat"

the republican leaders they are in a
tight place and that unless congress
"is actuated by calmness and patriot
ISM the party will be defeated in
the coming national election. The
burden of Uncle Joe's song is that
the country is prosperous and there
is no uneasiness anywhere except in
Wall Street, and, therefore, 'it would
be crime if congress should do any,
thing at this time to upset business. "
That is another way of saying con-
tinue to stand pat and let well
enough alone-the old Hanna cry of
by-gOne years. Uncle Joe likewise
warns President Roosevelt to keep to
the stand pat path when he also
said: "The destinies of the party lie
very largely in the hands of congress
and the coordinate hands of the
government, the executive" Will
President Roosevelt stand pat at the
bidding of the protected trusts, which
Speaker Cannon has so faithfully
served, especially the Steel Trust, by
packing the Ways and Means COM
mittee with stand patters? Moody
Magazine, a reliable New York finan-
cial journal, which has the faculty
of telling the truth about trusts and
corporations, speaking of the Steel
Trust in its August number, said: eff
the steel corporation really were as
protectionists assume, struggling
infant industry that could not sur
vive long without tariff pap, and if
the good people of this country were
generous, kind and foolish enough to
vote this tariff tax of $8O,OOO,OOO a
year upon themselves, there would be
no ground for criticism or complaint.
It the steel corporation officials
would even cOnfine their tariff activ-
ity to arguments and to contributions
to political parties, they would not be
censurable to any great extent. But
when these officials, by some means,
gain control of the leaders of the
ways and means committee and the
house of representatives, and use
their influence to suppress discussion
of the tariff, they are playing the
tariff game unfairly.
The writer has known for years
that the officials of the steel corpor-
alton were debating standpatism to
the ways and means committee. He
has seen letters from steel corpora
tion officials to members of this COM
mittee, advising them not to touch
the tariff on any pretext. Some of
these letters are now beginning to
see light of day, or at least to be
discussed in daylight"
The evidence that the republican
leaders in congress have all been tied
up to this policy Of protecting the
Steel trust and other tariff protected
trusts, is overwhelming, otherwise
they would select speaker who
would, at least, appoint a ways and
means committee which would con-
slider tariff revision. 1t is also as
certain as anything in the future can
be, that the republican leaders will
re-elect Speaker Cannon, knowing
that he will again prevent tariff con-
sideration, and that President Roose-
welt will endorse that selection by
making no recommendation to con-
gress for tariff reform, and must,
therefore, also be numbered amongst
the stand patters. Thus the gigan-
tic Steel Trust has the American peo-
pie by the throat, and their repre-
sentatives and their president look
calmly on while their pockets are
picked by that enterprising corpora
tion and the other tarih-protected
trusts.
The republican plan of hauling
trust into court and charging up
gigantic fine against it, is spectacu-
lar, but even if the trust eventually
has to pay the fine, the consumers of
its products have to pay it in the
end, as long as the trust is protected
from competition by the tariff.