Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1907-10-08
The senate Obstacle.

Nnere does the RepuOllcdu parry
! stand on the tariff? Secretary Taft has
been telling us, and he is the spokes-
man of the administration, that the
| tariff viii be revised after election.
| But a much greater influence in the
| Republican party than Secretary Taft,
the Protective Tariff League, looks
upon Secretary Taft as having placed
himself outside of the pale of true Re
publicanism, and advises protectionists
to bestir themselves in the matter of
| securing the selection of sound protee-
zionist delegates" to the National Con
vention. 1t is to be presumed that
Sound protectionists' are those who
would stand PAT or revise the tariff
higher.
What will the Republican voters do
about it? VIII they follow Taft with
his indefinite revision of the future, or
stand pat with the League?
In either event, whether Taft or the
League prevail in the Republican Ma
tional Convention, there viii be no re-
vision that will take from the trusts the
protection from competition that the
tariff has thrown around those grasp
ing corporations. The old protectionist
ring is entrenched in the Senate, and
many of them, enough for a majority
of the Republican membership, can
only be ousted when the voters deter
mine to replace them with Democrats
1
The contributions of the tariH-protect-
ed trusts viii be, used to keep the pro-
tectionists' ring in power, and most of
them have their own millions to buy
legislatures. That class of Republican
Senators will find themselves reinforced
by Guggenheim of Colorado. of the
Smelter Trust, which controls silver
and lead Du Pont of Delaware, of the
Powder Trust: Smith of Michigan. at
torney for the Beet Sugar Trust;
Borah of Idaho, the attorney of the
Mine Owners Association, and Others
What chance has real tariff reform,
or even revision of any kind that would
reduce the protection to the trusts in
such hands? SO it is safe to say that
even with a promise of tariff revision
in the next Republican platform 1t
would be evaded when reform bill
reaches the Senate, however the House
of Representatives will stand when it
organizes in December, 1909.
So what is the use of Secretary Taft
or any other Republican, or the party
representatives in convention, proms-
ing tariff reform even if they really
wish to accomplish it.
There is only one way the tariff can
be revised latter election" and that is
by the voters electing Democratic
President and Democratic Congress,
and then enough Republican Senators
like La Toilette and Dolliver would
perhaps join with the Democrats In
voting for a partial revision made on
lines that they would stand for. Then
with the voters fully aroused to the
enormity of trust controlled Senate
standing in the way of further reform
the legislatures of enough States might
be carried to knock out enough of the
trust controlled Republican Senators
and replace them with Democrats.
Just think it over, and if you feel
the pinch of trust high prices vote ae-
cordingly. The Republican voter is as
much interested as the Democratic
voter in abolishing or, at least, so re-
ducing the tariff that the fear Of for
eign competition will compel the pro-
tected interests to lower the price of
their products. The Republican lead
ers will raise fog of some other issue
in the coming campaign to try and de-
lude the voters into the belief that
other and greater interests are at stake
than paying tribute to trusts. But when
you come to consider that the tariff
protected trusts have increased the
price Of their products on the average
over 81 per cent so that where you
were spending 81 you now have to pay
$1.54 for the same quantity arl quail
ity of goods, no other issue can COM
pare with the tariff issue as far as dol
lars and cents are concerned.