The Topeka state journal., 1908-12-23
KANSAS COANENT
COMMON SENSE.

1t seems to us that the following
from the Lawrence Gazette is plain
common sense: when men who have
grown to be billionaires, wealthier
tnan any before ever dreamed of, and,
when they say their wealth was de-
rived from the tariff on certain things.
then 1T is time to cut off that. 1t is
true that, while these men have been
plnng up uncounted millions, they
nave given work to labOring men.
Ihey nave given more work and bet
ter wages than the same men in the
same trades could have secured in any
country on earth. But the products
their labor put on the markets have
peen sold at an immense profit, and
the consumers had to pay that profit,
and 1t has gone into the pockets of
carnegie, and Rockefeller, and Arch
bold, and the Thaws, and it has gone
10 enrich and rebuild the fortunes OF
tumblfng pauper princes of Europe,
and 1T has been sent to the eastern
countries in car lots to be scattered
by careless and ignorant hands that
had never earned a dollar of it. The
tariff was the greatest thing, and the
pest thing that America ever devised.
But there is a limit to it, and that limit
is reached when it oppresses the
country instead of enriching it. We
pay millions a year to enrich the su-
gar trusts; cut out the tariff on sugar.
We pay more for iron and steel pro-
ducts than Europe pays; cut out the
tarlH on iron and steel. We pay tri-
butte to the lumber trust whenever we
buy sheet of paper or a shingle; cut
out the tariff on lumber. We are
merely impoverishing ourselves for
the benefit of millionaires when we
place a duty on these and hundred
other things. We vote ourselves poor,
and vote them wealthy when we vote
a tariff for them. Whatever trade,
Whatever industry, whatever manu-
facturer will be built up and grow
q
will help it, give it a tariff. But let
Us abandon the Idea that the tariff
is sacred thing. Globe.
A RANK OFFENSE.
1t would be difficult to imagine a
more outrageous crime than that OF
which a citizen of this section of Kan
sasr is accused-the slaughtering for
sa le as food of an animal so foully dis
eaSed that part of its body when 1iv-
ing, as putrid. It is impossible for
people of ordinary decency and con-
Scientiousness to understand the men
tai processes of man who would de-
liberately do such a beastly thing; and
If the thing was done at all, it was
done deliberately and with full
knowledge.
tt was hoped that the man accused
might be able to establish his inno-
cence for the general reputation of hu-
manity, but he pleaded guilty today.
1h6 value OF pure 1000 laws ana
their rigid enforcement was amply de-
monstrated by this case. No sooner
was a complaint made that diseased
animal had been slaughtered and sold
for food, than an inspector was upon
the ground, with full authority to in
Vestigate, and all the resources of the
state at his back to enable him to
bring the alleged guilty party to JUS
tice; and if the crime was committed,
there is no doubtathat such justice
will be done as will forever deter 9TH
ers from such abor1iuable practices.
Before the operation of the food
laws, the punishment of a man guilty
OF such an offense Reuld be uncertain,
II not impossible ssou4e private citizen
would have to nlaxs a complaint
against= him, and SHOULDER the respon-
sibility and tlle$expense Of prosecu-
ton; the securing of evidence would
have been difficult; and the chances of
acquittal of the defendant would have
been excellent
Under the present system the in
spectors, who understand the business
and can give their full time and energy
to it. collect the evidence. and watch
the prosecution, and wish the defen- |
dant many happy returns of the day
when he goes to the penitentiary.
This case alone is sufficient vim |
dication of all pure food legislation
Gazette.