The Washington herald., 1908-08-22

guaranty of its fuIflImeut The same
kind OF promises were made IN 1856. and
Yet for SIX months after the election
times were worse than they were before. I
There were business failures and bank
ruptcies and many Institutions that
promised their employees steady work and
good wages shut down or reduced wages {
the Leather Betting Company is sending
out. the employees ought 20 get together
AID ask for guaranty as 20 The amount
OF the wages they are 10 receive and as
70 the length af time during which the
guaranty is 10 extend II the votes are
20 be bought. the purchase price. at least
should be made secure Il the employee
itage-citizenship-is 20 be sold he
ought at least. % be sure OF his mess OF
pottaEe.
But the whole system is vicious Bust
ness should not be built upon legislation;
IL should stand upon its own merit. and
when . does stand upon its own merit
we shall not only have purer politics.
but We shall have less f1ctUar-on in busi-
ness conditions and a more equitable dis
tributlon of The proceeds o. toll
I cannot pass from this part Of my sub
jet without calling attention 20 the fact
that Secretary Taft has allowed himself
20 be drawn into The use 0f an argument
which The helehc.aries OF protection have
been employing for q generation Speak
ing OF the gradual substitution Of reve-
nue. tariff for the protective system. lie
says In his notification speech
Word About Panics-
The introduction IN power OF a party
with this avoweds purpose cannot but halt
the gradual recovery from our recent
financial depression and produce business
disaster compared with which our recent
panic and depression wlu seem small
indeed"
Here is a threat Of a panic if the Re
publican party Is not retained in power.
This panic argument was worked over
time in 1895. but I am surprised that a
Republican refers 10 II IN the present
campaign.
We have had three pa1ics since the Re
publican party was b0Tn-the panic OF
lsl5, the panic Of lss3. and the panic Of
1875. The panic Of 1S73 came after the
Republican party hal been iG complete
control Of the Federal government for
twelve years. and eleven years before our
party succeeded n securing control Of
the executive branch OF the government
The startling panic and depression" OF
1913 occurred in the very midst of Repub-
Ecan rule. just after Republican victory
and under a high tariff. Is it not strange
that Secretary Taft should forget this
panic when he warns us 10 beware Of any
/ departure from The protective system
The panic Of 1907 came after the Eepub-
| licans had been in complete control Of the
| Federal government for uoue than ten
years They had had an opportunity TO
| DO everything that they wanted 10 do
and 70 undo everything that needed 10 be
undone. and We were under such a hiEh
/ tariff that even Secretary Taft admitted
/ TIE necessity Of revision. This panic was
SO bad that banks felt 70 necessary 20 do
/ something that they had never done be
/ fore, namely, arbitrarily limit the amount
| Of money that depos.tors could draw on
their own accounts. Ex-Secre1ary Shaw
| says that the stringeuCy Of 1907 was the
| seveTest the world has ever witnessed.
| With this panic fresh in his mind, is it
| not strange that he should argue that his
| election is necessary 10 prevent q pauic2
| have referred 10 two Of the three pan
| les. both Of these coming under condi-
/ tons which compel the Republican party
to accept the responsibility for them
Now let Us consider the panic of 1893. II
I that could be properly charged 10 the
I Democratic party. & would only be one
I Democratic panic TO two Republican pan
l ics. But can II be fairly charged to the
| Democrats? II came, it IS true, a few
months after the inauguration Of a Demo
cratic President. but Il came while the
and before a single Republican law had
been repealed. and II came from causes
I that We're IN operation before the cleo
ton In fact. IL was the failure of the
Republican party 10 do its duty and sat
| isfy the people that brought about
| Democratic victory. and these causes
would have brought on a panic even If
/ the Republican party had remained in
/ power. Now, this Is the record, and yet,
/ in spite Of this record. the Republican
/ candidate p-esumes 10 threaten a panic
/ IN case Of Democratic success
! For twenty-five years the American
| working man has been told that he re
| cefves higher wages than the English
/ workman solely because OF protection.
/ but our wage earuers now know that this
| cannot be due to protection. because the
/ English workman receives higher wages
! than the German workman. although the
] German tarif is higher Cnan the tariff Of
1 Great Britain
/ Protection does not make good wages
/ Our better wages are due TO the greater
| intelligence and skill Of our wOrkmen. to
/ the greater hope which free institutions
give them. 70 improved machinery, 10 the
1 better conditions that surround them.
and 10 the organizations which have been
| formed among the wage earners-
No Fear of Panic.
/ A revenue tariff will not bring a panic:
Il viii not inaugurate Industrial depres-
sion: if viii not reduce wages; on the
| contrary. It VIII stimulate business and
/ give more employment, and a larger de-
mand for labor viii be a guaranty
against the reduction OF wages re-
J duction Of ths tariff viii reduce the ex-