The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-02-13
AabAaian Delivers Able Speech In House OD the Lead-
 ing Issues
POWER OF THE TRUSTS
 SHOULD BE CURED
Mir, Richardson Declares That Stand- patters Absolutely Dictate Repub- lican Policies With Regard to
 the Tariff.

Washington. February 12.-(Special)- Representative, Richardson of Alabama made the best tariff revision speech or the session today He pleaded Tor revision on common business sense lines and declared that If the tariff were made the leading issue in the coming national contest it would show that the deiho- cratic party was trying to aceomplish something in the interest of the masses. Also in his opinion, it would solldity 4he democrats throughout the country. 1T vould attract a large element of voters formerly aligned with the republicans ana ,.osn,t in a. democratic victory in No vember.
 The tariff issue, Judge Richardson de- clared was far greater in importance than the digging of the Panama canai' and was more In the interest of the ,,eon,a than railroad legislation. He showed that the duty on hides only pene- filed the beef trust and insisted tnae the power of the trusts should be curped. The hest means, he thought, was through a revision of the Dingley schedules.
 standpatters. he contended, absolute lv dictated the policy of the repupncan marty with regard to the tarih They had demanded that not schedule III the act should be changed and had com nelled the republicans in Congress to a.,ree that no tariff revisons should De .ttemnted until after the national eiec- tion. The republicans, he said, had been playing with the tariff game or iiiue and seek
 Mr richardson congratulated the dem ocrats of the House and the country on the joint debate in Congress during the ,a.+ sortnlsht and said that 1t had in :, rernarIxable manner cleared up the po- 1itlcal atmosphere and forcibiy dehned the positions and views of both Of the great political parties on vital poiiucai and economic questions
 Free Raw Material.
 Tariff reform, said MT. Richardson, IS the issue that would clarify the poii.ioa, '.. atmosphere Let us stand for free raw material he explalheu' anu 'no '-S'o' is ours"
 He charged that on that point the re- nuhlican party was weak and stood dis- credited with the people by Its proken pledges He did not hesitate to say tnae inc tariff was an issue that appeared eo
  nal. the railroads, the currency, the free- dom of the Philippines, imperialism or +be question of unharmed indicators so soundlv denounced by the President Tn his last message. The debate or the last week he said, had demonstrated the weakness and utter inefficiency Of our boasted gold standard financial system
 He spoke of the multiplication of soup houses failing banks and other adver- sities and reminded the republicans or their exclamation during the panic or 1s93 when a bank failure was reported that another bank has gone democratic
 Mr Richardson charged that the banks that failed last fall had gone republican. ..rhe standpat leaders who dictated and directed the policies of the republican party" he asserted, with great earnest ness and solemnty said not slngle schedule of the Dingley tariff should be revised or considered until after the pres idental election, and then only py us friends
 Trusts Fatten.
 No, sane man, he declared, pretended to believe that, and he did not think that the leaders who made such declarations could expect, the country over, to take them seriously. The great trusts of the country, he said. had fattened under the nresent tariff system, and these friends were now engaged in hide-and-seek game to extend the friendly powers of arrogant corporations and combines by '-seekng to allay the fears of the con sumers by promises often disregarded il. the past few days"
 The whole situation was, he said, that the republican leaders did not believe 1t to the interests of the republican party to have revision of the tariff at this time, although he charged public opinion sup nlemented by republican dissatisfaction, o ro1t Ia n a 1ner into the next republican platform a promise to revise after the election
 Regarding the Presidents message MT. Richardson said it was in class by it. self. and was in response to the criti- cjsms that the newspapers had freely passed upon him and the policies of his administration. Many of the recommend ations of that message, he declared, if carried out at once by his party, would undoubtedly be of benefit to the country. MT. Williams the minority leader, he said. had pointed out clearly the portions of the message that democrats could and did cheerfully endorse, but he alleged '.the message undoubtedly seeks to make the control of the trusts the paramount issue in the present campaign"
 "Jfp he inouired, the President is tru- ly sincere in the vigor and zeal of the sentiments expressed in his message, or the protection of the individual rights Of the citizen against the rapacity or the trusts, why did he not recommend to ms marty that A guarantee be given to ev- ry American citizen the right to buy at l,ome the products of American manu- facture as cheap as these products are sold in foreign countries!
 Nothing for Relief,
 If that was done, he said, the trust protected articles and trusts would be solved The message, however, he said, was a strong plea for the continuance or the republican party in power, and real ly made for direct recommendation TOT the relief of the burdens of the people. Tt is of course highly sensational" he continued, land stamped in every word and line with the extraordinarily unique ', and startling personality of the Presi- 'hdent'
 z He credited the President with being s'an expert in the game of politics. and
 tC0NTINUED ON PAGr G.,