Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-12-23
TAFT DETERMINED
ON TARIFF REVISION
VIII Veto Bill Failing to Meet
Party Demands.
President-Elect Made This Important
Announcement IN New York Speech
Last Week.


senate and house at the Ohio society
dinner tonight that unless they passed
a bill revising the tariff in accordance
with his Interpretation of the demands
of the Republican platform on which
he was elected he would vote the bill.
Better make no revision of the
tariff at all. - said Mr. Taft, "bette1
let the bill fail altogether, than to
make revision other than that which
have outlined here, as my idea of
what the platform calls for. =
OPPOSED no REASONABLE.
Further than this. Mr.. Taft served
notice on the hundreds Of the great
railroad combinations. trusts and
financial institutions of the country
who attended the dinner, that he
would not consent even to the inser-
ton of the word reasonable" in the
Sherman anti trust law during his
administration.
He declared only in favor of amend
ing the bill insofar as it lelates to
railroads, which he said were now
regulated by the Hepburn rate bill.
He said that so far as he was con-
cerned he believed that the antitrust
bill should be amended only to allow
combinations of capital formed with
the intention of lowering the prices of
their products.
Mr.. Taft discussed these important
questions before enc of the most re-
markaDle audiences gathered at a
banquet since the notable dinner given
to Prince Henry by 100 captains of
industry.
Mr.. Taft spoke with unu ual
earnestness. particularly with refer
ence to the tariff and his criticisms of
the we'll known attitude of ths stand
pat element III congress.
After referring to the fact that the
prime minister of England as the
leader of the party control fixes both
the legislative and executive policy
of the party. he pointed out the
difference in the political leadership
in this country.
PRESIDENT LEADS PARTY.
Not that l advocate the adoption
of such system in this country he
said. With Us the president may
lead and exercise qualified veto power
over legislation. With us the presi
dent is looked to as the leader of his
party, and in an election following his
administration his acts are held
responsible for the party. Yet he is
powerless as a leader to respond to
the demands of the people or to carry
out the policies of his party.
In the platform adopted in the
last Republican national convention
in Chicago certain pledges were made
and hold that these pledges devolve
the strongest and most sacred obliga
tions upon every Republican leader
whether in the white house, in the
senate, or in the house, to see to
it that the people were not deceived.
TARIFF PLANK MOST IMPORTANT
''That platform contains one most
important plank, the most important
which the party has placed in its
platform for many years. refer to
the plank calling for a revision of
the tariff.
1t was upon this plank that your
candidates went before the people.
pledging themselves for an honest and
thorough revision. The party sue
ceeded, believe, largely because it was
felt that we were sincere in the stand
we had taken on this question. !"
Mr.. Taft, after declaring that he
believed in the policy of protection,
added that this policy did not mean
a retention of excessive rates and
that the party might safely under
take an honest revision without
abandoning the protective policy
which had been Endorsed so often by
the voters of the country.
HIS VIEWS ON REVISION.
de then outlined the system by
which he believes revision should be
undertaken. He declared that the
platform promised revision based
upon thu difference of the cost of
products in the United States and
abroad. with a reasonable profit to the
manufacturer.
Now what duty does that de-
volve upon the party? Il devolves
first the duty of ascertaining what the
difference actually is, and then to fix
the tariff accordingly.
1t means that congress shall
make an actual effort to find out the
exact situation and then to proceed
accordingly. 1 have said l am a