Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1908-11-27
THE TARIFF QUESTION

If we as nation could get rid of a
little of our monstrous, swollen ego
tism, it would be worth great deal
to us, financially, morally, education
ally and in every other way. We are
cut off from the rest of the world.
All that we see of Germany, France
and England is IA the poor emigrants
who, failing TO make a living in their
own country, come hitherward and
the average American seeing them,
supposes that he knows Englishmen,
Germans and Frenchmen. The same
may be said with reference to China
and Japan. Our newspapers and SUI
perficial travellers abroad come back
with the same f1attering story. They
are usually homesick and they tell
us that America is good enough for
them; then emphasize how much bet
ter it is than any other place in the
world. 1t is of course better in some
respects. The natural resources and
here than in any other country, but
there is an immense deal for us to
learn abroad, if it were possible for
us to escape our provincialism and
see ourselves as others see us.
Take for example, the tariff ques-
tion which is now before the country
ard in which every man, woman and
child in America is interested al
though few of them know it. Ger
many appointed a scientific tariff
commission and from it evolved a
tariff law which is fast distributing
| German wares and manufactures all
over the world and is exciting the
envy of Europe and especially of
Great Britain, the country that has
heretofore had a monopoly of the
worlds trade. But when the same
plan of tariff commission for the
| United States was suggested by Sena-
ter Beveridge of Indiana, year ago,
it was silently smothered in Con
| gress, each member of which feels
responsible, as he will doubtless be
held by his constituents, for the par
ticular selfish interests represented
in his district.
| What will be the course of revision
in Congress is already apparent.
With one interest insisting on the
maintenance of the schedules that af-
feet it and clamoring for reduction of
the duties that affect some other 10.
cality, there will be such pulling at
cross purposes in Congress, with re-
sulting swaps and trades that in the
end we will have tariff bill not one
whit better than the one it is snppos.
ed to supercede.
Senator Elkins is not distinguished
for wit, but he said the other day that
we were all anxious to revise the
other fellows tariff. This is the whole
story. The beet and cane sugar men
In Louisiana and the northwest want
the tariff on sugar sustained or in
creased. American millionaires who
own Cuban sugar plantations want a
reduction of the tariff and so it is all
over the country. Massachusetts,
with her hundreds of shoe machines.
wants free importation of leather
and hides from Brazil, Argentina and
Mexico, but the western people, a
thousand times more numerous tnan
the operatives in the shoe shops of
Massachusetts, want the tariff ON
Shoes removed so that they and their
children may have cheaper footwear.
All the rest of the country wants free
iron and steel, but PENNSYLVANIA.
West Virginia and Northern Alabama
insist ON maintaining the present
tariff. The difficulties of proper ad-
justment appear indeed to be insu.
perable. A committee of experts
would doubtless draft more euuit-
able tariff bill than would be possible
in the present Congress, but after all
the bill would not be enacted except
through the medium of this Congress,
and there you are.