Fair play., 1908-07-25
TRUSTS SEIZE ALL
REAL EFFECT OF REPUBLICAN
TARIFF PROTECTION.
Prosperity Of Which the Party Has
8ossted Confined to the Few
Who Became Miliionaires,
Not to the People.

When four years ago the Democrats
predicted that the high tariff would
beget panic instead of prosperity and
that Republican policies would pro
duce business depression in place OF
welfare and happiness. the whole
pack, from Roosevelt to the littlest
spellbinder of them all, pointed with
pride, etc, to the achievements OF the
@. o. p. But the panic came and the
business depression still continues,
although our Republican friends are
trying TO make us believe that It all
has been but little financial furry
When we come to consider what eff
feet this exaggerated tariff protection
has had upon the Industrial condition
in this country, how far 1t has pro
duced prosperity, to what extent IL Is
responsible for the perils which now
confront us. and which have involved
the industrial system of this country
In confusion, II not in paralysis, no
wonder our Republican friends change
front and instead of standing pat are
now promising tariff revision. The
Republicans still boast of the pros.
perity which they have produced in
this country, but no real prosperity
has existed. 1t was sham and not
genuine, and the first breath of ad
versity has blown down the whole
fabric like a breath demolshes the
child's house built of cards.
Not that there has been no pros
perity, far from II. The too prosper
GUS trusts have hourished amazingly
but IL was not the we'll doing that
comes from successful labor, but the
fortune produced by successful plum.
der. The few have become million
aires and the many have just con
trived to live and but few of them to
save. Such are the fruits of protec-
tionism. High prices for speculative
securities and watered stock doled out
to gullible victims is the Republican
conception of prosperity, and that is
the only kind of prosperity they have
ever shown in the long years they
have controlled the government.
Now, the Democratic notion OF pros
perity--real rospeTity-conssts in
the abundance of commodities fairly
distributed among those who produce
them. II means more houses, larger
and more commodious rooms with
healthier people dwelling in them: it
means warmer clothing, covering
stronger and more healthy limbs;
more abundant food of better quality;
more shoes and more of everything
in the nature of comfort that man
can use--more books, higher wages
and shorter hours; more leisure to en-
Joy what increased earnings can buy,
This alone is what Democrats mean
by prosperity, and this alone is a pros
perity which IS genuine.
Can Theodore Roosevelt or Taft
produce a dollars worth of such
things? Can the whole Republican
party insure the farmers good crops
| although it impiously claims to be al
lied with ounipotenco? Have any OF
them, great or small or all combined
as the government, the capacity tc
! increase anything on the face of the
earth? They have shown themselves
| 60 possess the power of spending, So
much so that with the END of the fiscal
year at hand there is a deficiency Of
$50 600 GOO Of revenue to meet theil
| expenditures But it requires the farm
er and the laborer to produce, for the
trusts, aided by the politicians, to dis
sipate, The Republican national plat
form ascribes in rulsome terms al
the benefits that any of us have beer
fortunate enough 10 receive to ouI
most exalted servant" Theodore
Roosevelt, and then boastfully de
scribes a long list of accomplishment
most OF which have not yet beer
achieved and never will be under tn,
plutocratic-bred policies for which tht
Republican party Is famous.
But, after all, the Republican part
has had to turn tail and run 70
cover from the righteous wrath Of a
injured people. 1t declares its cal
dinal policy of protection 10 hav
been a failure and promises to reyis
it after election What the prom
Use stands for no one knows The o'
gan of the Protective Tariff leagu
with joy declares that It means reyil
ing the tariff higher. while RefOrmo
La Toilette and Rcformer Cummin
the father OF the Iowa Idea OF tart
reform are satisfied,
The disastrous effect of tariff pr
lection leads many people to doul
| the honesty of Republican professio
| and to hope for real tariff reform tn;
! will purb thp trugts