Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1908-05-07
THE EVERLASTING TARIFF
QUESTION

is a source of great concern to the
national administration. And it
would be strange If it. were not so. In
the face of a great uprising agains}
special privileges, the men who domi-
nate the Republican party in and out
Of congress are standing together in
defense of what Is far and away the
greatest special privilege Of the age
the restraint of commerce by taxation
for the benefit and behoof of trusts.
Notwithstanding the many professions
to the contrary, it is now taken and
accepted throughout the country that
the friends of protection will never of
their own free will and accord revise
the tariff schedules downward. This,
together with the money panic of 1907,
which exploded the myth that pro-
lection and prosperity go hand in
hand, has put the administration
leaders, with their do nothing policy,
on the defensive, and in causing ris-
ing tide of public sentiment In favor
of their defeat at the polls.
In notable article in the Chicago
Record-Herald the great cOrrespOn-
dent Walter Wellman clearly shows
how the people are becoming aroused
over the manner in which the party
leaders who are now in the saddle are
fooling them in the matter of tariff
revision. He says:
"The well-nigh inexplicable attitude
of Speaker Cannon and the other
leaders Of the House on the wood pulp
question has done the Republican par
ty more harm than anything else that
has happened during recent years. 1t
is not that the country cares so awful
much about this one Item Of pulp, i'm
pOrtant as it Is and unjust as are the
extOrtiOns of the trust. But the peO-
pie, through the actions of the leaders
on this matter, are getting their eyes
opened to the actual policy of the Re-
publican bosses whenever the tariff is
involved. The people want tariff re
vision. They expect it. They have
been demanding it a long time. Again
and again they have been told to wait
till after this campaign or that cleo
tiOn, or something else. Now it has
all crystalIized in what appears on the
surface to be a tacit agreement all
around that revision shall be taken
up at special session to be called
Immediately after the coming election.
Representatives of great indus
try, the newspaper press, come to give
patient hearing to their plea for reform
of a certain part of the tariff. Instead
of being met with pOliteness ana fair
treatment they are treated most cavali-
erly. They are accused Of selhshness.
Their witnesses are pilloried by the
lieutenants of the Republican speaker
as if they were some sort of m alefaCt-
Ors proposing an unlawful action in
stead of simple reform of the tariff
in the interest Of Justice. The investt
cation, so called, is not fair, Impair
tial and thorough, 1t is an investiga-
tiOn held for a purpose and that pur-
pose not the ascertainment of the truth
with a view to action, but the framing
of an excuse for nOnactiOn.
"All over the country the people are
watching these maneuvers. They un-
derstand them. They are now asking:
If the Republican leaders will treat
the newspapers of the country in this
manner upon the eve of a presidential
campaign, what in heavens name will
they do to the representatives of other
industries who go to Washington
seeking reform and justice after the
election is over? What chance will
the business men and the consumers
and the producers have to secure d
fair hearing alone, much less actual
legislation in the way of lower duties?
And as they consider these things, the
people come to the conclusion that
the Republican leaders now in the sad
die are determined to fool the people
again as to the whole matter of revi-
sion. There will be just enough of
promise of revision in the action of
Congress and in the national platform
to tide over the eXigencies of the cam
paign and after election some excuse
will be found to break the promise, or
postpone it again"