Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1908-09-04

has ben approached with the prop
ositi0n that 1t is dollars in his
pocket to maintain the system, while
those who could not possibly trace
any tangible benefits to themselves
have ben beguiled with the assur
ance that it was all a matter of pub
Lie spirit and that they ought to
support the system out of patriotic
love Of country. II attention was call
ed to the fact that the farmer was
taxed for the benefit Of the manu-
facturer, the. triple answer was
that 1t would come back to him in
directly that 1t did not amount to
much for each farmer anyhow; and
that man was small minded who
would begrudge so Insignificant a
contribution to the nations prosperi
ty. The plan has been to keep the
taxpayers quiet by keeping them in
the dark as to the operation Of the
law and then to concentrate the
votes and influence of the taxeaters
in favor Of a continuation Of high
tariff legislation. If a tariff OF fifty
per cent was imposed upon a given
article of merchandise, it was assum'
ed that those engaged in the produc-
ton of the article would contribute
literally tokeep up the tariff. 1t was
also assumed that the employees would
vote with their employers to keep
from having their wages reduced,
and It was expected that the business
men Of the town would also vote for
the tariff because Of the business
brought to the community by the pro
tected industry. Those who are &C.
quainted with the tariff fight know
to what an extent the pecuniary ar
gument has been used. The reeent
Republican platform is a bugle call
to every beneficiary Of special priv
ilege, to enlist again under the Re-
publican banner, and when the eiec'
ton Is over and the Republican COM
mite publishes the list OF con'riou'
tors, too late to make the Information
valuable-it will be found that tne
Republican party has again so ooii'
gated itself to the protected interests
as to be unable to make a revision
in the interests of the consumers.
With a President who toward
the close Of his term, admitted tne
necessity for tariff revision, with a
twothirds majority in the senate
and nearly sixty majority in the
House, the Republican party has
refused to permit any revision what
ever. Mr.. Williams the leader Of the
minority in the House, introduced a
bill providing for reduction OF the
tariff to 100 per cent, wherever II
is now more than 100 per cent II
would look like the Republican par
ty might have taken this step 10
ward tariff revision, had it been deel
ly in earnest; but no, the bill was
not even reported from the commit
tee. Whenever attention was called
to an indefensible schedule, the an
swer was that they could not afford
to open the subject for debate just
before a campaign, but there is nc
force in this objection because the
House rules are so framed that the
majority can cut off debate, prevent
amendment and silence opposition.
The administration has claimed cred
it for the fine against the STANDARD
Oil Company in the case which was
lately reversed, but no effort has
been made to relieve the people from
the fine which is imposed upon then
evrey day by the Standard Oil Com
pany through the operation Of thu
tariff law which gives that company
more than 100 per cent protection
against its chief rival, Russia. Wha
faith can a real tariff reformer
whether he be a Republican or
Democrat repose In the Republican
leaders, when they deliberately pu
off all reduction until after election
and then call for contributions, will
the understanding that the public sha
not know the names of the contrib
utors until after the polls are closed!
The Republican platform says tha
the tariff is intended for the Amer
can manufacturers, farmers and prc
ducers, and especially for the wag
earners. II the farmer and the wag
Garner are really the chief beneficiar
les Of the protective system, will tn
Republican candidate explain VIII
the farmer and the wage Garner hay
contributed so little to the Repnbl
can campaign fund! Is he willing :
publish list Of contributors on tn
the 18th day Of next October an
the relative advantage of protectio
: to the manufacturer, the farmer an