The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1908-10-23
Taft and the Tariff.

Taft ia elected he will redeem his
pledge Immediately upon his in
auguratiOn to call special SEES
sion OF Congress to revise the
tariff. But Mr.. Taft either can
not or dare not explain what he
means by revision.
Two years ago in a speech at
Bath, Maine. Mr.. Taft declared
himself in favor Of revising the
Dingley schedules, aud adding
that sin the near future the mem.
berS of our party will doubtless
be able to agree upon a reason
able plan" That reasonable plan,
as agreed upon at the Chicago
Convention. carries with il not
only the customary prOtectiOnist
claim that duties shall equal the
difference between the cost of
production at home and abroad,
but includes the novel PROPOSE
tion that the tariff shall guaran-
tee "a reasonable profit to Amer
lean industries"
AT Bath Mr.. Taft also admitted
thar the tariff helped the trusts.
Whether or not Roosevelt has
| since called Mr.. Taft's attention
to his own emphatic assertion in
campaign letter to Representa-
tive Watson, OF Indiana. two
i years ago, that the tariff had
nothing to do with the trust ques-
ilon. MIR. Taft now dutifuIly If.
hrms that he is opposed to regu.
latlng the trusts through the adj
JustmenI of the duties that afford
/ them Shelirr.
In his speech of acceptance Mr..
TAFT sought to create the impress.
sion every where that at the
time 1t was adopted the existing
tariff vas fair and just. aud that
changed circumstances alone
make necessary changes in the
law With amazing disregard of
the facts he repeats over and over
again that the Wilson Bill of 1894
Was the cause of the panic of
1898 lie vaugely lavors in
creaSeS aud reductions in the du
lies, bur pottery, strange to say.
Is | he "nIy class of articles which
hr has lns'anced az requiring
higher protection. On Septem.
Der 80 h. he said:
IN Will be nv pl, assure and
my duty 10 insist upon. so far as
the executive head of the nation
and as Tar as the Republican
party can gather such influence,
and TO hrlng about an honest
and thorough revision of the
tariff. on the one hand protecting
the Industries by the method of
protection explained. aud on the
oiher seeing that the measure is
not too greatly in favor of the
consumer.
Not too greatly IN fauor of the
consumer" The consumer is
the elghty-tive millions of people
who make up the pop llatlon of
the United States. Are the pro
tected interests to be protected
against them? Is that what Mr..
Taft meansg If SO. should he be
elected, he will have the loyal
assistance of the old guard of
stand patters, the Cannons and
the Aldriches and their following.
Ii not what is his policy of revis-
ioni
In ordinary affairs there is no
difference between tariff re-
former and protectionist. They
meet together in society, in bust
ness, in the lodge room and in the
church. In their daily life they
apply the same rules and are
guided by the same business
rules. This similarity manifests
itself all through life and up to the
very hour of death. If protec-
zionist makes a will, he makes
1T upon the same plan that the
tariff reformer follows. He does
not give all of his property to one
child and say that he trusts the
child to deal fairly with the rest
of the family. Why? Because
he knows his children and would
not put a child in a position
where selfishness might lead him
to do an injustice to the other
members of the family. And he
Is wise in not placing this temp
tation before one of his own fam
lily. But when a protectionist
comes to make a tariff law, he
acts upon an entirely different
plan; he votes millions, yes hun
dreds of millions Of dollars to
manufacturers whom he has
never seen, and trusts them to be
just in the distribution of the
trust fund among their employees.
And what has been the result2
just what might have been ex-
pected-the manufacturers have
appropriated the trust fund to
their own use and have paid theis |
only such wages ar
trade conditions compelled. -Bry-
ans Tariff Speech at Des Moines.