The Bemidji daily pioneer., 1908-07-09

the pollcles lie llad So vigorously i; ,lrgsa
In his message add ing.
1T is imp ortant to note that the act
OF June 2, 1886, was passed at the first
session of the first congress that met
under the first Democratic administra.
tion after the civil war and there la.
Dor received its first recognition from
the government One Republican ad.
ministration had succeeded another fol
twenty -four years, and not one act was
passed in the interest Of labor or in
acknowledgement of its right to fail
and equal treatment The Repub.
1cans enacted a tariff which enhanced
the price Of products that labor had
made and capital owned, and they pre-
tended to do this with view Of Sc
curing for labor higher wages. What
they gave, however, was to the cap.
italist, and they trusted him to divide
That the increased profits of protected
employers have made them able to pay
the laboring man higher wages no one
can doubt, but it remains for the say.
ing grace Of Almighty God so to touch
their hearts as to make them Willing
to pay the higher wages.
Among the contributions that went
to make up the monument that this
great man, Grover Cleveland, builded
in the respect and affection Of his
countrymen, few are more striking
than his almost instant recognition, as
evidenced by the act of 1886, Of the
sane and just demands Of labor on the
laWmaking power. Under, him ,Democ.
racy blazed the way and now remains
the unflinching champion of every
sound reform in this direction. I'm.
munity from law we promise nobody,
immunity from oppression from it's
very infancy the Democratic party has
been dedicated to establish and Sc.
cure. #
t-.6& The Tariff.
'The president and his party declare
that a prediction revision Of the tariff
would be unwise. This assertion has
been repeated in advance Of every cleo
tion since the enactment of the Ding
ley law, and surely the country will
not again Re deceived by Republican
promises to revise the tariff after the
election. Their appeal to the people is
this, give rs another chance to make
you promise and the promise will be
made ~ >-@i ... .
"What does protection mean? Un-
der the Republican policy of protection
the people, the consumers, while pay
ing a little over $3OO,OOO,OOO per year
into the treasury through import duties
of foreign goods, pay over $1,25O,-
100000 year in the enhanced price
of home produced goods. Our domestic
rnanufa actures exceed our total imports
by ten to one and they are nearly all
protected. 1t is safe to say that the
people pay at least S. to the already
wealthy benefciaries Of protectionism
for every, dollar that is paid into the
treasury. Behind the wall of high pro.
lection, which in some cases is alto
gether prohibitive, the trusts levy enor.
nous tribute on the people. This
has amounted to not less than
$40, 600, 100000 in the last decade,
not counting the amount paid to sup
port the government. This money has
come from the pockets Of the farmer
the mechanic, the merchant, the pro-
fessional man and the laborer, and hac
been poured into the Golfers of the
protected classes. ;. More than two
thirds Of the capital that derives bene-
fit from protectionism belongs to the
trusts. The Democrats will revise the
tariff downward and in the interest OF
the tax payers. who are always for
gotten by the Republican party. There
must be revision and gradual reduc-
ton Of the tariff by the friends Of
tariff reduction for the common good,
and not by the benefciaries Of it's
abuses, who Justify use of the impost
taxing power for the chief purpose
Of comforting privilege and profit upon
the few at the expense Of the many.
Trusts
1T is the shortest of steps from the
tariff to the trusts, Let it be denied
If they care to deny it, that the tariff
is the real mother of the trusts. The
president has made great pretense of
destroying trusts. Let him tell of the
result. In a message delivered to con-
gress he said: The department of
justice has for the last four years de.
voted more attention to the enforce.
ment of antitrust legislation than any.
thing else. Much has been ac-
complished; particularly marked has
been the moral effect Of the prosecu.
tons; but it is increasingly evident
that there will be very insufficiently
beneficial result in the way Of econ
omic changes. The successful prose
cution of one device to evade the law
develops another device
to accomplish the same purpose. What
is needed is not sweeping prohibition
Of every arrangement, good or bad,
which might tend to restrict competi-
ton, but such adequate supervision and
regulation as will prevent any restric
ton of competition from being to the
detriment Of the public, as we'll as
such supervision and regulation as
will prevent other abuses, in no way
connected with restriction of competi-
tion.'