The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1908-04-10
A TARIFF Commission
How 1t Would Benefit the Re-
publican Party.
A CAMPAIGN FUND PRoVIDER.

Roosevelt Strangely Silent About the
National Publicity Bill In Recent
Messase-Reason For Omission obvi-
ous-PoIitics at White House-Black
List and Boycott-Democrats to Fight
Anti-labor Legislation.
BY WILLIS J. ABBOT.
There have come to me so many IN
quiries concerning Democratic state
conventions thus far held and the dates
of those yet to come that l take this
opportunity of giving the information
to friends who may he interested.
These states have already acted: Wis
consin, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska,
North Dakota, Rhode Island, Iowa and
Indiana All of these states instructed
for Mr.. Bryan except Rhode Island.
Ir that state, which has eight dele
gates to the convention, seven of those
chosen are pronounced Bryan men.
The convention, however, declined to
instruct.
The state conventions the Gates OF
which have been fixed are as follows:
New Jersey, April %; Illinois, April %;
Ohio, May 5; Minnesota, May IA; Eir-
ginia, May II; Washington, May Is;
South Carolina, May 20; Pennsylvania,
May 20; Missouri, May 20; Texas, May
&c; Oregon, June Ii; Tennessee, June
II.
OF course this doesn't by any means
cover the full list of states, and within
the next two or three days the dates
of many other conventions are likely
to be announced.
Governor Johnson's Friends.
Governor Johnson ought to re-echo
that old prayer that he might be saved
from his friends. In letter to the
editor of a Swedish paper in his state
he expressed his willingness to accept
the Democratic nomination for the
presidency, which indeed no man this
year would care to decline. The gov
ernor's letter was straightforward and
manly, but the enthusiast to whom it
was sent or some other enthusiast
with whom the latter must have con-
ferred followed the letter in the press
dispatches with certain statements
that will not greatly aid Governor
Johnsons ambitions. He said, for eX-
ample, that the friends of the governor
were hopeful of getting part Of the
Minnesota delegation, and they recall
ed the fact that in 1892 Grover Cleve-
land did not have the united New
York delegation back Of him, yet was
nominated And the correspondent
went on to say that Governor john
sons friends do not hesitate to assert
that the forces that were behind Cleye-
land at that time are today behind
johnson.
The forces behind Cleveland prior to
the convention of 1892 sent to that
convention mutimillonaire, now
dead, but whose name has been sadly
furnished by recent revelations in New
York finance. The forces behind Cleve-
land during the election were the
forces of plutocracy, the Wall street
and the railroad multimillionaires. The
effect of this support was that in the
first congressional election after Cleve-
lands Inauguration the Democratic
party was beaten as it had not been
beaten for long before nor was beaten
afterward until the forces behind
Cleveland rendered the valuable serv-
ice of getting behind Judge Parker.
Planning Campaign Funds.
People about the house and the SEN
ate are calling attention to what seems
to be carefully prearranged plan to
secure for the next Republican ma
tional committee a comfortable cam
paign fund, and the Republicans have
SO long carried elections by the power
of money that they would be grievous-
" embarrassed if they did not have
some millions at their disposal.
In, message Of some months ago
President Roosevelt warmly commend
edthe principle of bill Of which Per-
" Belmont is the most able promoter
for giving publicity to all campaign
contributions. That bill is before con-
gress, or, to he more accurate, IS in
committee, but when the president sent
his latest message asking that certain
things be done before the end of this
most dilatory session the national pub
licity bill was not one Of the things he
mentioned
But he did urge the creation Of
tariff commission, which should Sit
during the summer and fall and take
evidence and gather statistics bearing
upon that famous revision of the tariff
which for some ten years has always
been going to be made Immediately
after the next election.
Put these two matters together. a
tariff commission, which if created by
this congress would necessarily have
swinging majority Of high tariff states
men upon it travelling about the coun-
try meeting the protected manufactur.
erS all the way from the shipbuilders
Of Pennsylvania to the lumber mag
mates of Oregon, would naturally be
able to suggest to these gentlemen
who have profited so much by the tar
if that the defeat Of the Republican
party In the next election would be
disastrous to them, while its success
could only be secured by the use of
money.