Albuquerque citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1907-1909, 1908-07-09

reform in this direction. immunity
from law we promise nobody; immun-
ity from oppression, from its very
infancy the Democratic party has
been dedicated to establish and Sc
cure.
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 election since the
enactment of the Dingley law and
surely the country will not again be
deceived by Republican promises to
revise the tariff after the election.
Their appeal to the people is this
give us another chance to make you
promise and the promise will be
made
What does protectionism mean?
Under the Republican, policy of PR
lection, the people, the consumers,
while paying a little over $500, 0,000,-
600 per year into the treasury through
import duties on foreign goods, pay
between s1,250, 100000 and $780,
| 100000 a year in enhanced prices of
home produced goods. Our domestic
manufactures exceed our total i'm
ports by ten to one and they are
nearly all protected. 1t Is safe to say
that the people pay at least $500 %
the already wealthy beneficiaries of
protectionism for every dollar that
is paid into the treasury. Behind the
wall of high protection which in some
cascs is altogether prohibitive, the
trusts levy enormous tribute on the
people. This has amounted to not
less than $10,000,000,000 in the last
decade. not counting the amount paid
to support the government. This
money has come from the pockets of
the farmer, the mechanic, the mer-
| chant, the professional man and the
!aborer, and mas been poured into the
Golfers of the protected classes. More
than two-thirds of the capital that de-
rives profit from protection belongs
TO the trusts. The Democrats will re-
wise the tariff downward and in the
interests of the tax payers, who are
| always forgotten by the Republican
party.
There must be a revision and a
gradual reduction of the tariff by the
| friends of tariff reduction for the
common good and not by the bene-
| ficiaries of it's abuse who justify use
| of the impost taxing power for the
chief purpose of comforting privileges
ard lrofit up ~ the few at me ex.
pcnse of the many.
The president himself has said:
Il am of the opinion that one
change in the tariff could with ad-
| vantage be made forthwith. Our for
ests need every protection, and one
method OF protecting them would be
| to put upon the free list wood pulp,
| with a corresponding reduction upon
| paper made from wood pulp, when
they come from any country that
| does not put an export duty upon
| them"
| What was the fruit OF this recon-
| mendation? In the House a COM
mittee was appointed to muddy the
waters, to placate the newspapers and
to excuse non-action. The Republi-
| can majority decided to do nothing.
In fact, my countrymen, as l recall
| it, the only work done by the freak
ways and means committee of the Re-
| publican house in the matter of the
| revision or reduction of the admit
tedly unjustifiable high tariff was to
report out a bill to put upon the free
L
is the sum total of the result of all
| the ante-election tariff promises made
and repeated in several campaigns.
| Trusts.
| 1t is the shortest of steps from the
tariff to the trusts. Let it be denied
If they care to deny il, that the tariff
IS the real mother of the trusts.
| The president has made great pre-
/ to- nf 4. fEnuy trttG at nj i'm
tell OF the result. In a message de-
| livered to Congress he said:
| THE department of justice has for
| the last four years devoted more at
| tention TO antitrust legislation than
anything else. Much has been ac-
| complLshed; particularly marked has
been the moral effect Of the prose-
cutions; but it is increasingly evident
| that there will be very insufliciently
| beneficial result in the way of eco
! nomic change. The successful prose-
| cution Of one device to evade the law
| imm ediately develops another device
| to accomplish the same purpose.
| What is needed Is not sweeping pro-
| hibition of every arrangement, good
or bad, which may tend to restrict
competition, but such adequate SUPER
vision and regulation as viii prevent
any restriction OF competition from
being to the regulation as will pre-
vent other abuses in no way connect
ed with restrictions or competition"
This is an admission Of failure and
one does not need to dwell on this
admission further than TO say that the
| imprisonment of those who violated
the law would not have a more salu-
tary effect than all that has been done
or might have been done in this di-
| rection during his entire admlnistra-
/ ton.
The Democratic party will strike
! down special privileges whether
granted through a high protective tar
| iff or granted to government charter
ed corporations by permission of law.
| All trusts owe their birth and their
ability to continue existence to one or
the other of these two forms OF spe-
cal privileges, For private mOnOp-
oily, no business approximating private