Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1908-07-01
Tarin Reformln. uncle.


Tariff Reforming Uncle.
1t is very comical to see the anxiety
Of some Republican politicians fol
tariff reform. There Is Uncle Shelby
Moore Culloni. Of Illinois, who has
been Senator from Illinois for the past
twenty-four years, and member Of
the House of Representatives for SIX.
teen years before that, now says eve
must have tariff reform" Uncle
Shelby has kept his ear close to the
ground during all his long public ca
reer and has faithfully voted for the
tarin bills that have fostered and pro
tected the trusts and has been endors-
ed In SO doing by the Republican party
Of Illinois, but now he wants reform
Of some kind. Your Uncle Shelby is
too cute to say how much reform he
is hankering after, he will, of course,
leave that to the Republican National
Convention, but he wants tariff bill
promised after election"
Uncle Shelby probably does not care
whether "the principle of protection
is again endorsed by the Republican
party, or whether maximum and
minimum tariff, which would raise the
tariff higher, is the outcome after
election" but he wants it understood
that before election he is for reform OF
the boldest kind without specifying
what schedules shall be abolished OF
revised.
Your Uncle Shelby Is no better OF
worse than the average Republican
politician, and his bold pronouncement
for tariff reform Immediately after
election is a strong indication that
the great majority of the people Of
Illinois have been clamoring for tariff
reform before election, and that 1t Is
the part of wisdom to try and con-
sole them with a promise for the fu-
ture.
Can the people Of Illinois be kept
in line for the Republican party again
by promlses2 What will they do to
Uncle Shelby and the other Republic
cans who represent them II their fav-
orite SOD, Uncle Joe Cannon, is re-
elected Speaker again, and persists in
appointing stand pat Ways and
Means Committee like the present one
that laughs and glbes at tariff reform
Of the slightest kind? Uncle Joe is
backed by all the power and money of
the trusts, and nothing but a political
revolution will unhorse him.
In fact, nothing but Democratic
majority in Congress, continued for,
at least, four years, will reform the
tariff. II the Democrats control the
House of Representatives of the next
Congress and pass a tariff reform bill,
your Uncle Shelby will probably vote
In the Senate against it. But even If
he, forced by public opinion, should
vote for tariff reform bill, there are
more than enough friends of the trusts
and combines In the Senate to defeat
1t.
1t is safe to say that practically
every Republican in the Senate and
House would vote against Demo-
cratic tariff reform measure, just as
they have refused to consider the bills
for reforming the abuses OF the tariff
that were before the committee at the
session Just ended. There was the bill
to reduce the tariff rates that exceed
100 per cent, and the bill to abolish
the duty on wood pulp and print pa
per were never reported from the
committee that Speaker Cannon ap-
pointed and controlled.
1t is no good to try and fool the
people with promises all the time. If
they want tariff reform they must not
only elect a Democratic House Of
Representatives, but a Democratic
majority In the Senate also. The peo-
pie Of Illinois will have the opportu-
nifty Of defeating the reelection Of
Senator Hopkins this fall, IL they re-
ally want tariff reform, but they. will
have to elect Democratic State leg
iislature to do 80. There are over
twenty States that will have similar
opportunity. But will they do it?
Two years later they will elect thirty
more United States Senators, and 1t
will need majority of these to be
Democrats to assure tariff reform.
Any reform Of value that will prevent
the trusts from charging high prices,
or from selling cheaper abroad than