Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-27

| the WHeel turned ana tney came |
into responsibility.
KANSAS CITY, November c7.-Speaker
Cannon, addressing the Knife and Fork
Club at a banquet last night, delivered
his long expected reply to the criticisms
of Senator CummnS- and others of the
so-called progressive" republicans of his
policies and of the course of the ma jority
| in Congress in connection with the tariff
law enacted last summer. Speaker Can
non spoke with unusual vigor and
earnestness. His remarks had been care
fully prepared in advance and his speech
is regarded as his official statement of his
own position and of the republican organ
ization in the House.
Speaker Cannon defended the new tariff
law in heartiest terms and said:
Now, gentlemen, there is only one
thing that can halt this confident move
forward to give the country another
era of prosperity such as we had from
1897 to 1907, and that is agitation for
the mere purpose of agitation, without
| any we'll conceived. healthy purpose in
view.
THE senators and representatives who
call themselves insurgents and who
voted against the enactment of the
Payne bill, voted to increase or main
tain the duties on the industries and
products of their own states and sec
tons. They were protectionsts for their
own people. but they were opposed to
protection for other people in other sec
tons
Senator La Toilette did not. vote to in
crease the duties on lead and zinc, but he
defended the finance committees sched-
ules on those products in speeches, say
ing they were not high enough explain
INA hnyv fIaA -
the question because he said he had
personal pecunary interest in the out
come.
Not Supporting the Platform
Senators La Toilette and Bristow and
the other insurgents voted to Increase the
duty on barley and barley malt for the
reason that their constituents produce
barley. In other words, these gentlemen
who call themselves insurgents voted
with the republicans on schedules that
protected the products of their constitu-
ents and with the democrats on schedules
that protected the products of other sec
IONS OF the country. That was their
right, but when they voted with the dem
ocrats against the final enactment of the
bill they voted to maintain the old sched-
ules Of the Dingley law and were not
supporting the pledge of the republican
platform or the pledges made by Presi-
dent Taft
There was not one member of the re-
publican majority who secured in the
bill as enacted all that he had commended
for President Taft Senator Aldrich and
myself all accepted more compromises
than the so-called insurgents were asked
to accept. In Illinois We wanted free
lumber, and my constituents wanted a
duty on petroleum because they
have the greatest independent oil pro
ducing district In the world. We were
beaten. but we did not make our own
! interests the only Interpretation of the
republican pledge to revise the tariff
Read Himself Out of Party.
senator Cummins complains that /
have read him out of the republican
party. Other sensitive gentlemen made
the same complaint against President Taft.
The senator does me too much. honor l
have not the authority to read any man
out nor have l the disposition 1 think
may say the same for the President l
have been member of the republican
party since 1t was organized and / have
never known of any man or group of
men being read out of any party except
by themselves.
There was minority in the party OPP
posed to President i4incoln's conduct of
the war. some because he did not move
fast enough and others because he went
too fast. Some of these people TOOK them
selves out of the party and supported
Gen. Mcclellan against Lincoln in 1864.
There were republicans who were dis
satisfied with President Grants admin
istration. and. not being able to control
the party. they went out and supported
Greeley in 1872.
In 1884 there was minority that OPP
posed the nomination of James G. Blaine,
and after participating in the conyen-
ton went out and supported Mr.. Cleve-
land at the polls, aiding in his election.
In 1896 there was another minority that
|
as part of the party platform. They
went out, organized the silver party and
then joined the democrats in support of
Mr.. Bryan. In the same year there was
minority in the democratic party OPP
posed to Mr.. Bryan's free silver platform
but in reality supported Mckinley, con-
tributing to his election.
Did Not Pose as Martyrs.
These men, who found themselves IN
! the minority in their own party and too
much committed to their ideas to accept
the will of the majority, read themselves
out of the parties to which they had
formerly belonged. That was their right,
and is the right of every man today. 1t
is Senator Cummins' right and Senator
La Follettes right: but manly men of all
political views have in the past exer-
cised that right openly and have not gone
about in garments of martyrdom because
they were not allowed to control the ma
jority. These men did not lose caste as
citizens. They exercised an inalienab!e
right TO unite their efforts with any party
that best represented their views 1t is
the kind of independence that wins re-
spect and that counts in our political con-
tests.
The senator. think. aptly recalled the
story OF the three tailors of Tooley street
VINO met and prepared the preamble, We
the people of England That is a good
! Illustration OF the ego that often donli-
mates the minority everywhere, in town
meetings, state legislatures. federal con-
crosses, I'm churches and in every place