Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1909-04-16
THE BILL PASSES THE HOUSE.

he DILL FAOSEO LIE AOOO G.
The tariff bill which from its incep-
ton, is a fake and fraud, has passed
the House. Four Democrats voted
with the Republicans to pass it and
the vote was 217 to 161.
The bill, however, is by no meaus
passed. 1t has yet to go through the
Senate. Being a revenue measure it
was bound to originate in the House
and be passed there. The Senate,
however, will have something to say.
1t puts coal oil on the free list Think
of that-and Mr.. Aldrichin the Senate
waiting to vote On such bill. Does
anybody believe he will quietly sub
nit to his favorite company being thus
treated This part of the bill, how
ever, as well as other parts, is sop
thrown to the people. They are told,
or will be by the spellbinder, that coal
oil which the poorest hovel must be
furnished with to give it light, has been
made FREE by generous government.
But the generous government will be
unable to show to the people that oil
has been made cheaper or that it will
ever be sold for any sum save that de-
manded by the trust. There is no coal
oil shipped into this country from any,
where in the wide world. We might
as well put tariff on air or sea water as
on coal oil. Russia is the only coun-
try where oil in any quantity is known
to exist. The Standard Oil Co. has in
vaded Russia and is, so far as oil from
that country is concerned, able to die
tate prices. This, therefore, Is fake,
a hoax and fraud, deliberately perpe-
trated for political reasons The people
are not benefited thereby. But four
Democrats voted with the Republi-
cans. Four renegades lined up with
the enemy. Why Because the tariff
on sugar pleased them. They were all
Louisianans. In order to put some
money in the pockets of sugar growers
in that State all of the people of the
United States must pay a heavy tax
on this necessity. This shows at once
the iniquity of the tariff. But the
Payne bill on sugar suited them as it
suits the Sugar Trust, the Havemeyer's
for whose especial benefit it was made.
If the Republicans had intended doing
anything for the people their sympathy
should have appeared in this one item
of sugar where they could have honest
ly shown their feeling for the poor.
Thus in time will many other items be
shown to have the same object, the
object of protecting trusts.
The bill, however, is full of catches,
full Of cheats, full Of political chicane-
ry and ledgerdemain. OF course every
body with common sense knows that
iron ore cannot be mined in any foreign
country, shipped here as ballast even,
loaded onto cars at ports of entry and
then manufactured cheaper than our
own ores at the very doors of our fur
naees. So with coal. 1t cannot be
brought here cheaper than we can dig
it, and in addition to that the coal
which makes our country rich is not
found elsewhere. Timber and wood
pulp needed no protection. If any OF
these articles are lowered they have
been lowered because the trusts are al
most in complete control and they
needed no protection.
But the portion of the tariff bill
which it will take time and study to
comprehend is the maximum and min
imum rates. This experts alone will
have to work that out. Our people will,
however, feel any bill which places on
them burden in taxes of over bill
lion dollars year no matter how 1t
comes, and this is the way they
should look at it. Study the cause OF
this enormous taxation, made higher
by Republican extravaganza, and see
if you deserve such taxation or should
quietly submit to it.