The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1909-04-26
WALTER WELLMAN CRITlClZES
THE PAYNE TARIFF BILL
iMPARTtALLY.
Dean of American Newspaper Core
spondents Says Trickery Char
acterizes Measure.

some spots, very bad in others, and the
latter pretty numerous, is coming to be
more and more the nonpartisan judg-
ment upon the Aldrich tariff BILL
This is the way Walter Wellman
starts out to describe the non-partisan
view of the new tariff bill Continu-
ing. Wellman goes more into details,
in the article sent from here to the
Chicago Record Herald
4 Wedlman is the dean of American
newspaper correspondents. His ability
to accurately get the facts is perhaps
greater than that of any other member
of the Washington corps of correspon-
dents. 1t is said that he has an I'M
derstanding with his paper that under
no circumstances is his copy" to be
edited except for possible typograph-
/ zeal errors Such is the confidence re-
posed in his ability to correctly Ing
| terpret the signs -the-times at the
national capital. Therefore Wellman's
views of the new tariff bill are inter-
esting.
| "Adroit, clever, smart-are the
words, says Wlallman, FUSED in char
acterzation by men whose vision has
penetrated through the maze of figures
and descriptions in the schedules and
perceived the true inwardness of GER
| tain seemingly innocent changes of the
| law therein proposed.
Study of the bill as reported to the
senate shows the correctness of the
generalization given from time to time
in these dispatches to the effect that
Senator Aldrich, the expert tariff-mak-
er, would frame a bill apparently max
ing concessions to the public opinion,
but taking mighty good care of inn
portant interests in most important and
vital respects.
"This proves to have been the case,
and in some particulars it is true with
a vengeance. The manner in which
certain interests have been taken care
of is known to some republican SEN
ators. and they propose to ventilate the
whole business when the debate comes
on.
"'Tric<ery' is the work they use in
private to characterize the process.
"'These senators do not hope to beat
the bill or to secure any important
amendments. Senator Aldrich is too
well intrenched behind his log-rolled
bulWarlls-his combination of inter
ests which have taken care of and will
stand together to give ground for hope
Of changes. But tie light will be let
in Just the same. The country VIII
have to take the Aldrich bill, but 1t
need not shut its eyes.
zone of the most powerful industries
in the tariff making business are the
cotton manufacturers of New England.
Tney have always had friends high at
court. Twelve years ago, when the
existing law was framed, they mad
from New England as chairman of the
house committee on ways and means
Nelson Dingley of Maine, and as chair
man of the senate committee on fin
ance they had Nelson Aldrich OF
Rhode Island.
'TWhat were the cotton manufacture
ers able to do under these circumstance
es? Why, they simply wrote the cot
ton schedules themselves, and as II
left their pen so it appeared upon the
statute books and is there today. Hav-
ing made the rules to suit themselves,
| 1t was supposed they were content;
that they would not ask for anything
more. But not so. Their agents have
been here all winter, and they have not
spent their time in vain, as the sequel
will show.
I'm the statement about the senate
bill prepared by Senator Aldrich, there
appears the following:
"In the cotton schedule there has
been an extension of the specific rates
to cover a class of fancy goods and
novelties which are covered in the ex-
listing law by ad valorem rates
innocent enough on the surface
surely From the foregoing no one
would suspect that scheme involving
millions of dollars of profits to the cot
ton manufacturers has been worked
| slylv into the schedule. But when we
! dig beneath the surface of things we
4 find an amazing story Not content
with their own bill. prepared by them
selves-and l have seen letter from
the late Mr.. Dingley admitting that
the cotton men wrote the schedule in
| the law bearing his name-they came
| to Washington this winter determined
to get more protection. They went to
the ways and means committee and
made their wishes known. The COM
mittee replied: We would like to please
you, but we have promised Mr.. Taft
not to put UP duties on articles used by
the common people and we can't do it.
"Oh we don't want an increase of
duties" the cotton men replied; "only
a classification of goods
This struck the committee favor
ably, and the upshot of the matter was
that the cotton men prepared a sched-
ule, submitted it to the committee and
the committee adopted it. The rates
on cotton cloth were not increased, but
the rates of duty were increased from
100 to 800 per cent!
Good authorities say that the Aid
rich scheme of raising duties without
raising rates, through manipulation of
the classification, will virtually destroy
all foreign competition and enable the
home manufacturers to exact much
/ higher prices from consumers"