The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1909-10-28

VI Il tOIlud-
I am a candidate for the Office of
United States senator, to be voted for
at the primary election to be held IN
1910 If elected. it viii be my duty
to serve your interests, and it is your
right to know by what principles l
viii be guided in the performance OF
that duty. l accordingly state my
views, upon what seem. to me TO be
some of the principal general qUes-
tons which now agitate the country
and l ask a careful consideration OF
them by you, 10 the end that, II you
find them acceptable to you, and be
Heye that l will adhere TO them. and
to the best of my ability, seek 10
serve YOU in the United States senate
in accordance with them, you viii, by
your votes. select me for that purpose,
and for the purpose Of advocating
such other policies as may from time
to time be for the best interests of
the people. This statement of these
principles Is not exhaustive, because
there are many other matters Of i'm
pOTtance affecting the country and
you. but it viii suffice to Indicate my
stand upon some of the large matters
which interest you.
Construction of the Constitution.
1. I believe in a strict construction
of the constitution of the United
States, so that the powers committed
by the several states through that in
strument to the general government,
may be held to be only those express
" given, or necessarily implied from
those given. To permit cOnSidera-
tons Of expcdienCy OF convenience to
determine the construction of any pro
vision of the constitution, means that
RI nj SIS n nlI 2
citizens are to be fixed, not by the re-
stTiCtiOn intended by the makers Of
the constitution. but by the shifting
policies and desires Of the party in
power, and means that by gradual eX-
tension of federal power those rights
will be Obscured and finally lost.
Tariff for Revenue Only.
>. I favor a tariff for revenue only.
regard d tariff for the purpose Of
protection as not only oppressive, but
1 find no warrant
in the constitution of the United
States for the upbuilding of one class
at the expense Of another and l be-
Iieve that the only excuse for a tariff
is the necessity to raise money for
governmental expenses. Admittedly,
until some other adequate means be
devised, a large part of such money
must be raised from taTiff duties. The
sole legitimate purpose, however, be-
ing the obtaining OF revenue for gov
eTnmentaI purposes. that purpose
should be kept steadily in view, and
any benefit to any particular class
should be only incidentally cOnsid-
cred.
In the settlement Of great eco
monte problems, interests of different
classes necessarily clash, and it be
IL,
should be preferred in considering
the results of any legislation dealing
with such problems. Thus in the
matter of the tariff, unreasonably
large profits TO the manufacturer
necessarily means relatively less
wages to the labOTeT engaged in man
and larger prices to the
who include the labOTeT-
Tariff on Luxuries.
In a conflict between these. l think
that upon the principles of the great
est good to the greatest number, and
upon the further principle that no class
should be benefited by special legisla-
ton, at the expense Of another. the
rights of the consumers, who include
all labOreTs, ought to be regarded as
first. I believe, however, that if the
necessities of revenue require the lay
ing of a tariff. such tariff should be
laid first upon Injuries. Applying this
a tariff upon the importation
of pineapples, oranges, tobacco and
like products, would not only be per
misSible, but desirable. Such tariff
would merely recognize the fact that
a tariff is necessary to raise revenue,
and apply it TO those articles to
which. if applied at all, il should be
applied.
/ believe also. that if such tariff for
purposes of revenue must be imposed
on articles of necessity. manufactured
or manufactured, it should be laid
upon those articles upon which thel
profit to the producer or manufaC-
turer is small and not upon those
where the profits are, as in some
cases, enormous. An application of
this principle would inuTe to the bene-i
ht OF southern products and manu- !
features, such as lumber, naval stores |
and cotton, from which only Scaut /
profit by the producer is usually I
made, and not to protect as the pres
ent tariff does, almost exclusively, /.
northern products, in which the man /
ufactureT's profit at times reaches as
much as C6 % per cent
Tariff Free Raw Materials.
I am in favor of tariff free raw ma
u 1915 winch 90 not enter ltlD pro-
-ected manufactured products. When
a material is free. and a manufactured
product into which it enters protected,
the manufacturer gets the benefit, but
the labOTer OF consumer gets none.
II Is quite difficult. for instance. for
any one except a sectional partisan to
see why cotton. a southern product.
should be admitted free. when articles
from cotton, and JUte
5agging and iron ties. used in COnnec-
ion with the cotton and largely north
7rn products, are protected by a tariff
The whole object Of the tarif
should be to produce revenue for the
purposes Of government economically
and in carrying out this
purpose. l believe that the distribution
Of burdens and benefits can be so
made as TO protect the manufacturer
10 legitimate and reasonable profits,
he labOTeT from cheap labor COmpe-
itiOn, and al the same time, furnish
10 the consumer articles at reasonably
low prices, and not a. high prices,