New-York tribune., 1909-03-31
nr,,ocp ,ro AND THE TARIFF.

DFN0TR ATS AND IhE / 3hifi
Divisions among Democrats on the tariff is
size are 50 pronounced that the minority party
in the House of Representatives has given up
as homeless the attempt to frame a SUBSTITUTE
for tbo Pavne bill Such a substitute had 1t
boar 'nossfhIa 10 prepare it. could have salts
fed only 4 small fraction Of the Democratic
,,ar7,r7arshin of the House for it would have
Fae71 a hodge-podge Of Inconsistencies ana com
,,romises Many Democrats would have 1ncoh-
4fuantIv abandoned il, on the ground thaI
neither as a revenue producer nor as measure
of incidental protection could it bear comparl
son with The far saner bill offered by the ways
and Means Committee. The divergenceS "'
orinion in The Democratic camp are, IN TACT
50 irraconCilahle that the minority Of the ways
and Means Committee could not formulate even
= theory of tariff taxation 10 which a majority
of Democratic Representatives would subscribe,
The Hon Champ Clark opened the general
debate for the minority Much was expected
Of him for he * a facile and interesting taiher-
Yet he failed completely 10 deune his a1utuuF
toward tariff taxation He did not CoInmt
himself 10 any one Of the three views or taflH
Tolicv which the Democratic party, genefaHH
spesl5ing has held. He would not say dls
rinctlv that he favored near an approach 70
free trade rs possible He did not argue eN-
,Iicirly for a tariff for revenue only. or for
tariff for revenue With incidental protection
L X needless 10 add that he did not give coun-
tanancp 10 the old Randall doctrine OF a tarlH
for protection with incidental revenue, for MI
Clark is at heart revisionist Of the missouri
Kentucky school. and has inherited the idea
So feelfnCly expressed by the Hon. ONE lanes
that tariff taxation is in the main device TOT
.'pillaging humanity
There are many Democratic Representatives
who seem 10 he more than anxious To "rillage
IN OF
Pavne bin docs not carry the pillage far enough
Some want higher duties on lumber and pea
nurs some want the tax on hides restored
Some want to preserve the taxes on IRON
ore and coal Some want a duty, other thah
the present countervatug duty, laid on petro-
Ie11rr Many Democrats who have spoken in
the House have begun ny attacking the Payne
bill for not lowering certain protective duties
and ended bv criticfSing il for not increasing
or maintaining other protective duties. In the
last Democratic revision the real prophets of
tariff reform laid down the principle that raw
materials should he admitted free and that
manufactures should bear the brunt Of taxa
lion But from the point Of view Of revenue
taxation pure and simple there is no excuse
for such 4 discrimination. The discrimination
IL protective I'm character. since ii aims st en-
couracinC manufacturing at home and AT giving
larger employment TO domestic labor Mr. VIII
son framed his tariff bill Of 1894 in accordance
with the free raw material theory. He took
the taxes off coal. iron ore. sugar. hides. lum-
Der. raw wool and cotton and denounced as
traitors To Democratic principles the Demo
cratic Senators who reimposed duties on those
articles.
Is the Democratic party Of 1900 true 70 the
Democratic faith of 1891 Apparently not; for
many Democratic Representatives are now
clamorng against the removal Of duties on
raw materials. and Mr Underwood. Of Ala
bama. q leading Democratic member Of the
Ways and Means Committee declared in
speech the other day that no real Democrat
could he a believer IN the doctrine Of free raw
materials II man believes in a tariff for
re7euue only. said Mr.. Underwood. he must
logically believe IN raising revenue on any and
all articles imported. no matter whether they
are raw materials or manufactures. The Ala
bama statesman thus read out Of the Demo
cratic PARTY Messrs. Cleveland. Wilson Mills
and Breckinridge just as they had read out
Of the party McssrS German Rrice Camden,
Caffpry and Pugh for insisting that raw mate
rails should not he SET in a class apart, but
should boar their portion Of the burdens Of
tariff taxation.
IF Mr Clark had been moro intent on counting
fame rs a leader he would have drawn n tariff
bill embodying his ideas Of tariff revision and
submitted if 10 the approval Of Democratic
caucus. Every other Democrat in that body
would then have had an opportunity 10 emu
late Mr. FitZgeraId'S recent exploit in proving
himself ''the rising hope Of 4 sane Democracy"
There would have been about one hundred and
seventy substitute bills offered and the country
would have gained much enlightenment on
the question Of what constitutes sound Demo
cratic tariff doctrine as il possesses now on
the question Of what constitutes n Democrat