Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1909-09-27
OUESTIONSFORT TAFT
Continued from page one. ,


ate means. and which is plainly i'll
violation Of the Republican platform
and your personal pledges?
a. The wool which the Payne
bin with YOUR approval admits at
duties as low cs 90 percent is used
chiefly by the manufacturers OF wor-
sted goods. worn By the well-to-do,
the wool which the same bill excludes
from the country by prohibitory du-
ties is needed for carded WOODEN
goods. worn chiefly by the people Of
moderate means. As result the
worsted business is highly prosper
Gus. while the carded wooden bust
ness is declining and the people are
forced 10 wear clothing made of cot
ton and shoddy or extremely light
weight worsted goods. These con-
ditions have been well known. Why
did YOU permit them TO continue?
90 These wide variations in the
tariff rates on wool are due TO the
fact that the specific rate is levied
on wool grease and dirt, as we'll as
on the wool AS result the grow
ers of the heavy shrinking wool,
chiefly in the far west. are protected
by prohibitory rates as high as 700
per cent. while the growers of light
shrinking wool, chiefly in the Mod
die West. are exposed TO runious
competition by reason Of duties as
low as 80 per cent. Why did you
not see that these duties were equal
lied and the tariff made fair to all
classes of producers?
CO At New YORK on December
Is. last year, you stated publicly
Il am a protectionist, but do
not think it consistent to say that
protection makes the possibility Of
trusts and monopoies easier than If
we didn't have it. I believe that
the way TO stamp out trusts and mo-
ropolies IS not TO stamp out pro-
lection. but to avoid excessive rates
which tempt monopolies."
Why did YOU give your approval
to the Payne bill. which makes the
worsted trust possible by reason Of
the excessive low duties on the wool
the trust buys. and also by reason
Of the excessively high duties on the
wool the trusts carded wooden COM
petitors buy. the excessively high
duties on the by-products the trust
sells TO its competitors and the eX-
cessively high duties on the finished
goods the trust sells to the con
sumers?
90 The removal of the existing
abuses under the wool and wool
goods tariff would have been sub
stantial relief to the consumer and
would have deprived the powerful
worsted trust OF valuable special pro
vileges. Why. then, was the wool
schedule ignored by the Republican
party machine during tariff revision.
and with your tacir approval while
so much prominence was given to the
removal Of the small duty on hides.
which in all probability afforded
needed protection to the cattle rails
els and whose removal has not and
cannot benefit the consumer 10 any
apprecialle extent?
CSl The contributions to the Re
publican congressional campaign
fund Of 1e9e have never been pub
Iishod. 4 lew representatives Of
the growers OF heavy shrinking wool
in the Far West and OF worsted
manufacturers in the East met in
secret at Chicago on October u,
1905 and resolved to stand pat on
the wool and wool goods schedule.
CONGRESS. OF which the majority in
the House OF Representatives was
elected by the aid OF secret contri-
buttons to the campaign fund. stood
nat on the schedule. Before YOU
signed the Payne bill, your attention
was called to these suspicious circum-
stances. and to the additional fact
that representatives OF the Republi-
can congressional campaign commit
tee had visited Boston. the center Of
the worsted industry, just before the
1905 campaign and before the Chi
cago meeting of the worsted spin
ners and wool growers al which the
stand pat agreement was made.
Knowing, as you did, the chance for
corruption in secret campaign con-
tributions, and with the suspicious
circumstances l have named. as plain
then as now, why did you not make
a rigid inquiry before you signed the
Payne bill, which. If the suspicious
were we'll founded, carried out a
bargain between the Republican
party and the protected interests at