The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-05-16

when the appropriation bills were be- fore us. Where was Roderick thenf Che blast upon his bugie here were " aith $50,000.00o. I believe everyons of these appropriation bills were in- chased in the Senate. over the House appropriations. and yet If the Senator had thrown his great weight and infiu- ence against them we should have re- sil ced the extravagant appropriations of the House instead of enlarging them. We can congratulate the sena- tor that 1t is better to repent now than never to repent at all. Whether this repentance shall stand the rude current oftths next appropriation bills remains yet to be seen.
 Afr. President, the Chairman of the Finance Committee says that he ex poets this bill to produce s345, 0Q0, ,00U of revenue for 1910.
 Protect Manufacturers.
 I read last year in The American Economist an article, as I remember. from MT. Van Cleave, President of the Manufacturers Association, stating that for every dollar paid into the treasury under the Dlngley bill, y3 were contributed to the manufacturers. If that be true then the people of the United Staes, the producers and other classes, will have to pay. in order to raise this ss45.00o.000 for the govern ment. over $1.0o0 0,00o,oo0 to the pro- tected manufacturers, a burden of over s10 for each man. woman and child in this country and sum nearly equal to one-third of all the money in the United States. The Senator from Iowa, Mir. Cummings, is reported to have said that all the robberies committed by, all the insurance companies, for all time. did not equal e-tifth of the amount that the American people were robbed of every year, under the pro- tective tafiff system"
 If the people were called upon to vote a direct tax of s1.O00 o00, 900. o-a even half that amount. to give fair and reasonable profit to the manufao- turers, I imagine that such a measure would receive support from that class alone. but because this tax Is indirect ly taken. the people continue to suf- fer 1t to be laid.
 It is claimed in behalf of this policy that 1t is better for the people to pay these ,exorbitant and unnecessary prices. for the money is kept at home. country derives very much consolation from knowing that the money of which he has been robbed is stili in the country. For myself. I rather think that should resent more keenly be- ing robbed by my neighbor than by foreigner.
 think there Is no Senator on this floor who advocates free trade. We have to raise an enormous revenue to meet the Unprecedented extravagance" of our appropriations and we are prac- tically agreed that this money should come largely from duties laid on im- ports. A revenue tarif impartialiy laid on all articles of import. exclud- ing coffee and tea, to support the gov- ernment with the higher rate on the luxuries, would require a duty of about 25 or 30 per cent and give our manu- lecturers an advantage of that per cent over foreign producers; certainly more than the difference between cost of labor at home and abroad, and find no authority in the constitution, or in common justice. for the Congress to take money from one class in order that another may make a profit.
 No one proposes that the farmer. the miner or the merchant or those en- gagged in the professions shall be guar anteed by the government a fair return on his labor, skill or investment. The manufacturers alone enjoy this bounty. How long shall this one class be guar anteed by law profit, whilst all other classes must labor and sweat and take the precarious chances of seasons and markets aided by no other laws than those of nature and trade?
 CIamoring for More.
 After fifty years of protection. these manufacturers are stilkA.clamoring for more protection, and. in many cases. selling their products cheaper abroad than at home: the home market, and the home people footing the bills. are not favored by them. The corridors of the Capitol are besieged by them: the offices and mail of Senators Is filled to ovsrfiowing by their appeals. every one with one voice and one mind dee manding higher rates. or that no re- ,duction7 be made in the most protective tariff bill ever framed. They are now demanding as a right, what they for merly sought as a favor. The men who foot the bills are not seen in these corridors. They are at work at home: they are unable to bear the expense ot a visit to Washington. Their voices are not heard or If heard fear are un- needed.
 The imposition of any tax can be Justified only by It's necessity; and when the tax is not for the support of the legitimate purposes of government. ii Is oppression. However small the tax upon the individual. in most cases 1t means self denial; often 1t takes the hook out of the child's hand and denies him education, and in a vast majority of cases 1t means a complete bar to aii