Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1909-03-21
MANUFACTURERS
 WILL HELP TAFT
John w. Van Cleave, Pres dent of the National Asso Regardless of Politics. o Assist the New President in Carrying Out His Poicies-A Busness Admins t1ation.
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l need hardly remind every reader that it is the duty of all good citizens, Democrats and Republicans, to strengthen President Tafts hands in every practicable way. In all the long line from the beginning, no other President, on entering office. ever had a larger share of the public confi dence. All clements of the people believe that he will make sane, capable, patriotic official They have faith that he will be President for the entire country, regardless of party or locality. We have all noticed that he has captivated the heart of the South a region which has given very few favors to his party in the past half century.
 President Taft's accession to office has given an impetus to the trade re- vival. This is what all of us had undoubtedly did expect. Shortly after the election. he said that his success was largely due to the support which he received from the business men of the whole country. We did not support him because he was Repub- lican, but because we knew that On industrial and financial questions he was sound. We knew this not only from what he said during the cam paign, but from his record He has played many parts on the public stage during the past twenty years. and has played all of them we'll. His early training as q lawyer and jurist has given him grasp of legal ques- tions in their broad aspects which Yill be of great value to the country. In these days. when trade is recover ing from the shock which it received through the fear of harmful meddling from the White House or Congress, Mr. Taft's balance and tact will be of immense servce to the people.
 have said that President Taft is sound on all the great issues with which business men, as business men, have a direct concern. On tariff revi- sion, and also on the subject of a tariff commission, he has taken the ground which has been held by the National Association of Manufactur- CTS from the beginning. He wants the revision to be thorough and eQui- table. He favors the creation of a board of able, experienced, non-parti san business men to make the pre- industrial conditions, at home and abroad, which will form the ground work on which the Ways and Means Committee can hereafter build its tariff adjustments.
 Here let me correct two misappre hensions regarding the position of the National Association of Manufactur- CTS. One is the assumption. which is shared in by some of our own mem
 
 tariff revison which Is just ahead of us. The other is the notion that we propose, in defiance of the constitu- tion and the statutes, to let the com mission frame the tariff, and thus to take this work practically out of the hands of Congress.
 Amazing as these erroneous impress sions are, they are held by many per- sons who are we'll informed and sen- sible on most subjects. It ought 10 be well known to everybody who read the papers at the time, that the plat form adopted by the Republican Ma tional Convention at Chicago last June pledged the party, if successful at the polls, to revise the tariff in 8 session of Congress to be called as soon as practicable after the inauguration. The Democratic platform also deciar- d for revision. Often during the