The Irish standard., 1909-09-25
PARTY ABOVE COUNTRY.

PARTY ABOVE COUNTRY.
The speech of President Taft at WI
mona on Friday evening of last week,
In which he Endorsed Congressman
Tawnsy because Of his voting for the
Payne-Aldrich tariff bill, though all his
colleagues from Minnesota and the
two senators thereof voted against
it, produced deep disappointment
among all citizens of the state. Not
only did President Taft indorse TaW-
ney's action, but he pronounced tho
new tariff bill on the whole as being
the best ever passed by the Republic
can party and declared that it re-
! ceived his official signature, notwith-
standing some defects therein, in Or
der to maintain party solidarity, the
interests Of the party being paramount
to the revision Of tariff schedules.
Such blunt admission, in view OF
the platform pledge and his own prom
ises during the campaign, has coi.-
WINGED the people Of the Northwest
| that they made mistake in voting
Mr. Taft into the presidential chair
tariff reform under his administrs-
ton. In fact, he said so, and they be-
lieve him.
The Republican press of the stats,
with scarcely an exception, has adj
versely criticised the utterances Of
President Taft. They realize the fact
that he is dominated by the pluto
cratic element of the party, and that
the plain people of the country have
an autocrat for a president. In his
Boston speech he praised Senator Aid
rich of Rhode Island as great states
man and financier; in his Chicago
speech he spoke nicely of Joe Car
non and in his Winona speech he said
he did not defend but supported Jim
Tawney for voting against the wishes
of his constituents. He has since
learned that he is not popular Idol.
He has kept aloof from the people
and sought the company of the select.
In Chicago he was the guest of honor
of the bankers at a ball, where tn"
attendance was limited to 200. Ia
Minneapolis he was taken in tow by
an exclusive set, and at his sugges-
ton only persons holding tickets were
him talk. No wonder his presence on
the streets elected but little applause
or enthusiasm from the spectators who
beheld him in the automobile parade
1t is no injustice to him to say that
he is aristocratic by nature, educa-
I ton and. personal association, and that
it is extremely condescending on his
part to smile benignantly on ordinary
mortals at long range. What a con-
trast between Roosevelt and Taft
when they come in close contact with
plain, everyday citizens Of the repub-
lie!
F: It ia needless at this time to recur
to the injustice and iniquity of tho
tariff bill, which President Taft eulo-
gized so highly in his Winona speech.
! Perhaps he should not be blamed for
praising the abortion for the reason
that he made it the law of the land
! by his signature. AS the Chicago
, Tribune aptly says, he has taken this
bull by the tail and is obliged to nanK
! onto it for his own personal safety:
Had Mr.. Taft perused the expert
analysis of the bill in the Review Of
Reviews, from the consumers stand-
point as Endorsed and expounded by
Dr. Albert Shaw, he would have hesi-
tated before lavishing such high praise
upon 1t. But President Taft evident
~ 10 satisfied so long as the bill IL
pleasing to the eastern manufacturers.
The people demanded revision Of
high tariff rates, the Republican plat
form promised to give 1t, and so did
Mr.. Taft, and after q careful analysis,
the Review of Reviews says that:
1.-THE simple fact is that the Payne
tariff is the most thorough-goins high
protectionist measure that has ever
been enacted in this country or Ia
any other land" Mr.. Taft signed It
and Mr.. Tawney voted for 1t. Time
will tell what the people think Of them
IL they again appeal for their votes.