Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1909-09-15
THE NEW TARIFF Law
TO BRING PROSPERITY
It's Purpose Contrasted With
the Law of 1893.
Senator johnson Shows How Some
Dealers Will Try to Raise Prices
Because Of 1t.


by Senator johnson, of North Da-
kota, replying to the speech of Sen
ator Gore, of Oklahoma, who said
that the test of the tariff law would
be, Are prices to the consumers
cheaper?
Senator johnson said:
Mr.. President, the time for dis
cussion is past, yet l do not feel like
leaving the false standard erected
by the senator from Oklahoma (Mr.
Gore) as the last words said by
which TO test the tariff law. The
American people will test it by no
such false standards. The senator
would have us believe that the
test will be whether prices will be
lower and wages lower next year.
That is not the kind of a law we
have passed.
I remember very we'll when the
senator's party was in power and
passed a tariff law for the deliber-
ate purpose of making things cheap.
They succeeded, and we know that
they would succeed in doing that.
There is something beyond that.
The question is, Will it produce
prosperity and happiness? I re-
member seeing, when that law was
in force, a carload of wool standing
on the Northern Pacific railroad
ready to ship. 1t was not put into
the train for this reason: The
Northern Pacific wanted somebody
to pay the freight in advance or to
guarantee the freight because they
were not sure that that wool would
sell for enough in the market to pay
the freight.
1.-The same thing was true at
Dickinson, in North Dakota. The
Northern Pacific Railroad company
would not move carload of sheep
until the freight was paid in adj
vance, because they were not sure
that the she would sell for enough
to pay the freight when they got
to Chicago.
1.-The sheep owners in Arizona
hired lot of sheep shearers assum-
ing that they could get money out
of the wool when they got the
sheep sheared, by trading with the
commission merchants. They found
that they could not draw on that
wool and there was riot and blood
shed among those sheep shearers,
because honest men. intending to
pay them, could not raise the money
on the wool to pay for the shearing.
There was other evidence before
the house committee in 1897 prov
ing that sheep had not Teen sheared
for four yea1s and they had wool
on them two feet long.
II know that in those years 200
men-good honest men. glad to
work and willing to work-applied
at my back door, first for work and
then for bread. could not furnish
them work, but supplied them with
bread as far as I could. Wages
were cheap and bread was cheap
and wheat was cheap.
I'VE do not promise anything OF
that kind. The true test with the
American people in applying this
law is, Will it be easier to get
bread, will it be easier 10 get wool
en- clothing, and will it be easier to
get cotton clothing? That is the
true test.
Il want to take up just two items,
shoes and wooden cloth The Times,
of this city, took an apparent con-
census of the opinion of shoe dealers
ofthis city and of Baltimore and
Philadelphia. They all agreed that
they would have to raise the price
of shoes from 10 to 20 percent on
account of the new tariff, and that
would mean from so cents to a dol
lar a pair Notwithstanding the
fact that we have reduced the duty
on shoes from % per cent to 10 per
cent, these men would make people
believe that on account of the tariff
they Will have to raise the price on
a pair of shoes from 80 cents to
dollar. With duty of 10 per cent
on the leather that enters into
pair of shoes it would not average
over two cents pair. If there is
any tariff question affecting those
men they should reduce the price
on account of the reduced tariff on
leather two cents on pair of shoes.
Now then, as to wooden cloth.
There has been no advance what
ever in the wooden schedule. There
has been a slight reduction on one
kind of yarn, but there has been no
advance. Yet senator stood
ON this floor on the Sth of July and
read a letter from a combination of
clothing dealers stating that on &C
count of the new tariff they would
be compelled to raise the price OF
clothing to the American people to
the amount of $500, 600, 900 a year.
Nobody blames those people for
wanting to make money out of sell
ing cloth; nobody has any i'll will