The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-07-21
July 21.--wnl the

washington, July -zl.-Will the
president sign?
With the end OF the conference over
the now famous Payne-Aldrich bill
close at hand, the question has be-
come the by-word of Washington.
Some ask: Will the President have
the courage to o. Il. the bill? Others:
VIII the President have the courage
to refuse to sign the bill?
1t will be a grave moment for the
new president when the Payne-Ald-
rich bill Is laid before him for his sig
nature. Upon his action win in all
probability hang the success or failure
of his Presidency In the moment
that he decides what course he will
pursue as to signing or refusing to
sign. he will be making or unmak-
ing his political future.
And as matter of fact, no one can
say whether as a political move II
would be wiser for the president to
do one thing than the other, because
no one can read the future for a cor-
tainty.
Here is the situation the president
finds himself in:
On the one hand he stands at the
head of the party OF protection; he
was elected President of the United
States with a campaign fund furnished
by the sugar trust, the steel trust, the
oil trust and the other big industrial
combinations. When the corporations
contributed to the Republican cam
paign fund they well understood the
tariff was to be revised. II was under
stood also between the Republican
campaign managers and the corpora
tions which depend upon high tariff
rates for their excessive profits, that
In return for their assistance, finan-
cial or therwise, in electing a Repub.
lican president, the tariff rates ef-
fecting the goods in which they dealt
would be taken care Of"
In accordance with this understand
ing. the tariff was revised. IL was re-
vised in such a manner as to make
more absolute the domination Of
American markets by the tariff trusts.
trusts.
Now comes the time for the presi-
dent to play his part and sign the
bill. If he refuses to sign 1t, the
stand-patters of his party. who are
In absolute control of the political
machine which nominates presidents
and elects them with corporation con-
tributed campaign funds. will turn
against him. charging him with de-
serting the Republican policy of pro-
lection.
II the president signs the bill the
standpatters, Messrs. Aldrich, Cannon.
Dalzell, Smt, ct al. will wrship him
as great protection god. as will
the special interests which control Re-
publican politics. BY signing Presi-
dent Taft will stand high in the esti-
nation of the machine" and will get q
denomination or anything 1t is within
the power of that excelently discip.
lined organization to give.
The president would have easier
sailing in complying with the require
ments of the machine which made
him president were II not that he
made some promises to the people.
At Milwaukee, Sept. "a, 1908, he
said: hlt.
1T is my Judgment that revi-
sion of the tariff In accordance with
the pledge of the Republican platform
VIII be. on the whole, q substantial
REVISION DOWNWARD"
The Payne-Aldrich measure. when
last heard Of, was still revision up-
ward.
Mr. Taft made n more important
statement a little further down in
the same speech: t~
Much criticism has been made be-
cause of the fact that in some OF the
protected industries tho product is
sold abroad and in foreign markets at
less price than that at which they
are sold here"
Under such circumstances, said Mr..
Taft, 1t must be admitted" that
the tariff Is greater than the differ
entail between the cost of production
at home and abroad, and that II
should therefore be reduced"
To live up to this pledge the presi-
dent would have to require that the
Payne-Aldrich bill be changed from
beginning to end. The testimony be-
fore the Ways and Means commit
tee was that nearly many manufacture
a M ~ MI Ixx. a..t. fac-f