Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1909-07-21
TAFT ON THE TARIFF.
ISSUES FIRST FORMAL STATE
MENT FROM WHITE HOUSE.
Statement Clears Situation and
Shows President Determined
That Party Promises Shall
Be Kept.

dtspelling all doubt as to HIS 8ttitr''e
on the tariff quef~ ion all he ~ e
statement for tk reaso6f Mfit Taft
| feels that he, 2 - eader of the
republican party,,9ns az broader view
of the situation throughout the coun-
try than any single member of con-
gress. He has been told the con-
ference would not concede the nu-
merous reductions he has demanded
! because of threats made by mem
bers of both houses that they would
never vote for measure which
failed to protect the interests involv-
ing the means of support of large
number of their constituents.
| 1t is the hope of Mr.. Taft that as
a result of the explanation he will
be enabled to remove opposition and
| thus allow all the republicans to sup
port the kind of bill he wants.
| The statement of the president,
made after a White House confer
ence, follows:
| Mr. Young of Michigan opposed
free ore, Mr.. Mondell opposed free
coal or reciprocity with Canada and
! free hides. each on the ground that
the policy would injure the interests
/ in his state, and discussion was
participated in by other representa-
lives, who urged that the doctrine of
J free raw materials was not a repub-
/ lican doctrine.
| The president replied that he was
not committed to the principle of
free raw material, but that he was
committed to the principle of a
downward revision of the tariff,
which he had promised and that he
/ was obliged to look at the matter
not from the standpoint of any par
ticular district but from the stand
point of the whole country and also
1 from the standpoint of responsibility
for the entire republican party
He said the question in each case
was a question of fact, to be deter
mined by evidence. as to whether
the present duty was needed for pro-
Z tectaon or whefher the rate was ex-
cessive so that a downward revision,
OR putting the article on the free list,
would not injure the industry.
The president repeated the plat
form of the republican party and
said that he always had understood
that it meant a downward revision
in many instances, although, per-
haps, i'm some few instances an in
crease might be needed; that he
reached this construction of the
plat form ON what he understood to
he the principle of protection and
it's tification-namely; that after
an Industry was protected by duty
equal to the difference between the
cost of production abroad and the
cost of production n this country,
including fair profit to the manu-
facturer, the energy and enterprise
OF American business men and capit-
lalists, the effectiveness of American
labor, and the ingenuity of American
inventors under the impulse of COM
petition behind the tariff wall would
reduce the cost of production, and
that, with the reduction of the cost
cf production, the tariff rate would
become unnecessarily high and ought
10 be reduced.
This was the normal operation of
the tariff as claimed by the defend
ers OF the protective system-not
in every case but as a general rule
that of course a revision of the tar
iff could not be perfect, must have
defects and Inconsistencies, but is so
far as the presidents influence went
when called upon to act in connec-
tion with legislation 1t would be
thrown in the direction of perform
| Of hn l.
understood them, and that if iron
ore and oil and coal and hides did
Lot need protection and the condi-
tions were such as 10 enable the ore
producers and the coal producers
and the producer of hides to COM
pete successfully, without reduction
OF wages, with the producers from
abroad. then they did not need
duty and their articles should go on
the free list.
1t was question of fact which the
president hoped to make up his mind
with respect to, on such evidence as
was available to him, in order to
carry out what he understood to be
the promises of the party to the
whole people.
The president said he felt that his
position as the titular head of the
republican party and the president,
with the whole people of his constit-
uency. gave him a somewhat broader
point of view than that of single
member of congress in respect to ar
ticles produced in his district.
The president felt strongly the call
or the country for downward re-
vision within the limitations of the
protective principle. and he hoped to
be able 10 respond TO that call as he
heard 1t, as we'll in the interests of
the party as OF the country.
The above statement will settle
once and for all any question of what
the president meant in the tariff
speeches he made during the last
campaign. He has been criticized In
many quarters for his failure to in
terpret these Speeches He hac Lant