Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1909-09-29
PRESIDENT TAFT AND THE
TARIFF,

PRESIDENT TAFT AND The
TARIFF.
Senator N. N. Johnson has pre-
pared for publication in the Peters,
burg Record, his home town, re-
view or synopsis of President Taft's
speech upon the tariff question at
Winona, which the senator considers
not only the best information we
have had thus rar regardig this i'm
portant subject but probably the
most complete document we will
have on this subject from any source.
Senator Johnson, like his colleague,
Senator McCumber, believes in
tariff not only for revenue but for
protection and while favoring a
downward revision believes that we
canot lose sight of either the pro-
tective or the revenue features. They
are practical enough to understand
that tariff measure to pass congress
and become a law must necessarily
be compromise measure and they
are republicans of that stripe who
believe such a measure should be
promulgated by the friends instead
Of the enemies of the protective the
DRY. They believe as President Taft
believes, that after a full and fair
discussion a measure which finally
has the support of large majority
of the republicans In and out of con-
gress, is entitled to the votes of all
republican members of congress as
the president puts tiff the meas
ure Is good enough for the large
majority of his party associates in
congress to vote for it is good enough
for him to approve"
Senator Johnson's abstract of Pres
ident Taft's Winona speech is as fol-
lows:
Meaning of Platform.
Il want to make as clear as can
this proposition, because in order to
determine whether bill is in COM
pliance with the terms of that plat
form it must be understood what
the platform means. A free trader
is opposed to any protective rate,
because he thinks that our manufac-
turers, our farmers and our miners
ought to Withstand the competition
of foreign manufacturers and miners
and farmers, or else go out of bust
ness and find something else more
profitable to do. Now certainly the
promises of the platform did not
contemplate the downward revision
of the tariff rates to such a point
that any industry therefore protect
ed should be injured.
Hence those who contend
that the promise of the platform
was to reduce prices by letting
in foreign competition are con
tending for free trade, and not
for anything that they had the
right to infer from the republic
can platform.
"Mr. Payne reported a bill-the
Payne tariff bill-which went to the
senate and was amended in the SEN
ate by increasing the duty on some
things and decreasing it On others.
1.-THE difference between the house
bill and the senate bill was very much
less than the newspapers represented.
1t turns out upon examination that
the reductions in the senate were
about equal to those in the house,
though they differed in character.
s Bill Difficult to Discuss.
Now there is nothing quite SO diff
fcult as the discussion Of a tariff bill,
for the reason that 1t covers so many
different items, the meaning Of the
terms and the percentages are most
dinfeult to understand. The passage
Of new bill, especially where a
change In the method Of assessing
the duties has been followed, presents
an opportunity for various modes and
calculations OF the percentages Of in
creases and decreases that is really
most misleading, or really throws no
light at all upon the changes made.
One way OF stating what was
done is to say what the facts :