The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-03-25
Issue Between Two Parties He Says is Revenue and
 Prohibition.
Under One Private Inter ests Get Proceeds h.
 stead of Government
Tariff to Stimulate Competi- tion is What is Needed and Will Produce Suffi- cient Revenue, He Says Speech by Alabama Rep resentative in House To- day.
Special from United Press)


 Washington, March 25-Representa- was exceedingly active as a member of the Ways and Means Committee in the tariff investigation, talked to the House about the Payne bill to-day
 ''The true issue between the two great parties,'' he said, 'is that one desires to write a protective tariff that leans toward prohibition of imports and the other revenue tariff that favors competition. No platform of a Democratic convention ever advo- cated a free trade course.
 If there was more general under standing that the tariff is a tax in which private interests get the pro- ceeds instead of the government there would be more rigorous questioning of the various duties imposed by Con- gress than has yet been manifest.
 Whenever you agree to doctrine that the manufacturer is fitted to a you have laid the foundation stone to create monopoly and to lay burdens upon the consuming masses of the people. The protective sentiment in cherished for so many years by the Republican party that a great many manufacturing interests look upon 1t as vested right and believe that they are CnClC1SQ to dDSOluCe COntfOl or the American market without competition from abroad.
 'The total imports under the Dihgley law in 1905 amounted to only 3 9-10 per cent. of the American consumption. This indicates that the Dingley law is not a protective or a revenue bill but in most of it's leading features is a prohibitive bill- The only way the evil can be cured is by reducing the rates of particular commodities to a point where a. reasonable amount of inn portations are allowed and where fair competition is encouraged. An inn porta ton of 10 per cent. from foreign countries of all the articles of Ameri- can consumption covered by the Ding ley law would produce all the revenue required by the government and pre- vent the creation of monopolies in this country.
 "The American manufacturer of iron and steel is given a protection by the Dingley law of B per cent. above the difference of the labor cost of produc- ton in this country and Germany. If the labor cost of producing tin-plate in England is one-half the labor cost in this country the American manufac- turer has from 30 to 40 per cent. pro- lection above the difference in the labor cost.
 This being the case no reason can be given to sustain a protective tariff especially when it is written along prohibitive lines. The real Justification for a tariff can be only for the pur- pose of raising revenue to support the government adjusted on a basis that will easily represent the difference in the cost abroad and at home if such exists, and if not. at such a rate as will not prohibit importations and be competitive When this is done the tariff will cease to be a political issue and it will be adjusted along business lines to improve business conditions but as long as it is maintained to pro- tect monopoly and to pay political debts it will continue to be a sore in the life of the nation."