The Paducah evening sun. [volume] (Paducah, Ky.) 1906-1929, 1909-07-12
Louisville Herald (Republican. }

| LOUISVILLE nefaiu (hepuDhcthsD
The people of Kentucky see in the
removal OF the 6 cents tobacco tax
how foolishly and blindly they have
been acting for years In believing II
to be to their interest to defeat Re-
publicans for congress and elect Dem
ocrats.
In 1888 the Republican party de-
'clared In its national platform that
taxation should be reduced by remov-
ing the taxes on tobacco which were
hurtful and annoying TO agriculture.
In 1892 the Republican party passed
the Mckinley bill over the protest
and opposition Of Democrats. This
bill made the sale OF leaf tobacco
free. The privilege proved a boon to
the farmers and had the law been
allowed to remain on the statute
books 1t would have rendered impos-
sible the operations of the American
Tobacco company, which have so
crippled and injured the farmer OF
late years. In 1894 the Democrats
passed the Wilson bill, repeating the
Mckinley bill, and thereby destroy
ing the free sale OF leaf tobacco.
These facts are clearly set forth in
the great speech OF Senator Bradley,
delivered in the senate on May 20.
Since the repeal OF the Mckinley
bill four efforts have been made TO
re-enact certain portions OF that law
ALLOWING free tobacco, and each time
the effort has met with success in the
lower house of congress, but on three
of these occasions the bill met its
death in the finance committee OF
the senate. On each occasion Sena-
tor Aldrich was roundly denounced as
being entirely responsible. Each OF
these measures. thus passing the
lower house, while Il made the sale
of leaf tobacco free. provided no
method for the making OF sales of
leaf tobacco. thereby rendering the
government officers powerless to de-
tect and prevent fraud. BY reason
OF this defect in each OF these pro-
posed measures, the door was left
open to fraud against the govern
refused to pass 1t.
1t remained for a Kentucky sena-
tor and a Republican to discover this
trouble and to correct II. Senator
Bradley saw the difficulty, and at the
present session introduced an amend
ment to the bill as passed by the
Wilson bill and omitted in each of
the four bills that had passed the
house, thus fully providing a remedy
for the trouble mentioned.
Nor Is this all. The bin, as passed
by the house during the present ses-
sion, had it also passed the senate
would have been imperative. because
II reeited that its purpose was to re-
peal section 60 OF the bill that was
approved August 2s,,1S9i. This was
fatal mistake. bectuse the bin in
dicated (the wIlsonAbili) was never
approved. President Cleveland having
refused to approve n the bill becom-
ing a law withshtihis' approval Nor
did this bill become a law on August
2S, but was passed on August pa.
1904. The bill. as II passed the lower
house at the present session, did not
therefore describe the act which Il
undertook to repeal; and II also re-
NAMED for Senator Bradley TO dis
cover and remedy this fatal defect.
Hitherto Democratic senators have
failed to procure favorable action on
these tobacco relief measures, and so
failed at this session. The amend
ment offered by Senator Paynter
failed to correct the house bill In
either OF the respects corrected by
Senator Bradley.
The speech OF Senator Bradley In
behalf OF the tobacco measure was