The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-09-18
Question Was One for Each Man
to Decide Personally.
Glad Insurgents Still Call Them
selves Republicans.
Remarkable Plain Spoken De-
tense of Payne Measure.


tended the Payne bill as the best
tariff measure ever passed by Ike
pubIican congress and hence the best
t.rier hill the people have ever known
The president bodily asserted that
the insurgents who voted against the
hi1, had abandoned the Republican
was it the duty of the member OF
ronqress who believed the bill will noI
accomplish everything that II ougnt 70
accomplish to vote against II? askeu
fre president. ''I am here TO 1uStlIy
those who answer this question IN the
Tera+ive am not here to deIenu
those who voted for the faShe Oiii'
but to support Them.
To this statement the crowd re-
sronded with a cheer shouted py ti.e
sdherents of Representative lanes "a "a
Tawney of this district. CHAIRMAN o.
the house committee on approprid-
lions who has been on the defensive
because he did not vote with the oIliel
members of the delegation from Min
resota against the Dill. oefoc-
'STo make party government enec-
tive " said the president, 1.-The mempers
of that party should surrender tnen
personal prediction OF com para 2s.n to
less Importance. am not mere 70
[ri+icise those who felt so strongly ana
believed so intensely it was their outy
10 vote against the tariff bill, because
# did not contain all they thought II
should, It was question lOA 0OA
man to settle for himself
an matters of this kind it is a ques-
tio1 with the party representative
whether he shall maintain the pa.ty
soIidarity for accomplishing Its chleI
1urnoses or whether the departure
ttrnIo nrinciple in the bill, as he re-
cards it is so extreme that he must IN
conscience abandon the party t an
glad to see that those VINO Voeeo
against the bill still insist they are
Republicans and that they intend TO
Keep I'D the fight for still lower larill
rates within the party
Plain Spoken Defense.
The speech was a remarkapie one,
plain spoken defense of the Dill ne
has been met with many quesles since
fhe beginning of his trip as to when ne
attended taking up the subject or the
tariff. He waited until yesterday al.
aernoon, however. when with mass o.
facts and figures before him, with
new statement just prepared by CHAIR,
nan PAYNE. and with his own personal
knowledge of ell the intimate detaIis
of the tariff fight in Washington lresii
an his mind, he dictated to two stenos-
raphers the speech ne uenNet go ier
s,ieht and which represents statement
On the accomplishment and demerlts
of the PAYNE bill, from an adminlstra-
ton standpoint more thorough IN 1ts
simple appeal for an understanding ~
4be neople than any document Wnlcn
has heretofore been issued from any
The statement contained only enough
figures to make clear point Wh1ch the
president mas dwelt upon for some time
II his confidential talks, that the meas
IRE of the new bill should be taken
by the amount of reductions maze on
articles of general consumption com
nared 20 the increases on articles little
used I3y means OF a table prepared
by Mr. Payne. he showed that the tar
aff had been increased on articles whose
consumption in this country amount
yearly to S651 900, 00C and that OF this
smount s379 coo 900 is represented by
such Iuxuries as silks. wines, liquors
perfumes and pomades. leaving a pal
Cnce of S272.100,000, representing IN
crease on articles not luxuries- Against
this the PRESIDENT set with great en-
rhais the fact that the tariff had been
reduced or articles mostly necessities,
whose consumption in this country
amounts annually 20 : billions of DOL
lars. AS to the wooden schedule Mr..
Taft declared without hesitation or
eouivocation, that the Payne rates were
too high 1t was found early in the
fight however he asserted that the
wool and wooden manufacturing inter
ests in the Republican party were so
strong that any attempt to change the
DinGley rates would result IL de-
feat of the bill.
Wooden Schedules Too High.
ct am sorry that this is So he said,
~-dnQ L WIEN IL cOulQ nave DGCn OIL0T-
wise. 1t is the important defect in the
bill That it will increase the price
OF wooden clothes or clothing, however
very much doubt"
As to cotton goods. the president as
serted that it was found by the taking
OF evidence that on the lower grades OF
goods, the manufa ctUrers were making
only a decent profit. As to the higher
grades it was found that through court
decisions, the rates had been reduced
to a point below those charged on the
large grades. This called for a read
5rstment from sd valorem to spec.r-
rates.
LAS to whether the rates on cotton
goods are higher than they ought to
be- said the president sit was a
question of evidence. 1 will rot de-
fend this evidence but we hope soon
to know more about the tariff than
we did at the beginning of this
fight
President Taft dwelt at some
length upon his Interpretation of the
duties and scope of activity of the
new tariff commission. Mr. Taft has
maintained that the commission as
finally authorized could accomplish
all that could be desired. He said
tonight that the commission would
would ascertain the price of pro-
ducing here and abroad and would
gather into an encyclopedia expert
information on every question and
ever yarticle entering into a tariff
bill. Mr. Taft said it would be
utterly useless and distressing to
business to bring about further dis
cussion of the tariff during the pres
added that it would require the three
years of his administration for the
administration to collect facts which
wollld Justify the taking rp Of the