The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-06-16
OWENS SPEECH
ON THE TARIFF
Oklahoma Senator RakeS FL
nance Committee for Be-
trayaI of Pledges.
HELD BACK
INQUIRIES OF COLLEAGUES AN
sWERED WITH sNEERS.


to make the rich richer and the poor
poorer, and to benefit the few at the
expense Of the many, Senator Owen to-
day held the attention of the senate
for several hours with a speech replete
with denunciatiOn of the Republican
protective tariff policy and of the ma
.jOrity members of the finance commit
tee. Responsibility for the unrest Of
the country he laid at the door of the
recent giant mOnOpolies, engendeTed
and sheltered by the prOhibitive tariff
Senator Owen opposed the bill in its
entirety because. he said, it was con-
trary to the VIII of the American peO-
pie when I point out the unavoid
able effect of extreme poverty as the
necessary complement of unlimited
wealth in the hands of the few, accu-
mUlated under the shelter of the law,
he declared 7 wish it distinctly I'M
derstOOd that the dark picture of hu-
man misery which the truth compels
me to portray breathes from me no
spirit of pessimism, because I am an
Optimist. / recognize the immediate
dawn OF better things and an early
remedy"
Reasons for Optimism.
Among the reasons assigned by him
for being an optimist. Senator Owen
said that he believed that the Ameri-
can people, who loved liberty, who be
lieved in self government, who believed
in mercy and charity, as well as indus
try and providence, will see to il that
this government is so conducted by
their representatives that in the future
there shall be a more equitable dis
tributiOn Of the proceeds Of human Ia
Dor: that we shall change the present
policy. whose inevitable tendency is the
useless. the vulgar and insane enrich
ment of the few at the expense of the
misery and sorrow and of the physical
and spiritual degeneration of millionE
Of men. women and children, who are
now submerged by the commercial de-
vices of MammOn." In his opinion, he
asserted. the bill should not pass. be-
cause it violated the pledges of the Re
publican party and pf the Republican
leaders during the last campaign. The
Republican party platform he declared,
was ''unequivOcal,' and its reasonable
and natural Interpretation was plain.
Appeal to the People.
Senator Owen, reverting to the de-
bates i'm the senate on the tariff. said
that when he had sought to ascertain
why the difference in the cost of pro-
duction at home and abroad had not
been compiled as a basis for the draft
ing of the bill. Senator Gallinger rises
in mis- place and sOlemnly advises me
that my inquiry is absurd. He would
not, he said, question the intelligence
of Mr.. Aldrich nor would he reply to
him in kind but he said, L appeal from
him to the American people, who will
not hold his guiitless for his callous
and reprehensible conduct in this mat
ter" The failure of Mr.. AldTiCh and
.g-na h r
with the difference in cost of production
at home and abroad, he bitterly de-
nOunced. remarking that the request
had been met with "supercilious indif-
ference" He charged that Mr.. Aldrich
had withheld information upon that
point. and that he had refused to Sen
ator Daniels and to other Democratic
members of the finance committee the
privilege of having the same informa-
ton that he himself enjoyed, and that
when his attention was called to this
unjust and unconstitutional conduct, he
justifies IL by quoting from an evil pre-
cedent of Democratic origin and seemed
to think he had fully answered for this
breach of duty"
Betrayal of Pledges.
Senator Owen declared that a bad
Democratic precedent was no more re-
spectacle 10 himself than a bad prece-
dent from any other source. rs it pos
sible," he exclaimed, that men of no
bility and character, that senators of
intelligence and moral integrity, have
refused to compile the difference IN
cost of production at home and abroad
on the items of the Dingley bill for our
present guidance because they intend
ed to break faith with the American
people and didn't dare to make the truth
manifest by compiling this damning
evidence of their betrayal of their party
pIedges2" The Republican leaders, he
declared. occupied a position absolute
IL and utterly indefensibie." While
they might not have been hypnOtized.
he said. they had been overwhelmed
with the power of suggestion enyelop-
ing them and creating the atmosphere
and controlling environment estab-
lished by a swarm of attorneys, special
pleaders. and fascinating representa-
tives of the high tariff beneficiaries.
High Tariff; Low Wages.
Senator Owen further charged that
the high tariff had lowered the wages
of American wOrkmen- He devoted con-
siderable thought TO this question, fur
nishing innumerable statistics to sup
port his contention. The mOnopOlist, ."
he said cannot and does not consume
his profit So that the result is that the
capital Of monopoly is rolling up like
huge SNOWFALL. picking up every oppOr-
tunity offered by God TO mankind in our
natural resources; and labor, the ere
atOr of wealth. languishes and grows
weaker as the creature of wealth grows
stronger and exercises a natural but
unrestrained appetite by acquiring the
title to every visible and invisible re-
source" He favored the growing or
Eanization of workingmen. Monopoiies.
he said. preferred unOrganiZed labor:
they prefer that labor should be help
less and incapable of making effective
anv demand for its comfort or con-
veuience or for its rights He main
tanned that the Law should firmly and
unhesitatingly demand and require of
labor. organized OF unorsanized, strict
obedience to the law. but it should also
demand and require Of monopoly con-
siderate and decent treatment of labor
and its rights. both as producer and
consumer.
This is the last week OF The Herald 5
Free Cooking School. Miss Lucy Van
Colt will give A demonstration on bak-
ing bread this evening at 7:f5. Unity
han. 73S South Second East street.