The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1909-12-01
DEMOCRATIC DUTY IS
TO BIZ OPEN WAR ON
PROTECTIVE TARIFF"
Ex-Governor Folk, of Missouri. States
His Opinion of Great National
Problem.

W IN W llAltllll III an ~ ~
eliminated from the field, the name
of former Governor Joseph w. Folk,
of Missouri. looms up largo as the
next party leader. Governor Folks
friends point to his leng-statcd atti-
tude on tariff and municipal reform
as an overwhelming point in his ia
vor. He has just finished a tour OF
the country that followed fairly else
ly the trip of President Taft.
Governor Folk in speaking of
the situation recently is quoted in the
following interview:
"If the tariff question is ever to be
settled right, it must be done not by
those who think the present system is
proper. but by those who know it is
wrong. and who hate monopoly.
have been over n large part OF the
United States the last few months,
and I have found widespread re-
volt against the Payne-Aldrich tariff
law. There is a general feeling. par
ticularly in the west, that the demo-
cratic party has good chance to
carry the next congress II vigorous
fight is made for the real pi principles of
democracy.
l. of course, have no authority to
say what the democratic party VIII
declare for, and can speak only for
myself. The dem ocratic party should
fight, not wealth, but the wrongs that
make poverty. The conditions that
produce poverty are the conditions
out of which tainted riches grow. The
equalization of the distribution of
wealth is the most serious problem
confronting the American people.
The maxim of Jefferson: Equal
rights to all, special privileges to
none expresses every essential ele-
ment of real democracy With this
motto as a guide, the infamicS of
privilege i'm every form can be de-
stroycd. and unto all men can there
be restored the equal right that be-
longs to each, the fair and equal OPP
portunity of each and every man 20
live and labor and to enjoy untram-
meled the gains of honest toll The
rock in the way or equal rights is
privilege. The battle of true democ-
racy should be to overcome the en-
trenched privilege harpies.
The privilege OF lawlessness leads
to graft and to Il government by the
few, with wealth and political power
enough to secure official faVors. This
privilege is opposed to democracy, for
the only way the people can rule is
through the laws their representatives.
make, ana if those laws are not car
ried out the viii of the people is
thwartcd to the extent the laws are
nullihcd.
Then there is privilege conferred 10y
law. The most conspicuous privilege
of this description is the protective
tariff. The democratic party should
make a straEht-out fight against the
present system of protection. There
is no principle involved in cndcavor-
ing to lower the duties ON some arti-
Clcs ana TO increase them on others.
Such a contest could be only a sham
battle. The issue should not be
whether raw materials be placed on
the free list ana high tariff ON finished
products, or vice versa, but whether
there should be any protection at all
for the sake of protection
| do not think there should be, and
hope the democratic party viii de-
clare squarcly against this unjust sys-
tenn. II is not fair to tax 10000, 600
people in order to make a few mon
rich; It is incquitablc to give to a class
a privilege enabling them to prey
upon the rest of tn" people. Any
tarir for purposes other than rcvcn-
ne Is wrong just as a bounty to SONG
/ Of the people would be an injustice