Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1909-08-11
NOTES FROM WASHINGTON.
Items of Interest From the Nations
Capital, Condensed for the
Busy Reader.

The passage of the tariff bill and it!
approval by the President must
prove a source of satisfaction to al
sensible citizens. The measure actu.
ally revises the tariff downward, de
spite the misleading figures which
our Democratic friends present tC
establish their claims to the contra
ry A word as to these figures is
not amiss. BY calculating the per.
centage of the duty on the articles
taxed, but emitting any reference tC
the articles transferred to the free
list, they manage to show a slight
increase in the percentage of taxa
ton. OF course such a method is
wholly erroneous. To present COM
parative statement that would be
worth anything it would be necessary
to show the percentages of reduction,
inserting those percentages represent
ed where, as in the case of hides for
instance, the entire Is per cent for
merly imposed was stricken off. De-
duct from the percentages of reduc-
tion the comparatively few percent
ages of increase and the remainder
would afford fairly accurate meas
ure of the reduction.
1t is gratifying to note that the
press generally, including many pa
pers which have no sympathy for the
protective policy and which would
have liked to see all but revenue du-
ties abolished, is giving abundant
credit to President Taft for the part
he played in compelling the leaders
of his party in Congress to scale the
duties, and is commencing the meas
ure as an actual, if not radical, full
fillment of the party pledges.
The greatest occasion for gratitude
over the tariff contest to all true
Republicans must be the highly salts
factory manner in which the Presi-
dent has acquitted himself, demon
strating even to the most sceptical
his right to the title of leader of his
party, TO William Howard Taft is
due the fact that the bill is a revi-
sion downward, that the interests
were not able to cause the stultifica-
ton of the party pledges, that the
measure contains provision for tax
ing the net earnings of the corpora
lions and that it contains the germ
of tariff commission which under
bis fostering care promises to grow
into an effective agency for the con-
troll of the protective Tariff and the
prevention of the effective influence
of that selfishness and greed which
have done so much to make the pro-
tective policy repugnant and which
would have cOmpassed it's complete
rejection by the American people.
The leaders in Congress, led by
Speaker Cannon, did all in their
power to destroy the tariff commits
sion provision inserted in the bill by
the Senate but fortunately they fail
ed TO achieve that which they set out
TO do The maximum and the mini
mum provision makes it necessary to
entrust the President with a large
measure OF discretion. Under it's
provisions devolves the responsible
ity of ascertaining whether or not
any country discriminates against
the trade of the United States and,
moreover, whether or not such dis
elimination is undue. In the eXer-
else OF that power and the defray-
ment of that responsibility the Presi-
dent will take steps to ascertain the
cost of production here and abroad
and whenever another tariff revision
is undertaken he will be in posi-
ton to lay before Congress a mass of
substantiated data beside which the
ex parte testimony, at tariff hear
ings," from interested beneficiaries
of the tariff will be shown up in it's
true wOrthlessness.
With the close of the tariff session
of Congress official Washington will
take it's annual exodus. The Presi-
dent FASTENED to Beverly, Massa-
chusetts, as soon as he had affixed mis-
signature to the tariff bill. He was
naturally anxious to reach there be-
cause of the delicate condition of
Mrs. Taft's health and all the country
will wish him and his restful and
pleasant vacation. 1t will not be for
for long, for unless his plans mis-
carry, he will start en- September IL
for a tour of the country which will
take in the Alaska-Yukon Exposition
at Seattle, the Pacific coast, Arizona
and New Mexico, including a brief
meeting with President DiaZ of Mex
leo, when the two Executives will eat
luncheon at table placed exactly
over the international boundary on
the bridge at Ell Paso. He will then
come north TO st. Louis and sail down
the Mississippi on che of the large
river steamers, look in OH the Deep
Waterways Convention at New Or
leans, renew old acquaintance with
many of the cities of the south and
reach Washington late in October.
The great success of the Wright
brothers at Washington must prove
an occasion of pride to Americans
generally. These enterprising and
energetic young men proved to the
satisfaction of the government that
their aeroplane could accomplish all
that was claimed for 1t and incident
ally performed two most surprising
feats. They remained in the ma
chine in the air on one flight con-
siderably over an hour and on an
other made worlds record flight
of ten miles al an average speed of
42.5 miles an hour over broken and
untried country.