Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1909-03-19
THE TARIFF AND THE COUNTRY.

THE TARIFF AND THE COUNTRY.
In the present extra session of Congress
the Republican majority will face stu
alton radically different from any in the
history of its party. 1t will be called by
the summons of its own platform to revise
the tariff. which for dozen years has
been Wanted as the best tariff, from the
protectionist point of view. ever enacted.
This summons was reluctantly and sui
lenly inserted in the platform by leaders
who dared not defy the sentiment that
had grown up in the ranks of their follow
ers. The elements that have contributed
to this formidable sentiment are well worth
considering.
In the main the movement has been
based on economic considerations, on the
mischief done to the business of the coun-
try. 1t has sprung from various interests,
some of them of great importance This
is shown by the National Association of
Manufacturers, embracing a very large
number of representatives of various in
dustries. These are moved by two facts,
the hampering of home trade by the op-
pressive duties on materials of manufac-
ture and the hampering of foreign trade
by increased cost of manufacture on the
one hand and by the obstacles to interna-
tional commerce on the other. In connec-
ton with this movement there has been
the revolt of the publishing trade of the
country against the privileges accorded to
the makers of paper which have been un-
der special investigation by Congress for
two years past. Again, there has been the
widespread agitation of the question OF
the conservation of national resources
which has aroused public attention to the
premium offered by the tariff for the des-
truction of our forests and the injury to
water sources and courses.
Back of this movement based on eco
nomic considerations. and more or less
effectively organized on business methods
there has been a powerful, but less def
mite, movement of the public mind spring
ing from the conviction of the gross wrongs
inflicted by the tariff on the classes least
able to bear them. The poor mans blank
ct that is taxed 1856 per cent, while the
better sort pays but II per cent. is typical
Of the terrible injustice done to the help
less by the greedy. Now this knowledge
spreading with each year, has given to the
tariff-reduction movement an impulse such
as none like it has previously had 1t will
have its effect on Congress. for. for the
first time. the voice of the laboring classes
is being heard on this subject.
Whatswill be the RESULT No one can
tell The process of revision is complex
and tedious. The beneficiaries of the tariff
are organized. strong, experienced. crafty,
and INSCRIPTIONS. Congress is for the
greater part confused and uniformed.
The leaders are frightened: of that there
is no doubt; but it is uncertain to what
extent their fright will influence them or
how truly they will gauge the force of pub
lie sentiment But one thing, we think. is
not uncertain. and that is that il the pre-
sent demand for reduction is not honestly
and substantially met. the tariff will not
long be left to the tender hands of its
friends. is il riotS" asked Marie An
toinette when the distant roar of the at
tack on the Bastile reached her ears.
Your majesty" was the reply. 1T is not
q riot. il is a revolution" Four years
more of such evolution as the revolt against
the tariff has shown in the last four years
may well lead to revolution. "-Neto York
Times