Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1909-09-24
Forests Are Favored by the Tar

The extraordinary session OF
after five months Of '
Wrangling and at an estimated
cost to the American people Of
about 100000, resulted in vic |
tory of the privileged class. The
Republican party in its platform
and the Republican candidate in
his speeches promised a reduction
Of the tariff burden.
The tariff bill signed by the
president, falls far short of the
pledges made by the party, and
is full of those Ubiquitous bargain
S+ruek in the dark which have
come to make protection syncny-
nous with. fraud. Through the
metaphysical Subtelty, the I'M
mense labyrinth of the tariff,
with its ad valOrems and specific
duties, intricate schedules and
fathomless classificatiOnS, the I'M
fortunate masses find themselves
mo end in wandering mazeS lost.
The people are not verSed in
politics and statecraft. They
cannot see through the flimSy
fallao;ioo of protection arguments.
To a large number the protection
list appears with the halo of
Ills own creation, as the friend
of the poor and struggling man,
and the benefactOr of Infant In
dustrieS.
However, the people. are begin
ming to be aroused by the con-
temptuOus disregard of the needs
and demands of the whole cOun-
try by the Republican. congress.
They regard the bill enacted as
giving the lie to pledges and full
of swindles which cannot be ex-
planned by the false parade Of
meaningless figures.
In the words of Judge Park
err. 'their arguments demonstrate
that the purpose of the tariff
plank was to cheat and defraud
the voter, and the action Of the
majority in congress makes them
parties to the fraud, in that they
sought to cOnsummate it. )" Schil-
ler's hero speaks of the project
of giants and the performance Of
insects; the giants would have
to be very gigantic and the in
sects very tiny, which would af-
ford correct comparative illus.
tratiOn of promises the Republi-
can party made as to tariff reviS-
ion and the performance actual
ly made.
Well might the people say as
did Sheridan to a servant who
dropped a plate-warmer with
crash, but fastened to assure
his master that nothing was
broken "DO you mean to tel
me-" demanded Sheridan, THAT
you made all that noise for moth.
, ing.7'
The Payne-Aldrich bill, as
shown by the table prepared by
tariff experts, reviSes the tariff
upward, and exceeds the ole
oDingley act nearly 2 per cent
!, and when the maximum goes in
!, to effect March 81, 1910, the av
! erage rate will be about q pei
l cent higher than the averag,
i Of the Dingley bill.
The taxes on clothing ar,
!, wickedly made higher. The vii
something for the consumer b!
son bill sought bravely to d,
: making wool free, and wOolel
J. clothing cheaper, but the Ding
) ley law put back the highly tax
u. ed wool and wOOlens, and it
D. left untouched in the present bill
. The duties on cotton goods ar
increased, which experts in tn
'o cotton business show to ru
= = from s to At per cent.
i The wool and cotton schedule
l. are absolutely indefenSible. Notl
?, ing can be more certain than tina
70 these duties come under tn
n. head of those rates which, tn
y president said were excessive,
!; and therefore could be cut dow
70 without injuring any industr,
in These wool and wooden schedule
o. are designed to permit the WOO
IN en- trust to plumber the publ
m and these millions of plumdere
70 dollars will be transferred fro
e. the people to the trust, withOl
* a cent of expense or reaSOnab
i. plea. The only thing cOnside
,e-a ed in formulating the cote
schedule was the greed Of Il
cotton manufacturer of New En-
q land. The tax was taken q