The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-06-10
TT IS A MUpDLE.


 shorty after Mir. Tast was elected President he mads speech in Gin eias su in which hs used this language in re erring to tsriG revision:
 Unless we act in accordance with our promises. or if we only keep the word of promise to the ear and break 1t to the hope, we shall be made ac:. suffer such consequences as failure to keep faith has always been visited with. It would be better to have no revision at all, unless .sy,s we are Ire goi91 sor1 on the basis promised by our party.
 Can the Presilcat even imagine that the leaders of his party are living up to his own pledges and to his concep- tions of what his party intended? It is true that the language of the Chicago platform is not as plain on the subject of the tarin as 1t might have been. and it Is possible that 1t was intended to be ambiguous in or der that it might be practically disre- garded without subjecting the party to the charge of being guilty of breach of faith. Such things are not unknown in party platforms. as most observers know.
 Admitting all this to be true, there was enough in the platform itself, and in the letter and speeches of MT. Taft, as well as in the speeches of various other party leaders. to cause the coun- try generally to believe that the party, If successful at the polls, would go to work honestly and conscientiously to revise the tariff in manner that would afford relief to those who were suffering under the many unjust and ubiquitous provisions of the existing tariff laws. It was believed Ina: there ~o. id pe tarifr re 'si ,c downwards, nd few believed th,,t there would be so uch hedging. doiGInc side-step- ping and avoidance as has been in evil dence almost from the very beginning of the extra session.
 The President. in the extract above quoted. intimates very plainly his opin- ion that unless his party lives up to its pledges and gives the country an honest revision, the party may be dis credited in the near future, and he rather plainly hints that such ought to be the result. Perhaps that would be the natural and logical outcome were it not for the fact that Demo- crats also have been doing some dodg- ing. If they were firmly united on principle and would carry on a fight for honest tariff revision they might force the Republicans to 1t or force them out of power, but there, ins fact. is one of the strong points on which the Republicans rely to sustain them- selves. If the Democrats do not make a consistent Democratic record on this vital question they will have no ann munition to use against the Republi- cans and the latter can go before the country with the claim that their rec ord is as good as that of the other side.
 So it comes about that the party in power may enact any Kind Of tartn law 1t pleases, regardless of pledges or promises. and still hold its position, but the question Is, what will MT. Taft do? If the law that will finally. pass is not in accord with his concep- ton of what 1t ought to be. and what was promised, will he veto it and give Congress another trial. or will he ap- prove 1t and throw all the responsibiI- ity on the law makers? The latest Capitol gossip is that there will be no veto, but of course that cannot be certainly foretold yet. And after all. Congress may enact law that will be satisfactory to the country, though we hardly see how such a strange thing can happen.