Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-08-03
CumminS Declares He Will Again
Refuse to Follow Cannon, Et Al

Iagain when the time comes. 1t is no
pleasure for me to differ from some
of my party associates upon this sub
ject; but there is no exigency in pub
lie affairs or party action that can
induce me to say that thing is good
wnen l believed it to. be bad, or to say
that it is true when 1 believe it to be
false.
There are many gratifying reduc-
tions in the Payne-Aldrich act, but
upon the whole it is not a fair exem-
plification of the protective policy.
nor is it an honest performance of
our platform promise, and no matter
what happens 1 will tell the truth,
as l see the truth, about it.
Let me, however, again warn re-
publicans who are of my way of
thinking concerning the shortcomings
of this measure that the failure of
the republican leaders in congress to
abide by our platform furnishes no
reason for delivering this country
into the hands of the democrats.
THE one thing that can be said in
favor of our recent revision is that
it is vastly better than any tariff
which the democrats could enact
founded upon the exploded theory of
Ievying duties for revenue only. 1t
would be fatal to commit this coun-
try to any such doctrine, and I know
that republicans have too much
patriotism and too much intelligence
to punish mistake in leadership by
depriving our party of power, and
turning over the government to a po-
litical organization which holds a
view of the constitution that would
paralyze our efforts in dealing with
the modern problems of commerce,
industry and transportation, and
which hold a view of the tariff that if
put into execution would bring upon
us universal disaster.
Wipe Out the Blot.
1.-THE logical, sensible thing to do
is to correct our mistake-none but
republicans can correct it-and I'M
der the impulse of the sentiment,
growing now by leaps and bounds
everywhere, they will correct it and
leave the republican name and re-
publican pledge without stain in all
it's wonderful history
Our course, it seems to me, is set
plainly before us. do not favor an
immediate general revision of the
tariff, indeed l earnestly hope that
we may never be compelled to enter
upon another general readjustment
of the system.
I'm our last attempt it was made
clearer than ever before, first, that
some better way must be found than
we now have of securing information
as to cost here and abroad; and sec
ond, that we must amend the sched-
ules separately. AS, to the first, the
way will be found in the creation of
an Independent, nonpartisan tariff
commission, not to change the law,
for that is, and must remain the work
of congress; but to collect and lay
before congress and before the peo-
PIE the facts.
when this is done there will be
neither high tariff nor low tariff man
who will venture to disregard his
duty. Fortunately, the demand for
such a commission has become al
most unanimous among republicans,
and the few who still oppose it will
soon disappear from public life.
I'VE have already made a good be-
ginning, for under theN strong and
persistent recommendation of the
president, congress gave him an ap-
preparation which he will use insofar
as he has the power to do it, to get
the information so necessary to a
proper understanding OF the subject.
AS to the second, we must insist
upon a law, or rule of congress that
will allow one schedule to be amend
ed or revised without going over the
whole range of the tariff. We must
exclude the opportunity for the trades
and combinations which now dishonor
tariff legislation. We must make it
impossible to GEORGE or bride a MEM
Der of congress into voting for what
he knows to be wrong in order to get
what he believes to be right.
Happily the movement for such a
rule or law is steadily advancing,
and it will not be long until it, too,
will embrace every republican in the
land. These evidences of progress
cheer the heart of every patriot. We
may stand fast for principle but we
cannot stand still in applying it to
the affairs of mankind. We are
sweeping along at a pace that is not
only celebrating, but inspiring. The
optimist is winning in every race,
and in the near future we will see a
a progressive protective tariff that
will safeguard the interest of the
producer, insure the high privileges
of labor, and content the reasonable
demand of capital"