The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1910-09-08
SQUARE DEAL IN
TARIFF IS WANTED
Roosevelt Discusses Very Live
Topic in Sioux Falls.
SHOULD BE MATERIAL ISSUE
Former President Says Present Law
Is Not Satisfactory and Argues
for an Efficient Tariff
Commission.

Sioux Falls, S. d., Sept. 3.--Colonel
Roosevelt arrived here at 4:3O this
afternoon on his tour of the middle
west, and his schedule provided for
an all night stop. He made one ad.
dress, taking for his topic the tariff
and arguing earnestly for the crea-
ton Of tariff commission. He said.
Whenever men Just like ourselves
probably not much better. and certatylv
no rse-continuaIly fail to give ne tina
results we have a right to expect from,
their efforts, we may just as well make
up our minds that the fault lies, NOT IN
their personality but in the conditions
under winch they work, and profit comes.
not from denouncing them, but in seeing
that the conditions are changed. This Is
especially true of tariff-making. II has
been conclusively shown, by experiments
repeated again and again, that the meth
odS or tarin making by congress. which
have now obtained for so MANY years.
cannot, from the very nature of the case
bring really satisfactory results. think
that thc present tariff is better than the
last, and considerably better than the
one before the last; but it has certainly
Ialled TO give general satisfaction. be.
leVe TINS country is fully committed to
the principle of protection: but n is IA
protection as a principle; to protection
primarily in the interest of the standard
OF living of the American workingman.
peneVe that when protection becomes.
not principle, but privilege and a
pre1erence-or, rather, tumble Of privi-
reyes ana preferences-then the American
people disapprove of it. Now to correct
the trouble, it is necessary, in the first
place. TO get In mind clearly what we
want, and, In the next place, to get in
nina clearly the, method by which we
nope 10 OBTAIN what we want. What we
want Is square deal in the tariff as in
everything else; square deal for the
Wage-earner; a square deal for the en-
ployer; and square deal for the gen
eral public. To obtain 1t we must have a
thoroughly efficient and weIl-eouipned
tariff commission.
The tariff ought to be a material issue
and not moral issue; but If instead of a
square deal we get crooked deal then
II becomes very emphatically a moral is
sue. what we desire in tariff is such
measure OF protection as will equalize the
cost OF production here and abroad; and
as the cost of production is mainly labor
cost this means primarily tariff sufh-
Client to make up for the difference in la
Dor cost here and abroad. The American
public wants the American laboring man
put on an equality with other citizens. so
that he shall have the ability to achieve
the American standard of living and the
capacity to enjoy it; and to do this we
must see that his wages are not lowered
by improper competition with inferior
wage-workers abroad-with wage-worA-
ers who are paid poorly and who live as
no Americans are willing to live But
the American DIIhIip Hoac not xx,;rt - -.
the tariff so arranged as to benefit pri-
marily few wealthy men.
Commission Is the Solution.
AS means toward the attainment Of
its end in view we have as yet devised
nothing in any way as effective as a tar
If commission. There should be a COM
mission of well-paid experts; men who
should not represent any industry: who
should be masters of their subjects: of
the very highest character; and who
should approach the matter with abso-
lutte disregard Of every outside considera-
ton. These men should take I'D In sue
cession each subject with which the tar
if deals and Investigate the conditions OF
production here and abroad; they should
find out the facts and not merely accent
the statements of interested parties; and
they should report to congress on each
subject as soon as that subject has been
covered Then action can be taken at
once on the particular subject concerned,
while the commission Immediately pro-
ceeds to investigate another. BY these
means log-rolling would be avoided and
each subject treated on it's merits, while
there would be no such shock to general
industry as is implied in the present Gus
tom of making sweeping changes in the
whole tariff at once. Finally, it should
be the duty of some governmental de-
partment or bureau to investigate the
conditions in the various protected in
dustries, and see that the laborers really
are getting the benefit of the tariff sup
posed to be enacted In their interest.
Moreover, to insure good treatment
abroad we should keep the maximum
and minimum provision.
For Waterway Legislation, Also.
The same principle OF first-class out
side commission should be applied to
river and harbor legislation. At present
a river and harbor bill, like tariff bill,
tends to be settled by a squabble among
a lot of big selfish interests and little
selfish interests, with scant regard to the
one really vital interest that of the. gem
eral public In this matter the National
legislature would do well to profit by the
example Of Massachusetts,. Formerly
Massachusetts dealt with its land and
harbor legislation just as at Washington
tariff and river and harbor laws have
been dealt with; and there was Just the
same pulling and hauling, the same bar
gaining and log-rolling, the same subor-
dination of the general interest to various
special interests. Last year Governor
Draper took up the matter, and on his
recommendation the legislature turned
the whole business over to a commits
sion of experts; and all trouble and scan
daI forthwith disappeared. Incidentally
this seems to me to be first-class in