The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-08-14
WILL MAKE TARIFF THE ISSUE.

air on Friday. 1t had n good deal the
appearance Of n Mutual Improvement
gathering, and as usual the chief &C.
clesiastic reserved to himself the
heavy role. doing the final speechmak
ing. OF course Sutherland, his tag,
was there, and also Senator Clark of
Wyoming. who probably came to see
the spiders Of which he had doubtless
heard so much, and saw plenty while
he was there.
Apostle Smoot announced FIAT the
Church Republican people would make
their campaign this year on the tariff
issue. This is good news. The people
understand the working Of that bunko
tariff law better than he thinks, and
there is no question but it would be an
uphill campaign for 'the gang with
the tariff as the issue The apostle
undertook TO say that the idea involved
in the new tariff bill is protection to
American labor, but this is precisely
what it is not, 1t is protection for
the trusts and combines, with Amcri-
can labor left to take care of itself.
This is conspicuously illustrated in
the matter of the wool growers Smoot
claimed that the wool growers have
lost forty million dollars in the past
year. this being due as he claimed to
misrepresentation" Of the tariff.
1t is impossible, however TO conceive
how Misrepresentation Of the tariff
could lose the wool growers any mnoey
nf G -
itself which has lost the wool growers
the money they should have bad. We
would not ourselves be inclined to put it
as high as forty million dollars, but
whatever it is. it is undoubtedly be-
cause the new tariff law puts the wool
market of this country, the only mar
ket in which the American wool grower
can sell his wool, entirely and complete
ly into the hands of the wool manufac
turers, The idea of the wool manufac
turers in this matter was plainly shown
when early in the season they bought
upwards Of twenty million dollars of
foreign wool, more than thirteen mil
lion dollars OF this being clothing wools
in order TO fortify their position
against the wool growers so that the
manufacturers could assert and keep
control of the American wool market
AS explained by the American Wool
and Cotton Reporter under date of
August 4, 1910, the organ of the wool
and cotton combines, what the manu-
facturer wants is to "get his raw stock
at reasonable price and receive
reasonable price for his goods at the
selling end That is it, A reasonable
price for his raw stock which is wool,
And this is put as the first and prime
Now. who is to decide
on this reasonable price? Evidently
the wool manufacturers themselves, and
rs they are in complete control of the
market. put so by the bunko tariff
law. it is going to be exceedingly diff
ficult for Apostle Smoot, or any one
else, TO convince the wool growers that
they have lost money by "misrepre.
of the tariff and not be
cause the wooden manufacturers held
them up through control Of the market
by those same manufacturers. When
any combine openly announces that its
chief desire is TO get its raw stock sFat
A reasonable price, and at the same
time is put in absolute control of the
market governing that price. it is not
difficult to conclude that it will make
the reasonable proposition count
for itself
ln in, do
the prediction - 1--WE quote his personal
organ) that within eight years there
will be cry for n still higher tariff.
In this the apostle has doubtless misin
terprcted the heavenly hunch which he
is supposed as apostle, seer, and re
velator to have received Without
doubt there will be demand in a
good deal less than eight years for a
revision of the tariff: but that demand
will be, as the other was, and as The
Republican platform Of 1908 declared
it should be, for rev; IN downward, Il S
President Taft assured his hearers was
the meaning, as he made his campaign
speeches, and this downward revision
will be not cut at American labor
but help to that labor, and Will eff
feet nothing beyond a cutting down of
the unjust eXactions and excessive
charges of the trust -fostered combines
and speculative agreements to keep
prices far above where they naturally
ought to be on fair commercial lines.
Surely the opposition could ask moth
ing better from Smoot and his servi-
tors than that they would do as he now
promises TO do, make this bunko tariff
law the campaign issue in Utah this