The Brunswick news. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 1906-2016, 1910-05-04
TAFT AND THE TARIFF.


The New York World is insistently
pleading with President TAFT to lead
a movement for further and downward
revision of the tariff. Why asks
The World should the Taft admin
istration court overwhelming defeat III
the November elections by trying 10.
make the American people accept Tie
Payne Aldrich tariff? and it argues
that there is plenty Of tiG1e before
the fall elections to obey he manifest
will of the people and make a down
ward revision of the schedules thai
most intimately affect the cost of liy-
ing It may be, as The World further
says, that there is not a debatable
state in which the Republicans would
dare INCORPORATE in their platform Mr..
Taft's assertions that the PayneAld-
rich act is the best tariff ever en-
acter,' but what has that to do with
Mr.. Taft's own attitude ward the
subject. If the President is persuaded
that the Payne Aldrich act is the best
tariff law that has ever been enacted
and that it will make for the welfare
of the country, should he not have the
courage to support it, even if 1t shoul l
be demonstrated to be an unpopular
political proposition? That the Presi-
dent holds such persuasion is scarcely
to be doubted. From the moment he
signed the bill putting the new tariff
into effect. and expressed his delight
at doing so, until the present time, Mr..
Taft has neglected no opportunity to
sing the praises of the Payne-Aldrich
act. The World is in error in decla:-
ing that 1T Is Mr.. Taft's misfortune
that public sentiment did not mani
fest itself while the work Of revisio'
was under way" and in believing that
had such been the case, even Mr.. Aid
rich would have been compelled to
surrender" Public sentiment was very
freely manifest in protest against the
proposed measure, though strenuous
demonstration was abstained from be-
cause the President himself had led
the country to believe that he would
! stand unflincingly against the ac-
ceptance of a law that did not mate
rally revice the tariff downward. IT
was believed by a very large section
of the public up to the very last mo
ment that hePresident would veto
the bill unless it carried out the prom
ises of the Republican platform on
which Mr.. Taft had been elected, and
his singing of the bill and his SUISSE
quent defence of the measure have
been the chief causes of Mr. Taft
loss of political strength. AS for Mr..
Aldrich, he is like the brdhers OF
Dives, who, if they would not believe
Moses and the prophets would not
be convinced should one return from
the dead to speak with them. Mr..
Aldrich cares nothing for public SEN
timent. He gets away with what he
can, and he would have tried to get
away with the tariff bill he framed up
even had he known that popular re-
volt would follow its passage. Indeed
ne probably did know that the protest
that has been made against the meas
ure would ensIe. Mr.. Aldrich is d
very astute gentleman. He may have
persuaded the President that ncthine
of the sort would come about. but that
doesn't mean that he did not foresee
1t. But MIR. Taft can not plead ignor
ance of the poular attitude toward tbs
Payne Aldrich act 1t was demon
started sufficiently before the law was
passed. And he is probably not to be
convinced now that the passage of the
law was a mistake.