The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1910-05-28
Washington Letter.

gress for the installation of the cent?
lever crane mixing and handling plant
In both the locks at Gatun and Pc
dro Miguel the iron work Is being
placed as the concrete lying advances
a large quantity of the castings are on
the isthmus ready ts be set, bids have
been asked on the gates and the plans
for the operating machinery are near
ing completion.
Serene Il. Payne has taken "tIre
muckrake in his hand to muckrake the
muckrakes.", The epublcan fioorlead-
er and point author of the tariff bill,
answered the criticism that has been
leelled at the law of August last
"The newspapers of the country
have been denouncing commercialism
in business methods" Payne said,
Congress has been engaged for sew
eral years in legislating upon this
subject, and under the leadership OF
the president will pass some import-
ant bills with this end i'm view. Bus
the press has little to say in its own
business methods. Great department
stores who are importers of goods
often selling them at n profit of from
fifty to one hundred per cent are grea
advertisers and invest millions of doll
lars annually. These often seek con-
troll and do control the editorial col
umns of some metropolitan papers
This is commercialism pure and sim
pie, The sympathy of the imoprters,
of course, is against any rate in a
tariff law beyond the revenue cate,
nd tnNr f, t,.1, u,f.,
ed to the editor.
"The newspaper people have been
demanding a rate of duty on print
paper which would destroy the paper
manufacturing business of this coun-
try. While the law reduces the rate
as far as It is safe to go without des-
troying this great industry, the re-
duction was not enough to satisfy the
newspaper advocates. Whether this
motive has anything to do with the
editorial columns in commenting up
on the law, l am redy to leye to the
people of the country without. argu-
ment.
"SiX months ago. the statement was
made generally in the newspapers
that the law increased the duty on
wool and woolen goods, and hence
they argued that this caused the in
crease i'm the prices on wool and wool
en- goods. | have met some intelligent
newspaper men within the past ten
days who argued that / was mistaken
when | said that the rates on wool
en- goods had not been changed from
the Dingley law, except to lower them
I'm two instances. But any man who
has neergy enough to compare the
schedules in the two bills now ac-
knowledges the fact. If he has the
industry to pursue the inquiry further
he will find that the increased cost
Of. wooden goods is the same all over
the world
The Increased cost of necessities of
life Is worldwide. There is no in
crease in the tariff on food products
under the present law, and hence nc
advance in prices can be attributed TO
that as the direct effect. II requires
a microscopic mind to determine that
a duty of one and one-half cents per
pound on fresh meats reduce any APP
preciable effect on the price Of meats
in this country.
MANY people in this country have
yet to discover the fact which stat
ed to the house just before the final
vote on this tariff bill that we had re-
duced the tariff on articles of which
81, 900, 100000 worth were consumed an
nually in this country and Increased
it only on articles such as We're neces-
saries Of life, of which only $500, ,0O0 900
worth We're consumed here. The state
ment has never been cOntroVerted. 1t
proves that we revised the tariff down
ward.
"It seems to be impossible to find
an article on which the duty was re-
duced in price to the ultimate con-
sumner. We reduced lumber seventy
(ive cents q thousand, and there has
been no reduction in price. on the 9th
er hand there have been reductions
on articles on which We enhanced the
duty-on shingles, for instance-the du
ty was increased and the price was re d
duced."
Payne holds to the opinion that
much Of the increased cost of living
has been due to the marvelously In
creased production in gold and i'm
proved and cheaper process OF produce
ing IL. "The result is" he explain
ed, "That a dollar now will buy less
than dollar would previous to this
large production, and the price OF com
modities has been raised the world
over. Honest students of economy
cannot ignore the fact that for the
present the demand for the necessities