The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-09-27
SHOOTS KEYNOTE. -


convention yesterday in Ogden was on
the liquor question a stradd)e; on the
tariff question il was what it had to
be- foolish defense of the bunko
tariff act. and false claim that it does
wonders for Utah, especially as to wool
and lead. As matter of fact, it has
not changed the schedules at all as to
either. Utah has always been fully
protected in both wool and lead, and
this before there was any such thing as
Senator or Representative in Congress
from here In the old Territorial days
the same That is exactly what they
have done this time, and the Utah del
egation in prostituting themselves TO
the service of the corporations and
trusts simply bartered their souls for
nothing. There is not one new idea IN
Smoot IS speech on this tariff question.
There is nothing but the same old hum
drum. dry rot claim of benefits con
ferrcd that were not conferred, of i'm
portant consideration for local inter.
Csls tndt WIS III no way gwen ~
claim as to all this is bunko claim
quite as the new tariff law itself is
a bunko law.
On the liquor question Smoot does the
expected straddle act 1t is fortunate
for him that his legs are long. for his
straddle is correspondingly wide. He
senses from The Tribune Interpretation
If the Supreme Court decision that the
American platform on this question Is
about the thing that he likes, but he
goes on with a sort of crazy notion OF
his own that the State can be part pro
hibition by statute and part liquor OF
course that is an impossible proposition
The only way that this can be brought
leaving the matter to the local COM
munities precisely as the court declares
the present law The idea that a legis-
lature can say that there shall be pro
hibition in certain locality within
the State and that in other localities
liquor may be sold where the people
are willing to have it sold, is such a
childish proposition as applied to State
wide legislation that none but Smoot
would stand sponsor for any such folly.
State wide prohibition applied only in
certain localities and with other locali-
ties especially exempt, would indeed be
an anomaly in legislation in this coun
try. The courts would make short work
Nth cnaoia1 r1ncc laric1, tinp
as that.
Smoot said in his speech, ''I am
protcctionist without any qualifca-
tion.' And yet he denied even a hear
ing, to say nothing of protection, to the
carded wool manufacturers of this coun-
try, and when they reminded him that
if he with the Republican party desert
ed the principle of protection as ap-
piled to them both were denying the
central principle of their own creed,
and that the country would be liable
TO 90 Democratic, his reply to that
was, "What the hell do l care if it does
go Democratic7' And so as long as
Smoot is not a protectionist without
any qualification. and since he falslfied
his own position in so claiming, and
since he cares nothing about Republi.
can success in this country as he de-
clared to the carded wool men, it i'll
becomes him to stand up before Re
publican convention pleading for pro-
lection and defending the protection
principles.
,nI hoI fI,,r L
gain in making up the tariff schedules
His denial in this, however, counts for
because it is the uniform tes-
timony of everyone who is conversant
with the making of this bunko tariff
law that it was made up by and in be
half Of the "nterests, the trusts and
the combines. There is not the least
question about this. The testimony is
uniform, irrefutable, and denial is fu-
tile. Smoot's s denial, most chnritably
construed, can mean nothing more than
that he didn't know of the bargains,
wasn It admitted to the inner councils.
" hich may well be. since he doesn It
seem to know much about anything,
Smoot took occasion to deny also the
corrupt bargain between the Federal
bunch" and the liquor dealers on the
one hand and the church leaders on the
other. made two years ago in this coun-
". His denial Of course is simply
piece of political trickery, Every one
with the campaign of two
years ago is fully confident of the fact
Of such deal, whereby the church was
yoked up with the liquor interest. both
pulling for the - Federal bunch" ticket
and working together harmoniously as
1t is too late for Smoot
to enter the field with a bald denial of
d thing so well known.
In this speech Smoot showed himself
at his best. which is equivalent to say
inc that it would he most ANYBODY
else IS worst. He is the most preten
tious humbug OF any man who ever
undertook to break into public life. He
is almost illitcrate, uneducatcd, un-