Valentine Democrat. (Valentine, Neb.) 1900-1930, 1910-09-08
WANT SQUARE DEAL
oCCPLE ATT NOT cATisFlE7
WITH TrE TARIFF, SAYS
co... ROOSEVELT.
ADDRESS At SIOUX FALLS
Matter c: Adjusting the Customs Dies
and Also OF Devisino River and
FIarbor Legislation, He Declares,
Should &c Handled by Commits.
sions Of Experts.

Should &c Handled by Commits.
sions Of Experts.
Sioux Falls, S. D.. Sept. ga
EQuare deal in the tariff, as in every
thing else, is the demand of the
American people, said Col. Theodore
Roosevelt in his address here today.
He admitted they were lot getting
that now, a nd urged a tariff COM
mission as the solution of the prob
lem. Mr.. Roosevelt was warmly re-
ceived when his train pulled in about
4:3O in the afternoon~and was es-
corted to a hotel for the night. In his
address he said:
Whenever men just like ourselves
probably not much better, and certainly
no worse-continualIy fail to give us the
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 which they work. and profit comes,
not from ~denouHcinG them, but in seeing
that the conditions are changed. This is
especially true Of tariff-making. 1t has
been corclusiVely shown, by experiments
repeated again and again, that the meth
ods of tarif-making by congress. which
nave now obtained for so many years,
cannot, from the very nature Of the case
bring really satisfactory results. 1 think
that the present tariff Is better than the
last, and considerably better than the
one before the last: but It has certainly
failed to give general satisfaction. I be-
leve this country is fully committed to
the principle of protection; but it is to
protection as a principle; to protection
primarily in the interest Of the standard
of living Of the American workingman.
L believe that when protection becomes,
not a principle, but a privilege and a
preference-or, rather, a tumble of privi-
leges and preferences-then the American
people disapprove of 1t. 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
mind clearly the method by which we
hope to obtain what we want. What we
want is a square deal in the tariff as in
everything else; a square deal for the
Wage-earner; a square deal for the en-
ployer; and a square deal for the gen.
erai public. To obtain it we must have a
thoroughly efficient and Well-euuipped
tariff commission.
The tariff ought to be a material issue
and not a moral issue: but if instead of a
square deal we get n crooked deal. then
IL becomes very ~emphatically a moral IS
sue. What we desire in a tariff is such
Measure of protection as Will eoualiZe the
cost of production here and abroad; and
as the cost of production is mainly labor
cost, this means primarily a tariff suff1-
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 StandorI of Iiyiro ord +Io
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--ith wage-work-
ers who are paid poorly and who live IS
no Americans are willing to live. But
the American public does not wish to see
the tariff so arrange as to benefit pri-
marily a few wealthy men.
Commission Is the Solution.
AS a means toward the attainment Of
Its end in view we nave as yet devised
nothing in any way as effective as a tar
III 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-
ute 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; thew should
IND 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 az
once on the particular subject concerned.
while the commission Immediately pro-
ceeds to investigate another. By these
means los-rolling would be avoided and
each subject treated on its merits, willis
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 overnmen de-
partment or bureau to investigate thu
conditions in the various protected in
d%ustries, 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 q f1rst-class out
side commission should be applied to
river end barbor legislation. At present
a river and haroor bill, like a tariff bill,
tends to be settled by a squabble among
a lot of big selfish interests and little
selfish interests, with sca2t regard to the
one really vital interest tina Of the gem
eral public. In this matter the National
Legislature would do we'll 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 nave
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-
dal forthwith disappeared. incidentally,
this seems to me to be a frst-class in
stance Of progressive legislation.