The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-05-08
By JAMES q. MORROW.

i've part OF the lline IN decOrOuS regu-
larity Beveridge and Dolliver. for in
stance.
The reliable confirmed and contuma-
cious progressives are Moses Edwin
Clapp. OF st. Paul; Robert NJ. La Toilette.
OF Wisconsin; Albert B. Cummins. OF
Iowa, and Joseph L. Bristow. OF Kan
sas. born in wof %ounty, Ky. They
never grow weary. they never lose heart.
they never are silent when a fierce.
Christening. or a prophetic word seems
apropos. Yet Clapp. be It said, is not a
laxative person.
Grouped in a photograph. exactly as
they are. proportions preserved and diff
ferences respected, CIapp, a Gibraltar
OF a man. physically. heavily striding.
swarthy and black-crested might be seat
ed. Cummins. mild-eyed and paternal.
mustache dropping, leisurely, Unconditional
but deadly as a cobra when he is in the
humor Of striking. could stand behind
Clapp and give the appearance Of be-
nignancy to the picture. on the right,
by seniority and fervor, would be La
Toilette five feet and five. perhaps. pert.
puSnacious. and hair upright as a porcu-
pine on the left would be BrIstow. six
rect and two guant. bent at the neck and
in the shoulders. and hugely specialized.
Each Has HIS Place.
Bristow is the editor Of the coterie-
that Is his regular business in Kansas
and the investigator. He gamers facts
and hurls statistics from the ramparts
Cummins was corporation attorney. He
Is cold as chilled steel and Just about as
comfortable either for a pillow or as a
punching bag. La Toilette dramatizes
the cause Of progression and then stalks
the stage in terror. tears or fury as he
acts the leading part, Meanwhile. he eats
nothing but cheese and nuts Clamp is a
philosopher and something Of an optimist
Freedom will never be a completed struc-
ture. he says There will be scaffolding
and mSn at work. within and without.
into all futurity. In other words. patch
the roof in one place and there is bound
10 be a leak somewhere else Neverthe-
less, man himself has shelter and security.
All are lawyers but the editor. Educa-
tionally. II that is the way to view II.
against railroads. Taxes and freight
rateS-mighty scant giving. so 1t was
charged. but pretty large taking as it
was alleged-were the elemental steps
OF an intellectual movement onward. or
awayward. as one may please to phrase
Il. that now includes the tariff. Possibly.
81 could be called n popularzatIon Of
political and economical doctrines La
Toilette, as governor OF Wisconsin I'm
1900. accused the railroads and summon
ed the culprits TO the bar for punish
ment. Cummins. as governor of Iowa
two years later, repeated La Toilette
but not so loudly-and talked rebelIiousIy
about unnecessary protection. But Clapp.
remotely as 1857. while attorney general
Of Minnesota, pioneered the measures
and made the arguments of railway regu-
lation. So he has the natural right OF
history TO sit down and become the CEN
ter of the photograph Moreover, as
now see him. he is wearing a frock coat
and a Marseilles vest
Explains the Term
will you tell me-" I asked. your
understanding Of a progressive Repub-
lican?"
"As l comprehend the term" Senator
Clapp replied. " he is a man who be-
lieves the active legislation and admin
istration that followed the death Of Presi-
dent Mckinley should be permitted to
take effect. Also. he is a man who
thought the tariff should have been re-
vised in behalf Of the consumer. At the
special session Of Congress. called early
last year, the progressive Republican
found that the old contest between free
trade and protection was ended and that
the battle was between fair protection
and unfair protection: In ether words,
between protection and profit We saw
that protection in it's old, wholesome
meaning had been abandoned and a
policy TO perpetuate and increase profit
had been substituted.
Economically speaking. there were no
consumers thirty years ago. Our indus
trial establishments were owned by in
dividuals, singly or in partnership. or by
small corporations. At that time we
could have built an unscalable tariff wall
around the country. and yet within the
wall, 5y the operation Of free. eager. and
intelligent competition, prices would not
have become exorbitant The facts con-
clusively prove my statement
Wire Nails Once Cheap.
wire nails made by our own people
we're once scld TO consumers at a price
that just about equaled the duty laid
upon wire nails brought into the United
States from Germany. There was no
wire rust in those days. Separate and
among themselves for the home market.
It was the same with cotton cloth. the
duty being very little less than the price
fixed at the mills by American manu-
facturers
Il recall the time when salt barrel
included. sold for a sum so close 10 the
sum Of the duty as to preclude the pos
slbllity of the consumer paying the tax.
After the enactment OF the Mckinley law
a committee OF the Senate found that
the prise OF 215 articles had fallen more
than 4 per cent. Times were good. Bust
ness was moving briskly Trusts had
scarcely begun TO control production and
TO smother competition.
"Still, there were far-sighted men who
then feared that the day would come
when the people would need protection
against the producers OF their own land.
rather than against cheap goods made I'm
foreign countries Garfield and John Sher-
man so believed. and we have the record
OF what they said. However, in their
time. and until much later. there were
no consumers. economically considered, in
the United States.
Conditions Healthy and Normal.
IF a man worked in iron. he bought
his c1Of hing Shoes and food az nrfcas