New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-05-22
THE NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.

IL the message in which Mr. Taft will call
the attention of Congress TO the situation.
ARE THEY PROTECTIoNISTS? =
There are a good many critics of the
Payne law who have, in the past at
least, asserted their loyalty to the
doctrine of protection but who are now
arguing from premises which strikingly
suggest that they have abandoned entirely
the policy of protection for American in
dustries These assert that the Payne
tariff is higher than the Dingley tariff,
and. therefore, is essentially, instead of
presumably, evil. Such a point of view
may be logical from the position of
free trader. but is it so from the posi-
ton of a protectionist? No criticism has
been heard from Republicans, be they
regular or insurgent, OF the platform
declaration that the. tariff should equal
the difference in the cost of production
here and abroad. If, therefore the Payne
tariff equals that difference there should
be criticism from protectionists. even
though the Payne law imposes higher
duties. 1t cannot be logically denied
arguing from a protection position. that
the first essential is to ascertain beyond
peradventure these relative costs and to
establish the difference as the guide TO
the amount of duty required And that
is precisely what the President is endeav-
oring to do. OF course if it is shown that
the Payne duties just equal that difference
and still are higher than the DingIey
duties, there can be no fault found with
the Payne law by protectionists, although
they may follow the suggestion that the
American manufacturer is not producing
his wares with sufficient economy, or that
conditions under which he is producing
them are such as TO make il inadvisable
from an economic basis to encourage
by protection the domestic production of
goods which can be made SO much more
cheaply abroad.
ROGERS TO RETIRE Pax-1,as+er Con-
eral Rogers handed to the Secretary % the
Navy to-day his application for retirement
accompanied by the request that action
thereon be deferred for few DAYS II is
assumed that it is the desire OF Paymascer
General Rogers that action on his appIica-
ton be postponed to enable him to secure
the benefit OF the provision in the pending
naval bill which will entitie him to the
retired pay OF a rear admiral although lie
is actually pay director with the rank
of captain, and ninth from the top of the
list, except that his temporary designation
as paymaster general gives him during his
incumbency the rank and pay Of a rear
admiral 1t is generally assumed that Pay
Director Thomas jefferson Cowie, nov gen
eral storekeeper at the Naval Academy,
will succeed Rogers as paymaster general,
although Mr.. Meyer will make no an
nouncement of his purpose before Monday.
Paymaster Cowie won the gratitude of
both arms of the service by the effective
work he did in association with Captain
Haigood, of the army, TO secure the aGoD-
ton Of the tncre pay bill two years ago
S1EPHENSON'S EERACITY-Senator
Stephenson has subjected his veracity to q
severe strain during the last two DAYS by
insisting that he has seen the HALEY comet
although no one else in Washington has
done SO, owing to the cloudy conditions
To-day. however, he relieved the tension
he had placed on the credulity of his col
leagues by explaining that he saw the Hal
ley comet seventY-fiYe years ago. when ne
was boy, in Fredericton n. B. The Sen
ator declares that the comet looked to him
10 be as big as horse and says it created
CONSERVATION in the vicinity OF Frederic
ton, where il was accepted as a warning Of
an Indian massacre, although it was an
entirely civilized community and as little
likely TO be the scene of an Indian up
rising as his own state, Wisconsin, is to-
day. G. O q