The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-10-03
People Are Demanding Square
 Deal and Honest Politics
TARIFF IS NO ILLUSION
BristO,v, Beveridee and LaFOlIette Won Their Fight and the Country Is Giving Them Full
 Credit

Nashville October 2-Gifford Pinchot, head of the National Conservation asso- ciation arrived here today from a long tour of the middle and far west to att tend the annual convention of the Broth- erhood of St. Andrew When asked for l his views on the political situation in the country that he has just traversed, MT. Pinchot issued the following signed statement:
 ''The essential facts in the west, as I see them, are the weakening of party ties, due to genuine interest in popular gov ernment and the spread of progressive 1 ideas.
 "The defeat of such men as Hull in Iowa and Tawney in Minnesota, and the overwhelming victory of LaFolette in Wisconsin, the successful fight California is making against the political domina- tion of the Southern Pacific, the demand 1 for direct popular government in Arizona, the repudiation of Ballinger by his own city, county and state especially; the fact that the conservation idea has swept l the west-all these are typical signs of the progressive advance
 ''Of course, there have been, and there will yet be, reverses in the course of progress, but nothing can stop, or even long delay, movement which is based on the insistant demand of the people for honesty and open political methods and square deal for all men. The west is through with the subsidized man and the hole and corner methods under which the machinery of the government has been steadily misused for the interests and the professional politicians. | "The people of the west and the Mis- sissippi valley believe in protection, but they are not greatly interested in de- lenses of the tariff based on it's alleged virtues as a-revenue producer. It, is no Justification of the tariff to say that it pays. This government is not reduced to the necessity of raising it's revenues by schedules which rob the people The essential fact about the tariff. as the people see it, where I have been, Is that 1 1t is unjust, moral wrong, written by | the servants of special interests for the l benefit of their masters and intended not to help the small man make a living, but to help the big man make an exorbitant profit. No amount of statistics will con- 1 ceal or modify that fact, or make many schedules of the Payne-Aldrich tariff honest
 T do not believe that the west or the east, either for that matter, labors un- l der an illusion whatever as to the real character of the tariff or the way it was
 made.
 Leaving the tariff bill out of account, there was much good legislation passed by Congress last spring, and the progress sives were mainly responsible. The west has never been deceived as to where the credit belongs for the useful laws passed at the last session of Congress. Indeed, I believe that the whole country knows by now that the Wickersham railroad bill and the Alaska bill were both inde- fensible. The Ballnger conservation bills, although they contained some good feat ures, taken from previous measures, were as a whole the obvious product of dense 1 ignorance and conspicuous bad judgment | to say the least.
 "The reason why good came out of the l last session was that some men in the House and Senate asserted the dignity of their representative office and refused l to pass bills under whip and spur until 1 they had been amended to their interest Such men as Bristow, Beveridge, La Toilette and others fought the good fight l for the people and they won. They earned, and they are receiving, in the east and west alike, full credit for the good laws they gave us. Not the least l of their claims upon the gratitude of our people is the fact that they destroyed | the Cannon-Aldrich legislative ring and drove the special interests from their first | line of defense.
 Tn some few places the administra- l tion bills and the administration senators l were help and not hindrance Any I credit they won thereby they should free ly have. And the west gives them all
 the credit that is their due But in this
 whole matter one may look almost in vain | for any evidence that the regulars and their friends, in their blind devotion to
 the great business interests, have ever | really become aware of the troubles and struggles of the plain people.
 .'I am strong believer in the insurgent cause. but insurgency is growing so fast l that 1t must soon change it's name In many states the insurgents are in com | plete control of the party organization l Having won, there Is nothing left for | them to insurge against. In that sense
 and in that sense only they have be-
 come regular.
 .Tn one way the insurgent cause is | most open minded men see the speedy | triumph of the progressive policies, and because direct attacks upon them usually fail. the hope of the reactionaries Is to join the movement and try from within to emasculate 1t or steer 1t to disaster. The soft pedal is still the most danger ous enemy of progress. Already there are signs in plenty that reactionaries are trying to dominate the progressive move ment. Already the conversions without conviction have begun.
 political death bed conversions, per formed in public by politicians whose leadership is dwindling. may fairly be regarded with suspicion. Like certain flowers. these gentlemen turn their faces to inc rising sun but their roots are held fast by the same soil as before. would make 1t perfectly easy for all men to join the progressive ranks But would keep the newly converted old style leaders in the ranks and under ob- servation until they had won a right to
 progressive leadership by something more
 h.x far Id a