The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1910-04-29
WHY The TARIFF
IS BEING CLUBDED
CONFLICT OF INTERESTS OF
VARIOUS SECTIONS SHOWN
BY REP. MklNLEY.
The Danger Of insurgency; Middle
West Demands Lower Schedules
South and California Would Suffer.

West Demands Lower Schedules
South and California Would Suffer
Washington, April 23.-Unless the
protectionists Of the country awake tt
meaning and the Importance of the in
surgent movement, says Congressman
Duncan Mckinley, it is probable that
the forces of the Democracy and of the
insurgents, by uniting in tine middle
west, will be able to return enough
Democratic members to congress to
compel reopening of the tariff ques.
ton next winter and the passing of the
lowest tariff bill the country has ever
known. That is what Mr.. Mckinley
thinks insurgency means.
The congressman from California has
just returned from trip through the
great food-producing country through
the great middle west where he went at
the request of the Republican national
committee and the President He was
asked to size up the situation, and to do
what the big Republican papers of that
region would not do, namely, present
the attitude of the administration re-
garding its legislative program and tell
what was the real record of nine months
of the new tariff bill.
A BLAINE PREDICTION.
"In his book, Twenty Years in Cen
gress," said Mr.. Mckinley, James G.
Blaine said that the time would come
when the great food producing states
would turn to free trade, and the south,
becoming a manufacturing region,
would ask for protection. That time
seems to be almost here. The middle
west is shouting for lower tariff. The
great Republican papers there are de-
handing that men be elected to con.
gress who will insist next winter on re-
vising the tariff downward. Senators
Beveridge, Cummins, LaFollette, Doll
yer, Clapp, Bristow and the insurgent
representatives in the house are con.
stantly demanding lower tariff. On
the other hand the cotton manufacture
ers of the south are becoming alarmed
at the Japanese in markets heretofore
controlled by the American manufac.
turer, and are listening to protectionist
arguments.
II visited some of the western states
and collected information by various
means from others In Illinois, Missouri.
Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, the Dako
tas, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa my
information is to the effect that the
leading papers are preaching the propa-
ganda of lower tariffs which amounts
practically to free trade. They urge the
election of senators and representatives
who will be in favor of cutting down
the tariff to the lowest possible figure.
DEMAND LOWER TARIFF.
Zone reason for this is that many of
the largest newspapers are now directly |
interested in the big importing and de-
partment stores, which wish to get |
their goods as cheaply as possible One
of these papers that l have mentioned |
is in receipt, am informed, from one
alone, of $50, 900 month for
The management of the
paper FRANKLY admits that it must con.
slider the wishes and interests of such
patron. The proprietor of another big
paper is half owner in the biggest de-
partment store in his city. The Phila
delphia North American is owned by |
John Wanamaker. 1t is practically an
adjunct to his dry goods business
These merchants in turn have their
own manufacturing plants, or they own
interests in such plants in Europe, Jap
an and China, and they are naturally
interested in being able to get their
goods into this country as cheaply as
possible.
with such interests decrying the
tariff bill and declaring that it has been
instrumental in making the cost of liv-
ing excessive, it is not to be wondered
at that the people in the states where
there is little diversity of farming
have reached the conclusion that they
do not wish to pay so much for the
things that they do not produce. They
take the attitude that their products
generally are not benefited by protec-
ton, and that they should not be com.
PEELED to pay on articles that do not re-
ceive the benefit. No matter whether
it can be shown or not, that the tariff
raises prices, they believe that it does,
and they are loud in their demands that
the tariff be removed entirely on wool,
cotton goods. agricultural implements
and lumber, and that it be cut in half
or be reduced even further, on wines
hops, oranges, lemons, nuts, vegetables,
canned goods. raisins, figs-in fact on
almost everything that California pro.
iuces.
A BLOW TO THE COAST.
II believe that If this program Is car.