The Ekalaka eagle. [volume] (Ekalaka, Mont.) 1909-1920, 1910-11-04
TARIFF NOT RIGHT
ROOSEVELT SAYS IN SlOGX FALLS
IT ISN'T SATISFACTORY.
COMMISSION HIS SOLUTION
He Believes That Problem and tho
Matter Of River and Harbor Leg.
i~sIation Should Be Handled by Ex-
pert Body.

Sioux Falls, S. D., Sept. 3.-That the
tariff now in force is not satisfactory
and that the remedy for the trouble
is the creation OF a tariff commits
sion was the burden of an address
delivered here today by Col. Roose-
welt. The former president arrived
late in the afternoon prepared to
spend the night here. His speech
was as follows:
Whenever men just like ourselves
probably not much better, and certainly
no worse-continually 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 denouncing them, but in seeing
that the conditions are changed. This is
especially true Of tariff-making. 1t has
been conclusively shown, by experiments
repeated again and again, that the meth
OBS OF tarif-making by congress, which
nave now obtained Tor SO many years.
cannot. from the very nature Of the case
bring really satisfactory results. I think
that the present tariff is better than the
last, and considerably better than the
one before the last; hut it has certainly
rallied to give general satisfaction. / 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
or living Of the American workingman.
l bclleVe 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 it. Now. to correct
the tYn1hIa il 10 rcnaCcorr IN %LD G~ct
place, to get in mind clearly what we
want, and. In the next place, to get in
mind clearly the method by which we
nope 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
eral public. To obtain it we must have a
thoroughly efficient and well-euuipped
tariff commission.
Inc tariff ought to be a material issue
and not a moral issue; but If instead Of a
square deal we get a crooked deal, then
II 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 q tariff suff-
clent TO make up for tho difference in la
Dor cost here and abroad. The American
Po'lic waits lie american l3DOrtNR man
put on an equality with other citizens. so
that he shall have the ability to achieve
the American standard OF living and the
capacity to enjoy it; and to do this we
must see that his wages are not lowered
by improper competition with inferior
"age-workers a~broad-with wage-work-
ers who are paid poorly and who live as
no Americans are willing to live. But
the American public does not wish to see
the tarih so arranged as to benefit pri-
marily u few wealthy men.
Commission Is the Solution.
AS a means toward the attainment OF
Its end in view we have as vet 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
shouid approach the matter with abso-
lutte disregard of every outside considera-
ton. These men should take I'D in sue
cession each subject with which the tar
III deals and investigate the conditions Of
production here and abroad: they should
ma out the Facts and not merely accept
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 Mt
once on the particular subject concerned.
while the commission Immediately pro-
ceeds to investigate another. BY these
means log~rolling would be avoided and
each subject treated on it's merits, while
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 governmental de-
partment or bureau to investigate the
conditions in the various protected in
dDStrioS and seq that fba 1ohccace ro,y,,,
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 a flrst-class out
side commission should be applied to
river and harbor legislation. Al present
a river and harbor bill, like a tariff bill.
tends to be settled by a squabble among
a lot of big selfish interests and little
selfish interests. with scant regard to the
one really vital interest that of the gen.
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 have
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 first-class in
stance Of progressive legislation.
The ~Dyspeptic's Kick.