The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1911-08-31
ANSWERS TAFT
Champ Clark Accuses President Taft Of
lIisstatiug Facls.
ONSLAUGHT AN HONOR

Speaker Clark Declares He Can't See
How. Executive Has the Nerve to
Defend Payne Bill and Tariff Re-
vision Veto-Speaks Of the Wool
Bill and the Tariff Board.
Champ Clark speaker OF the nation
al house of representatives, before
Washington early Tuesday
replied empbatically ! to President
Taft's speech, delivered last Saturday
at Hamilton, Mass. In a signed in
terview, the speaker accused the
president of not stating the facts.
Mr.. Clark, declared, among other
things that ff,the tariff board is to be
used as a pretext for delayed tariff
revision downward, the Democrats
would cut off its supplies.
."The president essayed the rather
large stunt of running amuck on both
the Democrats and the insurgent Re-
publicans in Congress, singing out
Chairman Underwood and myself par
ticularly as Democratic targets, -
said Mr.. Clark.
II accept his onslaught as badge
of honor.
The president and l are personal
friends. He is an amiable gentle
man, but at the same time he seems
to have been in bad temper, because
he sees defeat staring him in the
face. I>would say nothing unkind
about him, butyI cannot and will not
permit his personal Structures and
bald :misstatement: of historical facts
to go unchaslenged: '
=. .t."The presidents criticism of Mr..
Underwood and myself, which is es-
sentially a criticism Of all Democrats
in the house and senate, because all
Democrats stood together, is abso-
lutely uncalled for and Is as migrate
full performance as can remember,
for if it had not been for the action
OF the Democrats in the house In both
the Sixty-first and Sixty-second con-
crosses in lining up almost unani-
mously in favor Of reciprocity with
Canada, he would have been the most
thoroughly discredited and humiliat-
ed president since the days of An
drew Johnson.
With all the Influence and patro-
mage of his great Office he could not
muster a majority of house repuhli-
cans for reciprocity in either the
Sixty-first or Sixty-second congress.
The president says THAI he did not
play politics about reciprocity, but
that we lid play politics about the
tariff. The only politics we played
was to keep faith with the people. If
any politics was played on reciproci-
ty the president himself played it
personal at that.
''He seems to think that we ought
to have adjourned as soon as reci-
procity was disposed of-that IS, he
seems to think that congress is COM
posed of lot of school boys to be
ordered about by him as head teach
er, but he was forewarned by both
tMr. Underwood and myself that if he
called the extraordinary session We
would pass tariff bills and such other
bills as the democrats seemed advisa-
BILE. He will not deny that state
ment.
"If we had done less than we did
we would not have been worthy of
so great a portion of public conf
dence as we now enjoy. We made
the best record of constructive states
manship made by any congress in the
same length Of time in genration
and that fact is precisely what caus-
ed the president to assault the Dem
ocrats in congress.
He had said the rates of the wool
schedule in the Payne Aldrich bill
we're too high and ought to be re-
duced. We reduced them. In the
teeth of his other declarations that
said rates were too high, he vetoed
our wool bill, thereby going over
boots and breeches to the stand-pat-
ters.
THE president endeavors to con-
vey the impression that Mr. Under
wood and ! advocated his tariff COM
mission. We did no such thing.
1--WE were never in favor of a tar
itf board or commission under the
control of the president alone, re-
sponsive to him only. The Congress
sional Record will fully and clearly
prove my contentious herein stated.
Several members of the house,
both Republicans and Democrats, in
including Mr. Underwood and myself,
have spent half lifetime studying
and debating the tariff.
THE service of some house and
senate members even goes back to
the Mckinley bill, the Springer bills,
the Mills bill, and the Morrison bills.
Then why should we wait for the ver-
diet OF the presidents board of tariff
non-eyperts?
1T will be noted that while the
presidents conscience would not per-
,r;t him to sign a bill revising even