Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1911-04-22

E4sphone. Bell (sditoriaA OF 0us.
81 Nsw telephone, bushes: So on 1sy 80
III Address the Courier Printing So
M pe0y. OttumwA, Iowa.
81 Nntered % second class mat -
81 October IL, 1908. at the postonIce. 80
BIZ tumwa, Iowa, under the Act OF Con-
@ sress Of March :. 1879.
R8SwHAT SHALL we DO WITH THE
H TARlFF7
81 In 1902 Thos. B. Reed Of Maine VINO
had returned from congress IN 1889
Il made the following speech on the
Y tariff. It resembles very mucn inc
n tariff speeches that were made nearly
n hundred years ago, and IS no douDt
J very much like those that will be made
! hundred years from now. Because
the results Of high tarih have always
been beneficial to this country and q
low tariff always detrimental. That
Is the reason that all tariff talks are
much the same today as in the days OF
Clay, Webster, oliver P. Morton or
Reed.
AS speaker of the house, Congress
man Reed was one of the original
cars, He was one of the nations
leading congressman at time, when
the house membership was at the
highest tide Of statemanship. His
speech follows:
Protection in some lands may be the
subject OF discussion and debate. How
1t. can be in this country and at this
time passes all understanding. In the
United States the policy OF protection
I has had a century and a quarter OF
alternate triumph and defeat. The
triumph has always been followed by
prosperity and. the defeat by hard
times. The last decade has been
striking example. we saw fit to try
tarifesreform in an act called the
"Wilson act" So prompt were the
evidences OF failure to meet the hopes
OF itt$Sframers, that the country rose
as one man, repealed the act, and
substituted therefore the Dingley act,
which. was the result of care and skill;
and Immediately, there followed a
demonstration OF the advantages of
protection, the like of which was never
seen even In this country. Owing to
q combination OF circumstances we
found sother countries ready to take
our surplus; and owing to the fact
that we had not fairly started our de-
mands.on our own workshops we had
q surplus to send abroad. This large
exports$trade was misunderstood. 1t
only indicated that, with strong prices
abroad with England sparafyzed by 9
strike, and with our own demand just
awakening, we could send many things
abroad 1t did not-mean that escould
always do this. It meant that the
primacy wasain sight but not yet
gained. When our own demand
reached its proper increase we found
we could not supply It,, On the con-
trary, we used up not only what! we
made but In the article aof iron and
steel alone we have imported in the
last year million tons. Unfortunate
", our exports came, when we were
expanding and every body's mind was
filled with the idea that we could sup
ply the world. The free-traders seized
upon this state OF the public mind, and
declared that we needed protection no
longer and that the tariff must be
abandoned. This idea that protection
is in the nature of medicine, to be
dropped as soon as possible, Is an
idea we had better examine. What II
1t is food? The medicine notion comes
from the early arguments for the Sc
lection of infant industries to be fos-
tered and cherished. Time and ex-
perience have enlarged that notion Of
protection They have shown that
protection is not privilege but a
system. A privilege might be rob-
berry. "A system must justify itself by
results. The principle which under
lies protection Is securing at all times
to the American people the markets
of America. 1t means that the work
OF this nation shall be done by the
people of this nation. All wealth
comes from the marrying of labor to
raw material In country like ours,
extending over such vast regions, there
can be no lack of materials. Any
system which enables our own people
to do our own work is the system
which can give, and has given, the best
results. The enemy have all along
sneered at the idea that taxes can
make us rich. But this is simply to
bepuile by words. Would 1t be any
less absurd to say that taxes give us
GOOD currency? And yet they did. We
tax state currency. We do not raise
one cent by the tax; it simply bars
out the state currency. We used to tax
as a way of accomplishing a result,
as q means to an end. In like man.
ner we used the taxing power to
create a barrier behind which we
could do our own work. All the
theorists, the men who thought there
vas nothing in the world they could
NOT think of. declared that we would
he ruined. We have not been ruined.
but we are today a very lively example
of people who do their own work.
What would you say was the ideal in
dustrial condition Of q nation? Every
body at work. Just now we nave every
body at work. And yet we think we
want something else. II we keep on
fussing we shall get It. With all the
world, except England, including her
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