Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1911-09-01
THE FIRST BIG GUNS OF PRESI'
DENTAL FIGHT.

fired. Democracy has it's fighting
CLOTHES on, its aim is true, and it's gun
ners are already doing effective work
First of all Underwood scored a few
bulls eyes in exposing the hollowness
of the Tariff Board" pretence for the
vetoing of the tariff relief Legislation.
Now comes Champ Clark, firing a
twelve inch gun, as it We're, and boring
few holes right through the yitals Of
the stand-patism that in the end mark
ed the Republican administration.
Clark doesn't mince words. He is
polite to the President cruelty polite,
but the exposition of facts is clean and
almost merciless in it's severity. The
President has the foundations knocked
from under his specious claims that
the Congress was not sufficiently ad-
yised TO undertake the revision Of the
iiniquituous wool schedule, that men
who have been for years in the House
and the Senate were not qualified to
deal with tariff questions until Board
that has been in existence a few
months,made up in themain of par
tisan tariff supporters, was prepared
to report The opportunity was too
good to lose and Clark never did
more effective bit of work with the
verbal rapier than in this instance.
Cody but none the less conyincingly
he holds the administration course
/ up to the ridicule of the public. The
pitiabe position the President occu-
pied until the Democrats in Congress
came to his aid in the reciprocity
measure is also dwelt upon. But for
Democratic assistance, as Clark says,
| Taft would have been the most thor
oughly discredited and Inundated pres
ident since the days of Andrew John
SON" In handling thetariff legislation
and yetoes the speaker of the House
strikes straight from the shoulder and
plumb between the presidential eyes.
Says he:
He SENS to think that we ought to
have adjourned as soon as reciprocity
was disposed of, that is, he seems to
think that Congress is composed of a
lot of school boys to be ordered about
by him as head teacher, but he was
|fOre-warned, by both Mr.. Underwood
and myself, that if he called the extra
ordinary session, We would passtariff
bills and such other bills as the Demo-
CRATES deemed advisable. He will not
deny that statement.
IF we had done less than we did, we
would not have been worthy of so
great portion of public confidence as
we now enjoy. We made the best rec
ord of constructive craftsmanship
made by any Congress in the same
length of time in a generation and that
fact is precisely what caused the Pres
ident to assail the Democrats in Con-
gress."
Clark then dwells upon a fact that
will be drivenhome, day after day, IN
the Democratic press and from the
stands of its speakers, during the cam
paign now opening. AS the Speaker
puts it. The President had said the
rates of the wool schedule in the
Payne-Aldrich tariff bill were too high
and ought to be reduced. We reduced
them. In the teeth of other declara-
lions that such rates We're too high, ne
vetored our wool bill, thereby going
over boots and breeches to the stand
patters."
And in reply to the intimation from
presidential quarters that the Demo
Gratis themselves were in favor of the
idea of commission of tariff experts
so called, to procure data before re-
vision, Clark enters an emphatic de
NAL Nothing could be more direct 0,
positive than this statement:
The President endeavors to convey
the impression that Mr.. Underwood
and | advocated his tariff commission
We did no such thing.
wv never were in favor of tariff
board o" commission under the contro
of the President alone, responsive tC
INN only. The congressional RECORD
will fully and clearly prove my con
itent0n herein stated.
Several members of the House
both, Republicans and Democrats, in
Guiding Mr.. Underwood and myself
have spent half a lifetime studying
and debating thn tariff