The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-10-06

cOmpetlt1On between Canadian and American wheat-raisers. The con
 sumner does not eat wheat, but he does eat flour. Therefore, if the consumer
 benefits at all through cheaper wheat it is only indirectly and on the doubt full theory that the Flour Trust" will able to secure it's raw material cheaper. The farmer who raises wheat must grow and sell his wheat in competition withsthe Canadian far mer, whatever that competition may be at present or in the future.
 Capturing Delegates for 1912.
 Considering the Reciprocity bill purely from it's political side, let us see if there is any visible connection
 between its schedules and the cam paign of 1912.
 We see that the chief potential los
 CTS through Reciprocity are the far
 mers who raise the wheat and other
 grains, cattle, sheep, hogs, etc. It Is
 not difficult to locate the losers on
 They are found in the Insurgenr
 States, the anti-Taft States of the
 West and Middle West-the hopeless
 States. It is evident that the chief
 gathers by 'Reciprocity'' are the man
 ufacturers of Hours and cereals, and
 They are located for the most part in the great manufacturing States of
 the East and in the doubtful States of the Middle West whose electoral
 votes are so large and so necessary to the Presidential plans of the ad- ministration.
 The South is for the most part not affected by "Reciprocity'' It's indus
 tries are not interfered with. Cot
 ton and rice are not produced in Can ada or dealt with in the "Reoiprocity"
 measure. Neither is sugar factor in "R.eciprocity.' The livestock bus mess of the South is insignificant
 compared with that of the West and
 Middle West. The South will be the
 gainer if free raw materials even-
 tually result in cheaper foods It stands to lose nothing by Reef
 sentiment of the Southern delegates
 to the national Republican convention
 is in nowise threatened by the pas sage of the. Reciprocity bill.
 No political measure has ever been Dmore carefully calculated than "RecfA procity.'' Backed as it was from the very start by the active support of the manufacturers and of the whole capitalistic press, Reciprocity" ap- pears to have greatly strengthened a solid body of delegates from the Republican machine of the East. The same influences have increased the Taft sentiment in the packing and milling districts of the Middle West and in the patrona ge-built Taft ma chine of the South.
 But important as these results may have been for MT. Taft and the Re publican machine, Reciprocity has also accomplished another and still more important service. Owing to the fact that Reciprocity has been seen largely through the eyes of cap italistic newspapers committed to MT. Tafts renomination, the really inde-1 fensiible injustices of the bill have been greatly minimized in the eyes of the public. In all sections of the country where the people. were no, ules, Reciprocity has been able to pass as sincere attempt on the par, of the administration to break down tariff walls and to reduce the cost of living.
 Only in the West and in the farm ing districts of the Middle West, where the fear of Canadian competition stimulated the people to scrutinize the bill, was it understood and in- telligently commented upon. In these nant protest-and the hostility or the peoples representatives in both houses of Congress.
 It is not that the people of the West and Middle West were unwil- ling to undergo their share of what SsSI SdCIluCcS dI0 necessary m Or-l der to establish real reciprocity with Canada. But they were unwilling 10 be the only victims selected by the administration for such sacrifice, es- pecially as they were not at all con. vinced of the sincerity of the measure ana suspected that the framers or the bill were influenced by political more than by economic considera- tions.
 The Vests opposition to Reel procity" and its attempt to am enu | the bill and supplement it with a | farmers Tree list thus gave the ad- press an opportunity Of | placing the Insurgents before the | country in the light of men who were l opposing a measure for the genera | welfare simply out of selfshness anc | an inability to take broad vieiw of | part of the President. This turning of public sentiment against his mosl powerful political enemies was Der haps the most important part of ''Reciprocity" from the point of view of 1912.
 One of the most interesting features of the Reciprocity bill, from a po- litical point of view, is the paper schedule. The daily press is, in mos, sections of the country, in entire sym | pathy with the plans of the Repup- lican administration. Controlled bv | capital, it casts it's powerful infiuenc. in favor of nominating a candidate | who is thoroughly sympathetic w1rn | big business. The magazines. on l the other hand, are on the whole pro gressive, and are bitterly hostile to | the Federal Government | in the interests of big business.
 Mir. Taft's bill provides that news print paper valued at not more than | four cents per pound shall be admit ted free of duty. It is not to be | noted that the duty on the higher grades of paper is not reduced. n is also to be remarked that the daily papers are printed on the low grades of paper which, under Reciprocity" come in free, and that the magazines are printed on the higher grades Of paper against which the high tariff of the Payne-Aldrich bill is retain ed.
 Those who are aware of the enor- nous quantity of low-grade print paper used by the daily newspapers will realize the immense saving which may be assured to them by the pa per schedule of the ''Reciprocitv~ act-a saving which, in the case of g. large metropolitan journal, will amount literally to hundreds of thou-j sands of dollars a year.
 This careful favoring of the pro- Taft framers of public opinion is cer tainly a shrewd political move. It is also an instance of the keen antici patton of coming political struggles with which the treaty with Canada was drawn.