The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-05-02

l and this conundrum is flung at us, what
 is republican," Is Aldrich one? Then
 what is Cummins? Is John Dalzell one?
 Then what is Victor Murdock? Is Joe
 Cannon a republican? Then what will
 you name Robert M. LaFolletteg AS long
 as the issue is taxation for monopoly
 these folk will never herd together. They
 would not if they could, and they could
 not if they would
 1 All of us recollect how oft the demo- crats went through their grand stunt of | putting the republicans in hole" and | how often it turned out that the democ-
 racy fell into the hole. But now the tune | is changed. Everywhere we hear that | the republicans are "f1Xin' " to put the | democrats in a hole" No party ever
 thrived by any such methods. There is
 but one course for party to pursue, and
 that is to command the confidence of the
 country, just as there is but one way
 for an individual to walk-and that to look the whole world In the face and know
 that you are an honest man.
 Well, some peanut republican statesmen l i'll Congress are going to put the demo- | crats in a hole by moving the farm
 CTS free list as an amendment to Canad- | ian reciprocity. These gentry take the people for fools. Their aim is to defeat reciprocity. They will have opportunity | to vote for the free list as a separate | measure; but they want 1t mixed. Then | let 'em mix it over on the Senate side, where they are in the majority.
 A MT. Hamilton, a statesman from .l.s-- I | session of Congress will be known in his | tory as the 'anti-farmer session." The | Hon. Hamilton is an amusing chap. A | long time ago famous man of letters | from England came to the United States
 and delivered a series of lectures. He was a wizard for alliteration. I believe his
 name was Arnold. The newspapers were , full of him, and it got to be that the news editors tore their hair fixing alliterative headlines, and it is possible that old
 Brother Burchard got the pattern of his Rum, Romanism and Rebellion" from this man. Certain 1t Is that Sunset Cox made speech of 5000 words in Con gress that was one string of aliteratives from beginning to ending, and a mighty dull speech it was, though made by the brightest man in Congress.
 In 1896, in defiance of the opinion of
 our greatest man of letters, Edgar Allen
 Poe MT. William Jennings Bryan intro duced the epigram into American poli- tics. At least he made 1t almighty prom inent in our political oratory. This same Mir. Hamilton obtained a seat in Con- gress in 1896, and one day I heard him make an enormous speech about politics,
 and it was an awful hour of epigram on opigram Pelion on Ossa. Curiosity in duced me to read it, freak that 1t was, and found 1t even a poorer piece of oratory than Sunset CoX's aliteration. But MT Hamilton knows that the incorporation of
 the trade convention with Canada in the laws of Congress will be a cruel blow to robber protection. and that's what's
 the matter with Hamilton. Cannon, Dalzell, Fordney and other high priests of monopoly taxation instinctivey
 oppose reciprocity with Canada for the reason that they feel that it Is the begin ming of the end of that enormity that forces one man to take of his substance to enrich another man. engaged in an in dustry that he admits is unproftable l unless he Is given an advantage over his fellow man. Even MT. Cummins says the taxes should be so laid that the man ufacturer shall be insured reasonable profit" There never was a more vicious dogma. It is feudalism in economies. Who is going to insure reasonable profit to the ditch-digger, the railroad d-bulder the rail-
 road operative, the lawyer, the doctor, the newspaper man. from devil in the composing room to editor In the sanctum Who guarantees '.rea asonable profit" to the clergy, to the teacher, to the team ster, to the street sweeper, to the po- lceman, to the fireman. to public officials, to clerks and stenographers and there are thousands of others who have to skirmish around and dig for reasonable profit as best they can. These gentry are re- quired to take of their earnings to make
 the reasonable profit for your Carnegies
 and other children of the tariff Cain, who ''eat doubloons'' and perspire water.
 And hence your socialist. Given a Steel trust is guaranteed such profits in our l tariff laws that it seems cheaper abroad
 than at home, declaring dividends on
 stocks 70 per cent water-given that con- cern, and you have a socialist party, now respectable In numbers, and as soon as the G. O. P. goes the way of its dad
 dies, the federalists, whig and knownoth- ing parties, as soon it will. that socialist party will be formida ble. and ere the cen | tury is half done with this wicked world, l it will be victorious and triumph until the | invincibe and immortal democracy shall | ultimately prevail and send it also to the graveyard where 1t belongs.
 To my mind 1t is perfectly clear that l the privilege laid in a protective tariff breeds socialism, and socialism is with
 us today most unwelcome and a dan | gerous quantity. The one way to throttle l this monster is to abolish its da.dy. the
 protection in the tariff. and other priv