The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-05-30
THE LOST BATTLE
By SAVOYARD

Mother, may go into swim?"
 Yes, my darling daughter.
 Hang your clothes on a hickory limb, But don't go near the water" Champ Clark. That is the way the democrats of the House of Representatives of the Sixty-sec- ond Congress proposes to deal with Sched- ule K, which is wool. At least that Is the present programme and 1t will be car ried out unless public opinion shall in- terfere to avert the shame.
 Tn 1910 President Taft was frank enough to say to the American people that wool was too powerful for the republican party to contend against. At least that is the Interpretation the country put on his ut terances denunciatory of Schedule K. Then unspoke our old friend the demo- cratic party in the role of Horatius at the gate, and declared its chief ambition to be opportunity to smash Schedule K or die in the attempt.
 Every well,' said the country, and the democratic party was selected for the job. The majority was sweeping and over W. fessed that it could not make a tariff without a duty on wool. For half cen tury the democratic party has been de- claring that it was impossible to make an honest tariff if 1t contained duty on wool. Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off,"
 The extra session came early in April and had Schedule K been before the caucus that nominated the speaker, or the caucus that selected the committee on ways and means, a duty on raw wool would not have commanded the votes of 10 per cent of the entire membership The party went bravely on and jammed Canadian reel procity through and then turned "piker with the farmers free list, which would have been all right had it not been so manifest that Bob Akers was in command and the free list an apology for reciproc- ity still, 1t looked all right and nobody suspected that mischief was alert in be- half of Schedule K.
 I want to make an apology and prom ise I'll never predict again. Long be- fore the passage of the farmers free list I was astounded to read in an afternoon paper that 1t was proposed in the ways and means committee to put a duty on raw wool. I seized my hat and made tracks for the capitol, so anxious was to have authoritative denial of it. I sent in for Oscar Underwood and asked about the surrender. In an instant I saw 1t was too true. He got to talking about revenue as an excuse for the blunder, and said that an expert had told him this' that and 'tother thing. Schedule K as II stands is the work of an expert, a -fel- low named North, and 1t was developed that the woolen manufacturers paid him big money for 1t.
 I discovered 1t was no use talking to un- derwood, and hunted up Champ Ciarh | and raised the dickens with him. A dem- ocratic successor of Morrison and MILLS and William L. Wilson as chairman ol
 ways and means was ready to levy a dutS
 on wool, and now I found a democratic successor to Carlisle and Crisp as speak CT of the House was ready to embrace
 and adopt this cub of the very lion ol
 protection. It made me sick physicaiis
 as well as politically as this King O. France with 20, 600 men marched up the hli and then marched down again.
 That night got little comfort. U the IA democrats on ways and means nm
 were with us and looked anxiously TO the bill to be brought in. Bless you, nc The tariff ring had just begun to fight And how admirable 1t is in action-espe