Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1912-08-23
WILSON / o FARMERS.
FIRST CAMPAIGN UTTERANCE
e DEVOTED TO TARIFF AND
LEGISLATIVE METHOD ~

O1ouCooGoI, ~. -, aug 4O.-Onuer
the glare Of hot sun, thousands Of
farmers massed about Governor Wood
row Wilson here yesterday and heard
him make his first campaign speech.
The governor spoke extemporaneous-
ly from an. improvised platform at
Washington Park, where the farmers of
New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylva
MIA were participating in farmers
day celebration. The candidate dwelt
mostly upon the protective tariff which
he called "the restrictive tariff,' at
tackled Senator Aldrich and his tariff
making associates, and pointed out the
benefits of merchant marine in con-
.nection with the Panama canal. Gov
Wilson said in part:
ct am interested in politics not as a
search for office, but as great contest
devoted to something very definite
and practical indeed. Politics ought not
to be considered as mere occasion for
oratory. Politics ought to be considered
as branch of the national business.
"Here we are at a farmers picnic
and this day I suppose we might
say that the farmers occupy the center
Of the stage. I have seldom seen the
interests Of the farmer regarded in leg
islation, and one Of the greatest imposi-
tions upon the farmer Of this country
that has ever been devised is the pres
ent tariff legislation Of the United
States.
Tariff Advice Never Sought
"I have not heard of farmers wait
ing for hearing before the committee
on ways and means of the house and
~ HI ~
While you were feeding the world con-
gress was feeding the trusts.
my Indictment against the tariff is
that it represents special partnerships
| and does not represent the general in
terest. It is long time since tariffs
were made by men who even supposed
that they were seeking to serve the
| general interest because tariffs are not
| made by the general body Of members
| of either house Of congress.
zone Of the gentlemen who has been
most conspicuously connected with this
thing has in recent years prudently
withdrawn from public life. mean
the one-time senior senator from Rhode
Island, Mr.. Aldrich. I at least give Mr.
Aldrich the credit Of having had a
weather eye. He saw that the weather
was changing in Rhode Island.
| Approves Action on Vetoes
| "The tariff intimately concerns the
farmer Of this country. It makes q
great deal Of difference to you that Mr.
Taft the other day vetoed the steel
bill.
EFT makes difference to you in the
cost Of practically every tool that you
use upon the farm, and it is very sig
nificant to you that democratic house
Of representatives has just passed the
steel tariff reduction bill over the presi
dents 8 veto, thing I am informer is
unprecedented in the history of the
country, that a house should have
passed two tariff measures, the wool
measure and the steel measure, over the
veto Of the president. ..........
"Tariff measures are not measures
for the merchant, merely, and the man:
ufactuEer. The farmer pays Just as
big proportion of the tariff duties as
anybody. Indeed, sometimes when we
are challenged to say who the consumer
is, as contrasted with the producer, SC
far as the tariff is concerned, 7 am
tempted to answer, FThe farmer,' be-
cause he does not produce any of the
things that get any material benefit
from the tariff, and he consumes all OF
the things which are taxed under the
tariff system.
"The trouble with the business of
the United States under the tariff is
that men think they can't make money
without the assistance Of the govern
ment. And as long as you allow them
to think that, every mothers son of us
is tied to the apron strings Of the old
grandmother in the capitol at Washing.
| TONI