The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-08-17

can party, but to the bosses who have
usurped the control of the machinery
of the party. The Republican pro-
posaI is a tariff for privilege in in
dustry. The Progressive proposal is
a tariff in the interest of labor in in
! dustry.
! when the Payne-AIdrich bill was
put through congress it was currently
reported not only in the newspapers,
| but by private men who ought to
know, that the cotton schedule was
written by a then private citizen of
Rhode Island now a senator from
your state, Mr.. Lippitt, and Mr.. Lip
pitt was credited with making the
statement that Mr.. Aldrich had been
good to him. The Republican pur-
pose is to have future tariffs written
by the Mr.. Lippits of the party, or
else by the party leaders who are
good to Mr.. Lippitt. The Demo-
cratic proposal is to hurt the Mr..
Lippitts by hurting everybody, big and
little, connected with the industries
which have built up states like the
not merely to reform schedules of the
tariff, but to reform the methods and
purposes of tariff making.
we propose to reduce the various
schedules as to which the duty is un-
doubleday too high. We propose to
deal with the tariff schedule by sched-
ule in accordance with the reports of
a non-partisan commission of experts
who shall make their reports. not on
the theory of being good to anybody,
but with the theory. of doing justice
primarily to the American wage earn
er and the Americanaco er.
Acting after getting full informa-
ton from such a commission, we will
give the Mr.. Lippitts their rights,
we will do them Justice but instead
of RI oh f1o vi
to suit themselves, we shall carefully
investigate how their business is car
ried on.
IF the Democratic platform were
carried out in good faith, your fac
tories would have to close altogether,
for their proposal is to prevent the
Mr.. Lippitts from prospecting by the
simple process of preventing every one
from prospecting. The Republican
proposal is only to give prosperity to
the Mr.. Lippits and then to let it
trickle down according as they may
condescend to permit such trickling.
Our proposal is to keep the factories
open, to see also that they do Justice
as we'll as get it; that they do justice
to the wage workers whom they en-
p1oy and to the customers whom they
serve, and make their own profits only
as an incident of thus rendering SER |
vice to the advantage of the public as |
a whole.
The Money Question.
zone of our national problems call |
ing for immediate solution is that of |
our banking and currency system. It
has been demonstrated beyond any
question that the present system is un- |
scientific and ineffective, and that if |
we are to enjoy a full measure of pros |
perity, we must adopt a modern and |
proper system, at least as stable as the |
financial systems of France, England |
and Germany. The suffering and loss |
occaSioned by our present defective |
system of credits and reserves has in
times past been very great and very |
general. and we cannot be confident |
that panics so widespread as to affect |
one and all will not recur unless and |
until we change our present banking |
laws We must have a currency that T
will meet the requirements of the |
whole country. 1t must have elasticity. |
1t must be absolutely beyond question |
In character, ranking with the best in /
the world. The issue of currency
should be a government function and, |
therefore, the currency issue should |
every dollar be as good as gold and |
this can only be If issued against as |
sense of the community will unhesi- |
tatingiy accept them as being as good !
as gold.
Above and even more important
than these requirements, any system |
adopted must be beyond the control |
of the great Wall street and other
similar interests. The monetary com
mission which has recently reported |
to congress has collected an immense
amount of valuable information, espe-
cially on the foreign banking systems.
This should be more generally dis
seminated among the whole people for
their information. Some of the rec
concentrations of the commission are
excellent. / strongly object to certain
features of their plan, because in my
Judgment they do not sufficiently safe
guard the public against the danger of
control by special or speculative inter
eSts in Wall streN.
ANY plan adopted must keep the
control in the hands of the govern
ment. Only in this way can we pre-
vent the growth in this country of the
most dangerous of all trusts, the
money trust Even at present there
are disquieting symptoms of the ap-
pearance of such trust. The AIdrich
proposal, as far as concerns the pro-
posed methods of control. would lend
TO increase the danger of the growth
of such a trust. Our proposal is abso-
lutelyl to prevent it by keeping the con-
troll in the hands of the governm emit J