The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1912-01-27
SESSION
DEVOTED TO TARIFF
Especial to the Silver State.)

this session is to be given over largely
to the tariff
One can hardly say 'tariff'' now
adays without touching some interest
on tender spot. Plenty of good
Democrats are ready to turn black in
the face if one but whispers tariff in
their hearing; and yet do they stop to
reflect that the principal portion of
the vast sum that it costs to run this
country every year must be raised
from a tariff on imports9
The secretary of the treasury esti-
mates that the various departments of
the government will require this year
(that is to say, the appropriations to
be made for 1913, must be), $745,S34,
563.55. The estimates for the year
ending June 80, 1912, amounted to
$74S Ala, ,S60.s1, but congress appro-
priated more than that, the actual sum
being $767 ,21S, 1852.
Stephen M. White, who was senat-
or from California, was probably as
good a Democrat as ever sat in the
upper house of congress, yet he did not
hesitate to demand that when the tar
iff was apportioned there should be
some consideration paid to the inter
ests of his constituents. Perhaps not /;
but his constituents were able thereby
to produce things the climate of Cali
fornia fostered, but which could be
produced more cheaply in Greece, in
Italy, in Turkey, in France, in China
and Japan and in many other coun-
tries. The Californians went further
at one time and demanded that not
only the product of cheap foreign la
Dor but that the cheap foreign labor
itself be excluded so that it could not
come in and compete with it, side by
side, and drive the American laboring
man out of existence because he would
not live on rice and raw fish, or give
up his family ties, his permanent
home, and his habits which he had in
herited from generations of more or
less civilized forbears.
With nearly eight hundred millions
of dollars to raise for national ex-
penses, how shall the money be raiseds 2
That is the question which congress
is now about to tackle; which it has
somewhat gingerly taken hold of, but
which it does not greatly relish.
Take the congressman whose con-
stituents are engaged chiefly in agri-
cultural pursuits He slay believe in
reducing the tax on wfffsky bee apsa
grain and corn are ussa in III manu-
facture; ON tobacco because his people
raise the raw product; on manufactur
ed steel, woolen and cotton goods be-
cause his people consume those arti-
cles and want to get them cheaper.
Take the congressman from the
New England states or from New
York and Pennsylvania. He wants to
Sc many agricultural products admit
ted free of duty so that the workers
in the mills and factories can get
cheaper bread; but he thinks it is i'm
perative that substantial tariff be
levied to keep out steel and iron
manufactures from Germany and Eng
land, cotton and silk goods from Eng
land, Germany and France, and so on
through the long list of manufactured
articles.
Where is there to be found com
mon ground on which all interests can
meet and agree upon compromise?
Senator Thornton of Louisiana, it will
probably be conceded. is a good, ortho-
dox Democrat. How is it, then, that
he is alarmed lest the tariff on rice
and sugar may be disturbed9 If his
state produced enough of the delicious
oranges grown there to spare any for
export to other states after satisfying
the appreciative home demand, or
enough lemons to compete with the
Sicilian, would he not also be defend
| ing the tariff on those fruitsa If his
people produced cutlery, or fine silk
| fabrics, would he not consider the
levying of a tariff on those articles
the proper policy for Democratic
snator from Louisiana?
/ The fact seems to be that it is a
matter of compromise all through the
| list; not one of ignoble compromise,
but rather one of friendly agreement,
where the states and sections should
try to get together and arrange the
tariff schedule as fairly as possible so
that no class, no section shall be in
jured needlessly, and no trust unnecs-
sarily pampered.
Democratic Statesmanship.
| There was a time when the Republi-
can press enjoyed poking fun at
Democratic craftsmanship. There is
| little opportunity to do this now.
Some of the greatest men in the eoun-
| try are now, as they were in the past,
enrolled under the banner of the De-
mocracy. This is very evident in con-
gress, but all the great Democrats are
not in congress, neither are they all
sitting in editorial sanctums; and eff
this be treachery, make the most of
/ it, although we do confess to a
great admiration for the eminent gen.
tlemen who cut up copy, sometimes, in
rather an amazing way.
Editors who really should have
known better watched expectantly
last year to see what the Democratic
majority in the house would do with
unlimited power in its hands. 1t
didn t do so much that could be
criticised, although some individuals,
as might be expected, did not come up
to the mark their associates wanted to
MAINTAIN for the party. The act is
that the Democratics party has always
been rich in statsmen, and there prom
ises to be a fine exhibition of their
ability this winter in both the senate
/ a.,1 ha