Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1912-07-09
Leading Democrats admit their de- !

| Leading Democrats admit their de
| ficiencies as tariff schedule builders
| They coneede benefits from the pro.
| tective system. But they have des.
perately endeayored to trump vi
something that will pass with the un,
| initiated-as they tried to fool the
people of Maine as to the object of the
special beer trust session of the Leg
| islature.
those wallowing in the mire of igno-
rance and party prejudice. To him
was assigned an important part of
the construction of a bill of tariff
duties. As school teacher and lawyer
Mr.. johnson had more use for han
quet speeches than for study of tariff
problems. When assigned a part by
his associates he could neither swim
nor touch bottom. In his chagrin he
admitted it. Here are his own words;
81 realize that the chemical schedule is
one of the most intricate and complex
of all the schedules of the Tariff law.
and that in performing the duty which
has been assigned me by my associates
of the minority of the Finance Commit
tee, | do not bring to the task any eX-
tensive knowledge gained from actual
experience or from long study of the
schedule"
Therein lies the whole secret of
Democratic inadequaey-they are nei-
Their equipped by study nor experience.
because they have been blinded by
their own opposition for party's sake
They have denounced the tariff for the
sake of denuneiation, confident that
the lay mind cannot go deep enough
to sift the wheat from the chaff-
Senator Johnson also said. Il am
willing to concede that there have
been benefits derived from it" tthe
protective tariff.
Mr.. johnson figured that in the
chemical schedule the wages and sal
aries paid constitute only Is per cent,
of the value of the products while. he
said, the average ad valorem duty was
257S per cent, sufficiently high TO
cover the difference between the cost
of production in this country and
abroad" Mr.. Smoot called his atten-
ton to the fact that the percentage of
wages paid did not include those paid
in the intermediate processes of man
ufacture. but only in producing finish
ed products from materials oftentimes
highly manufactured before taken or
use in the production finished chem
zeal goods.
This seemed to make Mr.. Johnson
unhappy, perhaps because where ig-
norance is bliss tits folly to be wise"
MFR. johnson said that taking the
same items which are dutiable under
the present law and considering them
alone, there would be a reduction un-
der the bin of nearly 10 per cent. But
Mr.. Smoot called his attention to the
fact that the Democrats in the House
took about $40, 900 worth of imports
that came in free under the existing
law and put them on the dutiable list.
That stirred up the Maine Senator,
who exclaimed q do not care to have
that statement injected at this point,
and he declined to allow Mr. Smoot to
interrupt him further.
We refer to these small and few in
cidents only as straws pointing to the
inevitable contest in this campaign.
That our readers may have fairer
view of the Republican stand on this
great question, we ask them once
more to read the tariff declaration of
the Republican national convention of
1912:
1--WE reaffirm our belief in Protec-
tive Tariff The Republican Tariff
policy has been of the greatest benefit
TO the country. developing our re-
sources. diversifying our interests and
Protecting eur workmen against COM
petition with cheaper labor abroad,
thus establishing fer our wage earners
the American standard of living. The
Protective Tariff is SO woven into the
fabric of our industrial life that we
cannot afford to have a Tariff that
would destroy many industries and
throw millions of our people out of
employment. The products of the
farm and of the mine should receive
the same measure of Protection.
we hold that the import duties
should be high enough while yielding
a sufficient revenue to protect ade-
quately American industries and wa
ges.
Some of the existing import duties
are too high and should be reduced.
Reimbursement should be made from
time to time to conform to changing
conditions and to reduce excessive
rates, but without injury to any Am
eriean industry. To accomplish this
correct information is Indispensable.
This Information can best be obtained
by an expert commission, as the large
volume of useful facts contained in
the recent reports of the Tariff board
has demonstrated.
1.-THE pronounced feature of modern