Perth Amboy evening news., 1912-09-13
WILSON TALKS
ON THE TARIFF
Told $1,000 People at
Syracuse of High Cost
Of Living.
ATTACK MEAT TRUST
Declares Prize Money Paid
in Way Of Campaign
Contributions.
ATTACK MEAT TRUST

Syracuse, N. Y, Sept. Ex-Governor
Wilson addressed $4,000 persons at the
state fair here. His speech was de-
'oted almost entirely to the tariff and
the high cost of living. He was &C.
companied to the fair grounds by Gov
ernor Dix, Lieutenant Governor Con.
way, Senator O'Gorman, Acting Demo
cratic National Chairman McAdoo, Fair
Commissioner George w. Driscol and
others. Governor Wilson said In part:
when the question Of high prices Is
pressed home on the men in this. that
and the other manufacturing industries
they reply, Prices have risen all over
the world Yes. they have: but no.
where have they risen so fast or so
high as In the United States. That is
the answer to that. Statistics show
that the United States Is burdened
with the cost Of living as no other
country In the world is. and there must
be something special in the United
States which makes that true.
"In order to get at what is the spe-
cial thing let us take a particular ex-
ample. Take the price Of meat. The
price OF meat has gone up In the United
States 80 and 40 per cent within ten
years. and the price Of American meat
has not gone up a fraction of a pound.
a fraction Of a cent per pound. In the
London markets. American meat Is
selling cheaper In England by 80 or 40
per cent than It is selling in the United
States. and when gentlemen who are
engaged In this monopoly tell me 1t Is
because of the circumstances of the
how 1t is that economic laws change
= when you put the product on salt water
and send 1t across.
Combinations Are Formed.
"This wall of the tariff enabled GER
tain gentlemen to get behind it and to
say: Now we are all Of US together
secure against foreign competition.
Why cut one another's throats? Why
not get togetherf' And alas, they did
get together and that determined the
price Of meat even without running the
danger of coming into collision with
some Of the provisions Of the law. for
| can say to you, now we are In the
same business. 1t would be a little dan
gerous If we made a legal combination
of our two businesses. therefore we
won't combine, but we will appoint d
third person who will write us a polite
note about every two weeks suggest
Ing that the price Of our product should
be thus and so, and we will agree as
gentlemen do without any writing in
the matter. Their we will take the sug-
gestions.
THAT Is what the meat men did. !
am not imagining this. 1t came out
In the trial Of the meat packers. Now
the case Of neat Is not a by It.
self. 1t Is just a sample taken out of
a list so long that 1t practically IN
cludes all the n~ecessaries Of life.
"Why have these high duties been
maintained and those opportunities for
high prices created. fS that Is the fair
way to state II. They have been main
tanned because of the prize money as
Mr.. Roosevelt has called 1t. The gov
eminent. or, rather, the gentlemen who
were running the government, got a
very considerable slice by way Of cam
paign contributions. Why should you
kill the goose that lays the golden
, eggs?"
Senator O'Gorman followed Governor
Wilson with a brief address on conom
les and agricultural topics.