The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-10-22
WILSON AND THE FUTURE.

One Of the stock arguments OF the
democrats is that the country is SO big
and the times are so prosperous that
the present conditions will continue
no matter who may be elected. This
was the assertion made by the demo-
Gratis when they advocated the cleo
ton of Cleveland in 1892. The state
ment was false then and 1t is false
now.
Unfortunately. but none the less
truly. prosperity is not alone the gift
of God. There were bountiful crops
between 1898 and 1897. wheE the
democrats were in power. but corn
WAS worth only 16 cents a bushel.
wheat sold for so cents a bushel and
other cereals were equally low while
cattle and hogs hardly paid for the
cost of raising. The trouble then was
that The factories We're closed and
workingmen We're idle. because of the
amount of goods bought abroad, while
millions of dollars of American gold
was shipped across seas in order to
pay The bills of foreign creditors.
Who can give assurance that what
happened then would not happen
again?
Woodrow Wilson is a free trader.
He testified before the tariff board
that he favored the repeal of all pro-
tective tariff laws and advanced the
un-American. unpatriotic, illogical,
and absurd proposition that because
there was a free interchange of COM
modities between the states of this
union there should be a similar free
interchange between the United States
and the producing countries Of he
world.
With Woodrow Wilson. a confess
ed free trader. and with Champ
Clark declaring. as he did upon the
floor Of the house. that custom houses
ought to be destroyed, there is no
doubt that free trade laws will be
proposed. Their enactment is equally
certain. In the present house of rep
resentatives there are 229 democrats.
l25 Of whom come from the south.
The southern democrats, honest and
able as they may be. are. neverthe-
less. free traders by sentiment and
tradition. Even Chairman Under
wood Of the ways and means commit
tee. although he comes from a dis
trict which has developed manufac-
turing industries, proudly declared
that a bill which bore his name did
not contain n vestige of protection.
The southern free traders will domi-
nate the democratic caucus n out
vote the northern and western demo-
Gratis who would like to see their bus
mess interests saved from destruction,
II. therefore. Woodrow Wilson
should be elected every manufacturer
and merchant will know on the morn.
ing Of November 6 that he is up
against a new tariff. AS nothing can
be done until the new congress as
sembles after March 4. and several
months will be consumed in arranE-
Ing. debating n enacting the new
tariff schedules there Is certain to be
a long period of uncertainty and anx-
iety. during which the factories will
do no more work than is absolutely
necessary. The purchase Of supplies
will he stopped and orders will fall
off. The farmers confronted by the
lack Of a home market and the GER
tainty Of foreign importations will be
anxious and compelled to carefully
husband their resources. Banks will
he averse to extending credits and
will call in outstanding loans in the
certain knowledge that their reserves
will be depleted as soon as American
gold begins to go abroad.
Under these efrcumstances-and
they are certain to happen as night
follows day-how can present condi-
tl0na continue u~nchanpod rht. a.
the question which the American
people are now asking. This is the
condition which is confronting them.