The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-10-14


Maaifsstiy. IL the forseodings OF dis
aster which arc 80 assiduously circu.
lated " the Republican leaders had
any foundation In fact. business con-
| ditions. instead of being favorable.
would be marked by uncertainty and
! lack OF confidence.
: President Taft is also constantly re-
ferring to the panic of 1898 and attrib-
utinE Its cause 10 the Wilson German
tariff bill. But every one knows that
| this panic was precipitated more than
a year before the tariff legislation OF
the second administration Of President
Cleveland went into effect. II Is also
generally conceded that the industriai
and financial breakdown In 1898 was
primarily due to Republican currency
legislation and was precipitated by the
wild extravagance OF President Hars'-
sons administration. Furthermore
the panic Of 1907 occurred under the
pingley protective tariff II the
reasoning of President Iaft'
therefore, is sound, and the panic
Of 1898 was due to a Democratic low
tariff, the financial crash Of five years
ago must have been caused by the hish
tariff system. The President tecnni-
cally evades the responsibility for this
panic BY saying that it occurred over
a year before he entered upon MS
administration. But practically In the
same breath he asserts that the ini-
ouitous Payne Aldrich tariff law made
very few changes in the Dinghy act
As a consequence. customs duties o.
his own administration are. ACCORDING
70 his own statement. almost Identical
with those prevailing in 1907. and We
must. therefore. be conducting ousi-
ness and industry under the same
conditions as in 1907. when the panic
occurred. President Taft. therefore
refutes his own utterances and con-
demns his own interpretation OF the
causes OF the panic OF 1898. But. as
= matter OF fact, we know that the
panic of 1907 was brought about by an
Of credit and by specu-
lation and that its evils were accen-
tnated by our defective national bank
ing system.
The same tactics are characteristic
Of the Republican leaders in their
argument relative to the BENEFITS OF
the protective tariff to the wage
Garner The workmen are told that
Republican tariff legislation has In
creased wages. improved the standard
of living of the working classes ana
has protected them against the COM
petition Of the pauper labor Of Europe.
When We examine the facts we find as
a result of official inquiry that our
existing industrial conditions are oe-
plorable and that they are rapidly
breeding unrest and revolutionary pro-
paganda. In the textile INDUSTRIES
the chief benehciaries Of the Repuoh-
can high tariff. wages are not SUM
cient to maintain an Independent form
of family life. The average annuai
income of wage-earners In other pro-
tected industries ranges between Seoo
and $500, In all branches of manu-
featuring and mining, American work.
men are being displaced by cheap laoor
from Southern and Eastern Europe.
Moreover. President Taft's own Tarin
Boards reports show that the margin
of protection afforded by the tarin Is
not in favor Of the wage-earner. but OF
the manufacturer and the jobber.
Then we have the assertion Of Presi-
dent Taft that the tariff does not IN
crease the cost Of living. The Did and
discrsdi,ed quantity theory 81 money
is invoked as a buttress to this areu-
mert. together with obviously erro-
neous comparisons Of prices here ana
abroad. Probably the most nasran'
and unprecedented bit Of equiVocatioa
and statistical Juggling which has ever
heen nut forward in a political cam
paiSn is also used in this connsctio"
in the statement that the protec'''e
tariff costs the American people only
1916 per capita annually. This hsufe
is secured by dividing the customs
duties paid each year by the total pop
ula,.on in the country. As matter OF
fact. the protective system prevents
the importation If commodities anu
the domestic price is raised By the
american manufacturer to the extent OF
the duty levied. Only those articies
enter tie country which cannot be pro-
duced here. Indirectly. the consumer Is
taxed on practically everything ne
purchases OF uses, and the amount paio
in duties annually per capita Is mere
basa.elIe. II about represents what
the Payne-Aldr.ch law will cost the
average man IL he purchase a suit o.
clothes or an overcast this winter
Tb.s. are but a few illustrations oil
Of