The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1912-01-18
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.

| Reporter.)
Washington, Jan. 18.-(Special.)
President Taft has just taken an &C
ton that is worth hundreds of thous-
ands of dollars annually to the paper
trust, by refusing to remove the tax
from print paper and wood pulp.
When the Reciprocity bill was
passed a provision was tackled to 1t
| providing for the free admission OF
print paper and wood pulp from
Canada. This provision became law
whether the reciprocity act was
agreed to by Canada or not. There
fore, although reciprocity failed,
print paper and wood pulp are now
admitted free from Canada.
Five nations which ship paper to
| America-Sweden, Norway, Den
mark, Germany and Austria-Hun-
gary-immediately demanded of the
United States the right to also ship
print paper and wood pulp to this
country free of duty.
| 1--WE have treaties with you,' de-
clared these countries to the United
States, lin which you agree to ex-
tend to us the same concessions you
extend to the most favored nations.
Therefore we demand to ship paper
and wood pulp into your country
free of duty the same as Canada. p"
Obviously, this argument is I'M
answerable.
However, the president has an
nOunced, through the treasury de-
partment, that a tax will be collected
as heretofore on all print paper i'm
ported from any other country than
Canada. The president advises the
European nations to appeal to the
Customs Court of Appeals, which, it
is declared, is only a subterfuge.
President Taft has declared he is
willing to concede the justice of de-
mands for cheaper paper, but when
the opportunity offers, his acts re-
flute his words, and show that he is
willing to violate treaties with five
friendly nations rather than give
even a slight concession to freer
trade.
The tariff on print paper is to all
practical ends tax on intelligence,
because in this great day and age
the great mass of the people receive
their education on public qustions
through the newspapers. With print
trust, the price has been systematic
ally boosted, so as to work a hard
ship on the prosperous publishers,
and to make print paper nigh on to
prohibitive to many of the small,
country publishers whose earnings
are not any too great at best.
Meanwhile there is pending a bill
introduced by Senator Hepburn,
which proposes to repeal the Can
adian reciprocity act. Having teen
rejected, by Canada, the law is dead
without being repealed. But if the
act is repealed, the live added Sec
ton providing for free print paper
| would also be repealed, and the old
tax on Canadian paper would be re-
stored
Since the tax on Canadian paper
and pulp has been repealed, 81. in
dependent paper companies, repre-
senting a capitalization of eighty
| three million dollars, have started
up in opposition to the trust. AL
ready there have been some reduc-
lions in prices, and this explains the
reason of the joker in the "Heyburn
repeater"
A Live Suggestion.
Why would it not be a good idea
for all democrats, everywhere, to
hereafter taboo the use of the word
tariff and in it's place use the term
"tax," which is. what a tariff really
is?
If every democratic writer and
Payne-Aldrich tax bill,' instead of
1.-THE Payne-Aldrich tariff BILL" from
now until the polls close on Novem-
Der 5, there need be little conjecture
as to the outcome of the election.
Who doubts but that if the Ding
ley tariff bill had been known and re-
ferred to generally as the Dingley
tax bill, and the Mckinley tariff bill
as the Mckinley tax bill, and the
Payne-Aldrich tariff bill as the
Payne-Aldrich tax bill, the republi-
can party would not be in power to-
day.
The word tariff is too indefinite.
There are hundreds of thousands of
men who may be brought to believe
that it would be to their advantage
in some indirect, mysterious way to
vote for a tariff, but who could not
be cajOled or coerced into the con-
viction that it is to their individual
interest to vote to put an enormous
tax on everything they eat, wear and
use.
If democratic editors will make it
a standing order in their Offices to
substitute the word tax" for tariff"
in every article having to do with
protection, and if every stump speak
err will carry on a similar crusade,
and if the movement will be made
nationwide, the problem of revers-
ing republican victories at the polls
will have been solved.
Think this over!
One of the Chicago packers, in the
trial now going on at Chicago, COM
planned that "Swift infringed on our
territory" The disputed territory
was in New York and Vermont, and
the question naturally arises: How
did that territory, or any other ter
ritory, come to be the exclusive prop
erty of Swift or anybody else?
The answer is simple. Because