The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-17
TARIFF IS MAIN TOPIC
 IN COLONEL'S SPEECH

TARIFF IS MAIN TOPIC
 IN COLONEL'S SPEECH
 tContInued From Page One) l
 mission and sit on the bleachers and watch
 the politicians play inc game for their
 own benefit. The progressive doctrine, | on the contrary, Is that the plain people
 of America are not after this to sit on the
 tleachers, The plain people are to be l their own masters.
 For Practical Tariff We stand for a protective tariff, but we wish to see the benefits of the protec- We wish to see the benefits of the tariff get Into the pay envelope of the wage of the prize money that is rightfully due those who work hard in industry but we stand for a more equitable division of the prize money We do not accept the view that greed and selhshness are the only factors to he considered in govern
 ment. We insist that in mans nature there is something noble, something lofty, to which 1t is possible to appeal, and we make our appeal therefore not only to his self interest, but also to what is high est and best in him. It is not right that he should neglect his self interest. No
 man can do this duty by the state as a whole unless he pulls his own weight We intend to work for a broader and kindlier
 charity of relationship as between man and man.
 The progressive platform has really l faced the real issues of today. It has done | this as regards the trusts, as regards the rights of labor, as regards the tariff. l do not see how the people of New England can support either the republican or the l democratic tariff platform. Remember, /, that when I use the word republican now 1 1 do not refer to the rank and file of the republican party. but to the bosses who
 have usurped the control of the ma | chinery of the party The republican pro- posal is a tariff for privilege in indus | try. The democratic proposal is tariff 1 for the destruction of industry. The pro gressive proposal Is tariff in the inter- est of labor in industry.
 To Reform Tariff Making At the time when the Payne-Aldrich bill was put through Congress it was cur rently reported that the cotton schedule, for instance, was written by then private citizen of Rhode Island, now senator from your state MT. Lippitt, and MT. Lip uitt was credited with making the state ment that MT Aldrich had been good to him.
 '1he republican purpose is to have fu- ture tariffs written by the MT. Lippitts or the party The uefnDcrdIlc proposal IS to. hurt the Mir. Lippitts by hurting ev- cryhody big and little, connected with the industries. Our proposal is not mere ly to reform schedules of the tariff. but to reform the methods and purposes of tariff making.
 We propose to reduce the various schedule by schedule in accordance with the reports of a non-partisan commission of experts.
 al f,sr fttll iof foY,,ao ftf,rx from such a commission, we will give the MT Lipptts their rights, but instead of permitting them to make the tariff we shall carefully investigate how their busi- nesa is carried on. We shall get the judgment of those able to say what the needs of the workmen employed by the MT. Lippitts are, and able to say whether enough of the tariff gets into the pay en- yelopes of the workmen; the judgment of those able to say whether the con sumner. the average citizen who buys MT. L.ppjitts' products, also gets fair treat ment.
 Platform Would Close Shops If the democratic platform were car
 ried out in good faith your factories would have to close altogether: for their pro- | posal is to prevent the MT Lppitts from | Irospering by the simple process of pre- venting every one from prospering. The I republican proposal is only to give pros perity to the Mir Bippitts and then to l let it trickle down according as they may eondescend to permit such trickling. Our | proposal is to keep the factories open, 1 10 see that the MT. Lippitts receive full | justice, but to see also that they do jus | tice
 Banking and Currency System "One of our national problems calling l for immediate solution is that of our | banking and currency system. It has | been demonstrated that the present sys- | tenn is unscentifc and ineffective. The | suffering and loss occasioned by our present defective system of credits and reserves have in times past been very | great and we cannot be confident that panies will not recur unless we change
 our banking laws,
 This country should have system | that insures proper and reasonable ae- | commodation to all entitled to it. one
 which will at least retard and minimize I if not fully prevent imitation and specu- | lation We must have currency that will have elasticity. It must be absolute ly beyond question in character. The | issue of currency should be a govern | ment function. and therefore, the cur | rency issue should be as good gold, and this it can only be if issued against assets so good that the general business | sense pl lIt tOifliHuiitN VIII uHHcSllbllhb ly accept them as being as good gold.
 Wall Street and the Trusts
 Above and even more important than tbese requirements any system adopted must be beyond the control of Wall l street and other similar interests. The monetary commission which has recently
 reported to Congress has collected an i'm | nense amount of valuable information This should be more generally dissemi- mated among the whole people for their information. Some of the recommends tions of the commissions are excellent.
 strongly object to certain features oi their plan because in my judgment they l do not sufficiently safeguard the public against the danger of control by specia
 or speculative interests in Wall street. Any plan adopted must keep the con
 trol absolutely in the hands of the gov ernmeft and our proposal is to keep it 1T
 the hands of the government.