The Sentinel=record., 1912-09-27
LEADERS ISSUE STATEMENT ON STAND OF THE OLD PARTY
 ON PROTECTION.
DECRY THE BULL MOOSERS
Say Third Party Aims at Defeat of G. O. p. by Killing the Majorities
 in the Republican States and EIecting Democrats.

W
 Beverly, Mass, Sept. 26.-Chairman
 Hilles of the republican national com
 mittee, after day with President
 Taft and New England republican l leaders, issued a statement tonighs
 taking issue with Governor Woodrow
 Wilson and declaring his views on freq trade and protection were to be meas
 ured by the effect upon business con ditions. MT. Hilles said in part:
 T see it is intimatel by Governor Wilson that she republican party is trying. to evade discussion on the tar If. It seems to me that in that re- spect the boot is on the other leg I have yet to find in any of the dem ocratic speeches clear definition of the tariff if they control the govern
 ment. There have been great many platitudes talked and nious express sons uttered of interest to the work ingman, but 1t has not yet been point ed out how they purpose revision of
 the tariff to revenue only point
 without injury to existing industries.
 In my opinion this is the vital question which the democratic candidates must face before the campaign is closed.
 and is the issue upon which the thou. sands of democratic business men who
 voted for President Taft four years I ago will be found voting for him
 again this fall. The essential question is nor whether any of us would like to see the consumer benefited by tariff
 reductions, but how we propose to
 make these reductions without injury
 to labor and to American business en- terprises. The real question to the business community is not as to ab- stract merits of free trade or protec- tion, bat what effect will be produced upon business conditions hs radical changes in the existing tariff
 "The opposition should answer the question clearly and definitely, wheth- CT they propose to so far reduce ex- isting tariff duties as to bring foreign goods into effective competition with American goods of the same character and thereby to increase imports. If they do not mean it, their platitudes about tariff rfeorm are a fraud and a delusion upon the American people. If they do mean it, then certain Amer ican interests must suffer. Demand for certain goods cannot be shifted from the America nproducer to the foreign producer without compelling the American producer to slacken his mill wheels, reduce his pay roll and dismiss some of his men. Entirely apart from tho question whether free trade as defined in the economic text
 toks would be 8 good thing for a t6untry operating in vacuum, the fact must come home to the working man as well as the business commu- nity that if radical tariff changes are to be effective. there must be long period of painful transition Tariff changes will be either to increase inn ports of competitive articles or they will not. If they will not. then the cost to consumers will not be reduced materially. If they increase imports, they will correspondingly reduce the demand for American made goods and certain mills will be put on shori
 time, men will be laid off and ulti mately costly investments in plants and machinery will be turned into junk. If this is not the policy of the democratic candidates. it behooves them to declare what is their policy
 q think it is becoming clear to the business community and the working men that wasting their votes upon the third party candidates is just as
 dangerous to the preservation of the protective principle as voting directly for the opposition candidates. It
 seems to be the purpose of the third party managers to defeat not only the
 republican national ticket, but repub- lican candidates for congress. by l skimming off just enough votes for their own candidates in every state, and district to wipe out existing re-