The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1912-08-30
SCORES REPUBLICANS FOR
FAILURE TO KEEP PROMISE
Says Taft Was Elected On Promise
That Revision Would be Downward
And Without That Could Not Have
Won-Demoerats Prospects Bright.
(By Associated PreSS.)

Rockland, Me-, Aug. 3O.-SpeaKer
Champ Clark made his opening
speech in the Maine campaign here
last night, confining his address to
the tariff. He said in part:
History demonstrates beyond all
question the fact that a country
whose institutions are based on suff-
rage the government will be govern
ment by parties, or as Speaker Can
non is fond Of putting it,"by MAORI
ties 1t does not make particle of
difference whether we want it that
way or not; that is the way 1t is
and the way it always will be.
"At the present time at least five
parties are in the field for the presi-
dency. Each of these parties have
formulated and published a platform
of principles which it proposes to en-
act into law if it gets the chance.
What is a platform anyway? 1t
ought to be plain and honest state
ment of what those who make 1t in
tend to do If they are given the pow
er to legislate. 1t ought to be, not
merely contrivance to get in on, but
a thing to stand for after the victory
ia won, It ought not to be merely a
devices to use during the campaign
for the purpose of catching votes, but
should set forth the serious inten-
tions of its trainers.
pledges made to win an election
should be religlously carried out after
the election. That is the only rule
of political conduct that will do to
live by or to die by. There is no
reason why man should be dishon-
est and double dealer in politics
any more tlron in the other relations
of life.
while the platforms discuss and
refer to a multitude of things, some
of great Importance, all of more OF
less important, the American pub
lie is formed on such plan that II
will not seriously consider more thar
one or two issues simultaneously
Both Governor Wilson and Presiden,
Taft in their speeches of acceptance
have made the tariff their chief topic
OF thought in the minds Of the voters
of the land. Colonel Roosevelt in his
speeches also attaches great impor
lance to the subject, and has a plar
OF his own for handling 1t. All mel
are agreed that it Is a question o.
great Importance to every human be
ing living under the flag.
Barring for the present Colone
Roosevelt's scheme of settlement, thu
position of the two great parties maj
be succinctly stated in this way: Ths
Democrats are in favor Of a tariff
for revenue only; the Republican,
are in favor of tariff for protection
Upon this question the platforms arr
explicit. In the tariff plank of al
the Democratic platforms the idea o
revenue only has been found, no
always expressed in the same Ian
guage, but always expressing tn
same idea. Likewise, the Republican
platforms always declare for a pre-
tective tariff.
''It will be observed that both plat
forms declare that the present tarif
rates are too high, and ought to b
reduced, but if the taxpayers reall
want the tariff reduced, they had bel
ter remember what happened In yer
recent times. In 1908 the Republ
cans promised to revise the tari1
downward. On that promise they wo
without that promise they could nc
have won. But having won, instead
reducing the tariff rates as they ha
promised to do, they proceeded I
increase them, and because they II
creased them contrary to their prom
ise, at the election in 1910 the peopl
elected "a Democratic House Of Rel
resentives.
"The Democratic. House proceede
{ with as much expedience as possibl
under the circumstances to pass ce