The Washington times., 1912-08-07

ts to raise revenue for the support oi
the Government; but that aohnI Is not M M
Payne-Aldrich tariff act az the most
conspicuous example ever AFFORDED the
country OF the special favors and mono
polistic advantages which the leaders
OF the Republican pal t. have 80 often
shown themselves willing. to extend to
those to whom they looked for cam
.paign contributions. Tariff duties, as
they have employed them, have not been
q means Of setting up an equitable table
on the contrary, method of fostering
special privilege They have made II
easy to establish monopoly In our do,
mestic. markets. Trusts have owed
their origin and their secure power to
people, our prosperity In trade. our un-
trammeled energy in manufacture de-
pend upon their reconsid era ton from
top to bottom in an entirely different
spirit.
We do not ignore the fact that the
business OF country like ours is ex-
ceedingly sensitive to changes IN legis-
lation OF this kind. 1t has been buiit
schedules written in the way I have
Indicated. and its foundations must not
be too radically or too suddenly dis
turbed. When we act we should act
with caution and prudence. like men
not IKE those In love with a theory.
1t is obvious that the changes We
make should be made only at such a
rate and In such a way as Will least
interfere with the normal and healthfui
course OF commerce and manufacture.
But we shall not on that account act
with tin!dity, as IL we did not know
our own minds. for We are certain OF
our ground and of our object: There
should be an immediate revision. and
1t should be downward, unhesitatingiy
and steadily downward.
1t should begin with the schedules
which have been most obviously used
the United States, arbitrarily and with
out regard to the prices pertaining else
where in the markets OF the world, and
1t should, before 1t Is finished or inter-
mitted, be extended to every item in
portunity for monopoly, for special ad-
vantage to limited groups of bene-
ficiaries, or for subsidized control Of
any kind in the markets or the enter.
prises Of the country; until special
absolutely withdrawn and every part
OF our laws of taxation shall have been
transformed from a system OF govern
mental patrSnase Into a H,s system so Of Just Just
where they will create the least burden
When we shall have done that, We can
fix questions of revenue and of busi-
ness adjustment in q new spirit and
partners with all the business men Of
the country, and day of freer, more
stable prosperity shall have dawned:
There has been no more demoralizing
influence In our politics in our time
than the influence of tariff legislation,
the influence Of the idea that the Gov
ernment was the grand dispenser of
favors, the maker and unmaker OF
fortunes, and of opportunities such as
certain men have sought in order to
control the movement Of trade and in
dustry throughout the continent. 1t has
made the Government prize to be cap
tured and parties the means of effecting
the capture. 1t has made the business
men Of one of the most virile and enter
prising nations in the world timid, fret
full, full of alarms; has robbed them Of
self-confidence and manly force, until
they have cried out that they could do
nothing without the assistance of the
Government at Washington. It has
made them feel that their lives depend
ed upon the Ways and Means Commit
tee OF the House and the Finance Com
years particularly the Finance Commit
tee of the Senate). They have insisted
very anxiously that these committees
should be made up only of their
friends" until the country In its turn
grew suspicious and wondered how
those committees were being guided
and controlled. by what influences and
ment cannot be wholesomely conducted
In such an atmosphere. Its very honesty
IL in jeopardy Favors are never con-
ceived in the general interest; they are
always for the benefit of the few, and
the few who seek and obtain them have
only themselves to blame II presently
they seem to be contemned and dis