The Washington herald., 1912-10-27
HENRY WADE ROGERS
Democrat.

The Republicans enter upon the cam
paign Of 1872 divided. A house divided
against itself cannot stand. The next
President Of tho United States will not be
William Howard Taft nor Theodore Roose-
welt.
A party cannot forever live upon its
past. The Republicans are not to be in
definitely retained In power because their
party successfully fought the civil war.
abolished slavery. and established sound
! money. .
The Democrats enter the campaign Of
1919 with progressive candidates and q
progressive platform.
The question ID whether the country ap-
proves the continuance Of the tariff policy
OF the Republicans with all its concomi-
tant evils. II the people want a revision
Of the tariff downward, they will COM
mission q Democratic President and a
Democratic Congress to undertake the
work. The Republican party, committed
to high protection. and the recipient for
many years Of favors from the interests.
cannot reform the tariff by a downward
revision.
II the people approve the present policy,
they will elect Mr.. Taft. II they do not.
they will elect Mr.. Wilson. They will not
turn to Mr.. Roosevelt as he is as much a
protectionist as Mr.. Taft.
There can be no doubt that the Payne
Aldrich act broke faith with the people.
Some Republicans so alleged when IT was
passed and have continued so to assert
ever since. The bill should have been
vetoed. but Mr.. Taft signed II, and then
made a speech in Boston In which he
eulosized Mr.. Aldrich. A short time there
after he made his Winona speech, in
which he told the country that the new
Law was one Of the best tariff acts the
country had ever had.
We are warned that. II the country
wants another panic like that Of 1893. the
sure way to accomplish it is to return the
Democratic party once more to power.
Republicans should be modest in making
such allegations in view of the fact that
the country has passed through a number
Of panics which have occurred under Re-
publican administration. Nor was the
panic Of 1898 due to Democratic legisla-
ton. As matter OF fact, that panic out
dated the Wilson tariff act by two years,
and was occasioned by the Sherman silver
act. which was passed by a Republican
Congress and signed by a Republican
President. MIR. Cleveland called a special
session Of Congress for the express pur-
pose of repeating the silver law and he
forced its unconditional repeal.
The increased cost Of the necessaries of
life has an important bearing on the main
issue Of the present campaign. Between
July ]. 1885. and January l. 1910. average
wholesale prices rose in New York 6l.9 per
cent Since that time there has been q
rise from to 10 per cent. The increase
in retail prices was even greater. Wages
and salaries. as We all know, have not
increased proportionately. In 1906 wages
had increased about % per cent over 1895.
We concede that the increased output of
gold has had an affect upon prices. We
also know that a growing population of
consumers and a decreasing population Of
agricultural producers has likewise had
effect But II cannot be denied that the
high tariff has seriously aggravated a
condition which has brought distress and
suffering to thousands of our people. The
sum Of 100000 represents the total
earnings for a whole year of 10000 men,
bers Of the unskilled working class II
five members be allowed to a family, II
represents the entire means of livelihood
of 100000 people for a year. The total
expenditures OF the government of the
United States for the year ending June
30. 1859. amounted to ssS 346 266. For the
year ending in June. 1910. they were $3.50 =
4s5.716 They had increased ten fold Dur
ing the same period population had in
creased but three fold. In 1853. In the
midst Of the civil war. when our navy
was blockading the coast from Maine to
Texas and chasing Confederate cruisers
on every sea, the country spent on its
navy 1900. 900. In 1910. we were spending,
In time Of peace. $l2S.113.7I7.