The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1912-02-09
.CAYNOR WOULD
REPEAL JERSEY
TRUST STATUTES
Declare. Such ! Course Would Rid
Country Of Four-Fiiths Of
Combinations
SCORES PROTECTIVE TARIFF
World Passing Through Greatest
Production Of Money Metal
at Present

New York, Feb. Sit Is only
necessary to repeal the New Jersey
statute authorizing the creation of
holding companies to rid the country
of four fifths of the trusts, and to
repeal similar statutes In some other
states to get rid Of the remaining
one-tifth, Mayor Gaynor so declared
in an address tonight before the
National Democratic Club of New
York in discussing the high cost of
living.
why Is 1t that no one in office or
out of office ever In New Jersey has
asked the New Jersey legislature to
repeal it?" the mayor then asked.
mo governor has sent message to
the legislature of any state which
has this statute, calling for its re-
peal, so far as have heard. From
which some people might deduce
that the cry against the trusts is
wholly insincere.
'Since they can be abolished SO
easily do you not think they oughi
to be, or else those who fail even to
try to repeal them should stop cry
ing out against them at the top or
their voices We must not lay our
selves open to the charge of being
mere demagogues If the people
want the trusts broken UP or pre-
vented, they need only to elect gov
ernors and legislators who will
carry out their will.
Must Respect Tariff.
"We may not prudently entertain
the notion of doing away with our
immense tariff structure at one
stroke. To pull 1t down all at once
would lead to great disaster Even
a tethered bull who has wound
around his stake while grazing until
he has brought his nose up against
1t, has to slowly unwind again
sooner than tear his nose to pieces
In an effort to get away.
"A review of tariff legislation
since 1879 suffices to remind us that
that question which confronts us Is
not one of free trade, but of judi
cious, firm reduction of the tariff.
All its extremes should be cut out.
Free trade is long way off.
Let us then stand to the asser-
tion of a principle that we recognize
no excuse for protective tariff on
any article except to protect the
American workingman from having
his wages run down to the level Of
wages in the country which pro-
duces that article. Also, that, ex-
cept for revenue only, there is NO
excuse at all for a tariff tax on i'm
ported articles which, from any
special and abiding cause, we cannot
produce at all, or cannot produce
enough of them for our consump-
tion.
Protection Raises Prices.
"A protective tariff raises prices.
That is what 1t is designed for. But
1t should In justice be pointed out
that our tariff Is not wholly re-
sponsible therefor. The tariff Is not
responsible for the extent to which
prices have risen since 1896, which
| believe, was the year in which the
present rise in prices set in. The
rise since that year has been general
in Europe as well as here.
II am not able to doubt that the
principle cause for high prices Is
the great and ever increasing output
of gold since 1888 The output In
1883 was only sos million; in 1909,
S454 million. In fine the gross out
put OF gold since 1883 is over seven
billions of dollars. The world has
had other periods of great produc-
tion of money metals but never any
thing SO great and continuous as
this.
"Will not that period of low and
falling prices be hard times? Many
people still alive have gone through
such a period. and know the hard
times brought by low and falling
prices. Let none Of us therefore be
SO certain that high prices are an
evil"
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