The Calhoun chronicle. [volume] (Grantsville, W. Va.) 1883-1984, 1912-04-16
WASHINGTON LETTER.
BY {. II. Tavenner.

washington, "A persual Of tn,
literature" sent out daily b,
press agents of both Mr.. Taf
and Mr.. Roosevelt reveals tina
those candidates for the honor O
leading their party are making
a lot of noise and kicking up ;
lot of dust about everything ex
cept the one thing that is going
to be the real issue of the coming
campaign, namely, the tariff.
All the Democratic candidates
are not only willing, but anxious
to tell the people where hey
stand on the tariff. Look to the
opposition headquarters for q
discussion of this vital subject,
and you are greeted with ST.
lence so thick that it could be
cut with a knife. Mr.. Roosevelt
is busy trying to arouse the peo-
pie with the recall of judges"
issue, and Mr.. Taft is trying his
best to stand pat. The Demo
Gratis, on the other hand, are
citing facts and figures to drive
home the one great truth that
the cause of the present high
cost of living in this country is
due to the high tariff wall, and
to that alone.
So apparent has it become that
the tariff trusts have been. using
the tariff all these years as a
weapon to gouge profits out of
the consumers of the land, that
it is next to pathetic to hear the
protectionists in congress still
shouting, as they occasionally do,
that to remove the tariff, or re-
duce the rates of the present
law, would take away the "oro-
lection for the American work
ing man." Protectionist orators
in both Houses of Cong1 ess,
driven to desperation by the
knowledge that the people un-
derstand the real issue, are max
ing a last frantic effort to darg
out the old tattered DOGGY man
of Competitions with-the-pau-
per-labor-of- Europe" in the
nope of making the voters once
more swallow the bait. But the
tariff will not down, and the 1ro-
tectionists cries are becoming
weaker and weaker.
The Democratic Investigations,
which were so much derided
when they were first put into op-
ieeration taught lessons which are
1daily sinking deeper and de aper
INTO the minds of the people.
The light thrown on the methods
lof the steel trust by the Sta Hey
oEommittee; the exposure of the
rottenness in the administra ton
of the Agriculture department
by the Moss committee; the
shameful conditions in the V DOL
en- industry as brought out by
the Rules committee investiga-
ton; the petty manipulation Of
public money in the State De-
partment, as shown by the in
quiries of the Hamlin commit tee,
and the various other revelat ions
by the Democrats Of the House,
all revealing that wherever the
light was thrown, mal-adminis-
tration, inefficiency and actual
graft lay exposed, all nave
served to convince the people
that the Democrats not only nave
proven worthy of the trust
placed in them a year ago, but
that they are worthy of those
"graver responsibilities" " hich
Speaker Champ Clark said the
party would prove itself capable
Of carrying.
The battle of next November
is going to center around the
tariff, which is the mother OF all
the evils that have grown up
under the present system, des-
pite the efforts of the proteC ton
lists to side track that que ton
and bring less important Issues
to the front.
NO EXCUSE THIS TIME.
The Democratic wool bin of
last year proposed a reduction OF
so per cent, in the tariff rates on
wool, and it passed the Hou Sc by
q vote os 221 to 100. The same
bill has again passed the Il 1use,