Perth Amboy evening news., 1912-08-07

the highest AFFAIRS Of state.
The Public . Noble Whole.
They do not or will not compre-
bend the solemn thing that is In your
| thought. You know as well as they
| do that there are all sorts and condi1
tions of men-the u~nthinking mixed
with the wise, the reckless with the
prudent. the INSCRIPTIONS with the
fair and hoHest-and you know, what
they sometimes forget, that every
class, without exception, affords a
sample of the mixture, the learned and
the fortunate no less han the unedu-
Gated and the struggling mass. But
you see more than they do. You see
that these multttudes of men, mixed,
Of every kind and quality, constitute
somehow an organic and noble whole,
a single people, and that they have In
terests which no man can privately
determine without their knowledge
and counsel. That is the meaning of
representative government itself.
You may think that l am wandering
OFF into Il general disquisition that has
little TO do with the business In hand,
bat 1 am not. This is business-busi
ness of the deepest sort, 1t will solve
our difficulties if you will but take it
as business.
The Tariff.
See how 1t makes business out of the
tariff question. The tariff question as
dealt with In our time at any rate has
MT hanp hrro{nanu II haS haan noIittou
Tariff schedules have been made up
for the purpose of keeping as large a
number as possible of the rich and In
fiuential manufacturers of the country
in a good hunor with the Republican
party, which desired their constant
financial support. The tariff has be
come a system Of favors, which the
~phraseology Of the schedule was often
deliberately contrtved to conceal. 1t
becomes a matter of business, of legiti-
mate business, only when the partner
ship and understanding 1t represents
nre between the leaders Of congress and
the whole people of the United States
instead Of between the leaders Of con-
gress and small groups of manufac-
turers demanding special recognition
and consideration. That Is why the
general idea Of representative govern
ment becomes a necessary part of the
tariff question. Who when you come
flown to the hard facts Of the matter
have been represented In recent years
discussed and determined not on the
floor Of congress-, for hat Is not where
they have been determined, but in the
committee rooms and conferences ?
That Is the heart of the whole affnir.
VIII you, can you, bring the whole
people into the partnership or not?
NC>one Is discontinued with representa-
tive government. 1t falls under ques-
ton only when 1t ceases to be repre-
sentative. It is at bottom a question of
good faith and morals.
How does the present tariff look In
the light of it? I say nothing for the
moment about the policy Of protection
conceived ind carried out as a disin-
terested statesman might conceive 1t.
Our own clear conviction as Demo
crafts is that in the last analysis the
only safe and legitimate object of tariff
duties. as Of taxes Of every other kind,
Is to raise revenue for the support of
the government. But that Is not my
present point. We denounce the Payne
Aldrich tariff act as the most conspicu-
Gus example ever afforded the country
Of the special favors and monoPolistic
advantages which the leaders Of the
Republican party have so often shown
themselves willing to extend to those
to whom they looked for campaign con-
tributions. Tariff duties, as they have
employed them, have not been a mean
of setting up an equitable system OF
protection. They have been, on the
contrary, a method Of fostering special
privilege. They have made it easy to
establish monopoly In u domestic
markets. Trusts have owed their orr
gin and their secure power to them.
Nc Sudden Disturbance.
We do not ignore the fact that the
business of a country like ours Is ex-
ceedlngly sensitive to changes In legis-
latton of this kind. 1t has been built
/ VI, IlON III az NiSCNi3 tlol
schedules written in the way / have
indicated, and its foundation must
not be too radically or o. suddenly
disturbed. When we act we should act
with caution and prudence, like men
who know what they are about and
not like those in love with a theory,
1t Is obvious that the changes we
make should be made only at such a
rate aud in such a way as viii least
interfere with the normal and health
full course of N and manufac-
ture. But we shall not on that &C
count net with tinidity, as If we did
not know our own minds, for we are
certain of our ground and of u OBJ
iect. There should be an immediate
revision, and 1t should be downward,
unhesitatingly and steadily downward.
1t should begin with the schedules
which have been most obviously used
TO kill competition and to raise prices
In the United States, arbitrarily and
without regard to the prices pertain
ing elsewhere in the markets of the
world, and it should, before 1t Is fin
ished or intermitted. be extended to
every item in every schedule which
affords any opportunity for monopoly,
for special advantage to limited
groups of beneficiaries or for subsidiz-