New-York tribune., 1912-08-31
MORE AVOIDANCE.

The unWillinGneSS Wnlcn UoFeInOi
Wilson has manifested since his noml-
nation FOR the Presidency to face any
political issue squarely and courageous
ly was strikingly in evidence In MS
speech 10 the Pennsylvania farmers at
Williams Grove. That address con-
tained many Of the wlshy-washy gen
eralitIes made familiar to the public IN
his straddllng speech Of acceptance
The Governor seems to have persuaded
himself that he has the dialectical skili
TO hold a middle ground on any given
issue, solidifying himself at the same
I time with both radicals and conserVa-
ttyes. He Is going &c extirpate the
money monopoly, which he attacked
last year as the greatest monopoly in
the United States, but he is going 10
extirpate it only In case 1t really exists
and is doing injury to anybody. Sim
ilarly he Is going TO wipe out the exist
Ing restrictive" and constructive
tariff system. but he is not going 10
wipe It out II decentralization is 10 re-
suit 10 domestic industry, necessarily
adjusted to a protective basis.
II Is impossible to make an omelet
without breaking eggs. But Governor
Wilson thinks that he can safely tell
one part of the public that he is going
70 make the omelet and the other
part that he is not going 10 break the
eggs. The indlrection and evaslveness
of his method OF argument were strik'
sngly illustrated in what he said at
Williams Grove about the Farmers
Free List bill, Of unfortunate memory.
lie criticised President Taft for vetoing
that bill and suggested that the veto
demonstrated the Presidents lack OF
sympathy with the farmer But he
lacked the courage TO say that he him.
self approved the Farmers Free List
measure or would. If elected President,
work for its enactment in the next
Congress,
The free list bill was the freaklest
Of all the bluff tariff measures which
the Democratic-In Insurgent combination
IN Congress rushed through for poiit-
ical purposes. 1t violated every prin-
ciple Of tariff legislation ever enunci-
ated or employed by an American
party. 1t was inconsistent with the
protective theory, the theory Of tarin
for revenue only. the theory Of free
raw materials and the theory Of reve'
nue. with Incidental protection. 1t laid
down for the first time in our history
the grotesque proposition that duty
should be levied or remitted on an i'm
ported article in accordance with the
vocation OF the person for whose use
the article was intended. II farmer
wanted to use q knife II should come in
free, but If a butcher wanted TO use a
knife il should come in taxed.
The Farmers Free List bill was
laughed out of court Most Of the Sc
rious Democratic newspapers admitted
its absurdity, and the Democrats In the
House and Senate felt relieved when 1t
was killed by President Taft's veto.
Mr.. Underwood was willing this year
10 revive the vetoed woollen and cot
ion bills Of 1911. but he drew the line
M 'ir farcical Farmers Free List bill.
Even its authors wanted TO see that
measure shelved and forgotten.
Governor Wilson himself does not
venture to commend the Farmers
Free Llst-the most glaring piece Of
class ard vocational tariff legislation
ever formulated. But he Is willing to
leave the impression that his heart
beats on this issue with the farmer,
~'rived Of his vicious special legisla-
t+io" although at Sea Girt o few weeks
rsgv ne assured the manufacturer that
he stood like q rock against the unfair
and ruinous Interference with industry
which must he caused by the passage
Of irrational and discriminatory meas
ures like the Farmers Free List. The
more Governor Wilson talks the more
evident Il becomes that he is either in
capable Of dealing plainly with the
public on current issues or artfully
avoids doing so.