Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1913-04-08
PRESIDENT WILSON.

are to be to which they will be requir-
ed to adjust themselves. 1t Is clear
to the whole country that the tariff
duties must be altered They must be
changed to meet the radical altera ton
In the conditions of our economic life
which the country has witnessed with
In the last generation While the
whole face and method Of our indus
trial and commercial life were being
changed beyond recognition the tariff
schedules have remained what they
were before the change began or have
moved in the direction they were Civ.
en- when no large circumstance of our
Industrial development was what 1t Is
today. Our task Is to square them
with the actual facts The sooner that
is done the sooner we shall escape
from suffering from the facts and the
sooner our men of business will be
free to thrive by the law of nature
lthe nature of free businessl instead
Of by the law of legislation and arti
6cial arrangement
How Tariff Has Grown.
We have seen tariff legislation wan
der very far aied in our day-very far
indeed from the field in which our
prosperity might have had a normal
growth and stimulation. No one who
looks the facts squarely In the face or
knows anything that lies beneath the
surface Of action can fail to perceive
the principles upon which recent tariff
legislation has been based We long
ago passed beyond the modest notion
Of protecting" the Industries of the
country and moved boldly forward to
the idea that they were entitled to the
direct patronage Of the government.
For a long time-a time 50 long that
the men now active In public policy
hardly remember the conditions that
proceeded tive have sought I'm our
tariff schedules TO give each group Of
manufacturers or producers what they
themselves thought that they needed
In order 10 maintain a practically ex-
elusive market as against the rest Of
the world Consciously or unconscious
" We have built up set Of privileges
and exemptions from competition be-
hind which it was easy by any. even
the crudeSt. forms Of combination TO
organize monopoly. until at last moth.
ing is normal. nothinp is obliged TO
stand the tests of etlirieHr- and econo-
NV. IN our world Of big business. but
everything thrives by concerted ar
ranCement Only new principles Of .
action VIII save MS from a tinaI hard
crv~ulIization Of monopoly and a com.
pltte loss of the influences that Quick.
on enterprise and keen independent en-
erry alive
Must Abolish Privilege.
lt Is r.Hin what th1~e prinrinles must
h.. We must abolish everything that
bear> even the ~emblaucc of privilege
or OF any kind 90 artiaeisi advantage
and put our business men and pro
ducers under the stimulation Of a con-
slant necessity 10 be efficient. econom- .
cal and enterprising. masters Of CON-
letitiye supremacy. better workers and .
merchants than any in The world
side frOm the duties laid upon arti-
les which we DO not aud probably
annOt produce. therefore. aud the
.uties laid upon Injuries and merely
Or the sake Of the revenues they yield.
be object Of the tarid duties hence +
orth laid must be effective competi-
on. the whetfing % American wits by
ouieSt with the wits o. the rest Of the
-orid
u would lsa unuise 70 move toward