The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-04-29
TROTTING OUT
 OLD SCARES
Special Privilege Attempting the
 Moth-Eaten Old Bogeys

Washington, April 29.-The attack of special privilege upon the Under wood tariff bill has begun. All o1 the moth-eateh old scares-scare crows-are being lugged out again and a great many honest people will undoubtedly be frightened by them.
 The first indication of the tactics to be used by the benedciaries of spe- cial privilege came in the press agent ed mass meeting of linen workers fr New York state. A desperate attemp pt is, to be made to throw the working man of the country into a panic by pa rading before them the bogey of hard times.
 But before they allow themselves to be stampeded, the people should con sider who-are behind this old stand pat argument against tariff revision downward. Are the workingmen themselves doing it? Last falls elec- tion figures show that the working men of the country voted almost sol idly for the Democratic party which was pledged to make just the sort of tariff revision that is contained in the Underwood bill.
 No, those now melting the cry o1 hard times, and urging the long abused public to reject the tariff re- vision before it is given a trial are the very ones who have profted by the robber tariff rates of the Payne A1drich law.
 Are they. now so concerned for the welfare of the working people when during the sixteen years they have re- sisted inch by inch the slowly success full efforts of organized labor to make them disgorge some of the swollen profits they have been enabled to reap by iniquitous tariff rates.
 The people should not be thrown into a panic by this old argument. For the first time in years the people have it in their power to abolish the trust fostering Republican tariff, and the peoples representatives the Demo- crats in Congress, are going ahead, undisturbed by the calamity howlers.
 As a matter of fact there will be no business panic caused by the Under wood tariff revision. Sonic bus1iesses, perhaps, those grossly inefficient in their methods, or existing under arti- hcial conditions, may suffer on ac- count of the new tariff rates, but their number will be negligible.
 Business, managed by capable men honestly striving to be more efficient, cannot be harmed by the tariff reduc- tions On the contrary, only good can result. American wastefulneSS is a byeword to the manufacturers of the rest of the world. As long as our business exists behind an arti1cial1y reared protection wall, this waste full ness is bound to continue, and the people pay for waste in the cost of living. Take away this wall and you do away with waste while putting a premium on economy and efficiency. The Underwood tariff will put Ameri- can business on healthy foundation of thrift.
 Business men in Congress are not worrying. Representative J. H. Cooke, of Ohio, is the proprietor of a large chain factory in that state. Dur. ing the consideration of the tariff bill by the Democratic caucus he said to me:
 .I just now voted for the Under wood duty on chains. It cuts the present rate in two. As conditions are now, this means that we will be unable to compete with Germany on some of the better sorts of chains. But we do not expect to close our factory on that account We will go ahead, and in time we will meet the Ger man competition. We will not meet it by cutting wages, either. We will do it by improving our shop methods by becoming more efficient.
 And this fairly represents the view that honest and thoughtful manufac- turers are taking towards the tariff.