The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-04-02
NO VOTES TO SPARE.

NO VOTES TO SPARE.
II is clear case that tho Democrats
will have no votes to spare in the
| u. ). Senate in case they undertake
to carry things with high hand in
] drastic revision of the tariff. so far as
that revision may he injurious TO es-
tablished American industries and in.
terests. The Louisiana Senators are
protesting against any material inter
ference with the sugar schedule, and
they can be depended upon to vote
against it. The Colorado and Missouri
Senators will. of course. oppose any
drastic interference with the tariff on
lead and zinc. Here, then, are six
Senators who can be depended upon,
as VIC figure it, to oppose any damag-
ing interference with the leading in
terests of their States Those Sena.
tors, by joining together, can prevent
any injurious interference with the tar.
iff on sugar and upon lead and zinc.
With the election Of one Democrat
and one Republican in Illinois, which
breaks the deadlock in that State and
gives Illinois its two Senators where
| heretofore it has had none since the
fourth Of March, the Democrats will
have fifty-one members of the Senate:
the Republicans have forty-three. and
there are two who arc now counted
Progressives; but the Progressives are
| break from the Republican party
and have always been protectionists
| heretofore, and are likely to be pro.
| tectionists in the future, as they have
been in the past. 1t is fairly safe to
reckon forty-fivo protectionst votes in
the Senate as against ifty-one to be
cast by Senators who, as Democrats
may in general he counted as low.
tariff men; but the six Senators in.
| dicated are not low-tariff men when
| it comes to a matter of sugar and OF
lead and zinc. IF these six combine
as they are likely to do, to prevent
any inroads upon the chief industries
Of their States, that will take six from
| the Democratic column and will leave
the low-tariff men but forty-hve votes
in the Senate to ffty-one for protec.
tion Of stated interests
| 1t is clear. therefore. that the Demo.
Gratis will not be able to carry any
high h-handed destructive reductions in
the tariff.
All the same, it is incumbent upon
the lead and zinc men Of this region
to be active, thorough, and to present
perfect case before the Committee of
Ways and Means, showing not only the
damaging, but the absolutely destruc.
tive nature Of such a tariff on lead
and zinc as was proposed last year by
the Democrats in their tariff revision
which President Taft vetoed. 1t will
be remembered that at that time the
Democrats put lead and zinc practi.
cally on the same basis as iron and
steel, apparently counting that all the
metals were on the same ba.
sis, and were subject to the
same general treatment. But as
we pointed out at the time,
and as the fact is, the lead and zinc
production in this country is on a
wholly different basis from the produc.
tion of iron and steel and the manu-
factures thereof; for the iron and steel
| interests Of the United States are
the great monopoly of all; but in the
production Of lead and zinc there is
not only no monopoly, no trust, no con,
| troll Of the markets by the producers
or any combination Of them, but no
possibility Of anv such combine, con
troll, or trust. And further, in the pro.
duction of these metals in the United
States the great desideratum is to pre-.
serve the high scale of American
wages as contrasted with the ruinously
low scale of wages paid 10 the peon
miners Of Mexico.
These considerations make n conclu.
sive argument against any interfering
with the present tariff upon lead and
zinc; and with the presentation fairly
and patriotically made, we do not be-
lieve that the extremists among the
politicians Of the Democratic party will
be able to carry the day against the
practical demonstration which the
American lead and zinc interests will
be able to make.
A SHAMEFUL DEMONSTRATION.
/