Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1913-07-04
PROGRESSIVE REP. POSITION
Reasons Why They Cannot Endorse
the Underwood Bill

The situation stated below has been
discussed in detail by the director OF
this bureau with progressive repub-
lican leaders of the state, and the
following statement sets forth their
position.
The democratic party was placed
in power last fall upon a pledge to
reduce the tariff This pledge, now
ever. was coupled with a promise
that no legitimate business would be
injured in making such reduction A
special session of congress was
called. On the first day Of that ses-
sion there was placed on the desks
of the members of congress a 2l6
page tariff bill. This was the Will
son-UnderWo0d bill, and orders We're
given that it should pass the house
without the crossing of st. or the
dOtting of an 81" The democratic Sc
cret caucus bound every democratic
member to vote for this bill and
against all amendments to it. That
program was carried out.
This bill is now in the senate and
is being considered there also in Sc
cret, and whatever changes are to
be proposed by the democrats are
being written in secret by the dem
Ocratic members of the finance com
mittee The democrats, controlling
the house of representatives by more
than two to one, needed to make no
concessions nor to proselyte for
votes In the senate, however, the
democratic and republican forces are
very nearly equally divided and there
is opposition to the bill from several
democratic senators. This has given
rise to the desperate efforts by the
democrats to prOselyte enough pro
gressiye republican senators to over
come the defections from the demo
cratic ranks.
Senator LaFallette, as the progress
ate and in the country, is the center
of the proselyting fire. SO a back
fire has been started by democrati@
agency upon Senator La Toilette in
Wisconsin. The back-fire campaign
was opened by an attack upon Con-
gressmen Frear, Lenroot, and Man
ah2n for their votes against the I'm
derWood bill This attack is an at
tack upon every progressive republi-
can and third party progressive in
the house Of representatives. System
attic attempt is being made to mis-
lead the progressive papers of the
state into prejudiCing the case and
committing themselves to tariff
bill the contents Of which are known
to no one at this time outside of the
inner secret circle of democratic
managers in Washington and perhaps
not even to them.
When the Underwood bill was re-
ported into the house, the republi-
cans in conference open to the pub
lie, had adopted the progressive pro-
pOsals for amendments to the bill,
the most important of which was
the tariff commission Every one Of
these amendments was voted down
by the solid democratic majority,
bound by the secret democratic eau
Gus, without regard to the merits of
the amendment or the individual con
viction of democratic members.
Wisconsin progressive laws have
been worked out by expert investi-
cations and are administered by eX-
pert commission. That is the LaFoll-
ette Wisconsin way that makes La
Toilette the constructive leader Of the
country
Tariff legislation involves volumes
Of detail and expert knowledge. Less
than score of the more that four
hundred members of the house of rep
resentatives had an intelligent con
cepti0n of the schedules proposed il
the WilsOn-U Underwood bill, of the
reasons upon which they We're based
or of their ultimate effect upon the
country. The bill contained thousands
of items, prepared by unknown influ
ences and adopted in secret caucus
In al it's glory. the old republican
machine of Cannonism never eQualle
the present machine of Wi!sonUr
derwoodism in either its power or it
arbitrarineSs.
The republican congressman VIII
voted against this bill are charge
with thereby voting for the Aldric
law and being standpatters. Th
charge is entirely unjust and its pu
pose in Wisconsin is to embarras
Senator LaFollette in deciding hi
own course These votes are not ca:
for the Aldrich law Had these vote
been necessary to pass the UnderWot
bill the republican amendments, i
Guiding the provision for a tariff COZ