Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1913-04-08
OTHER THINGS MUST WAIT
RECENT TARIFF LEGISLATION
BASED ON WRONG PRINCIPLES.
LEGISLATION MUST BE
SQUARED WITH FACTS.
(BV ASSOcidted PrcSs.)

municated his first message 10 the G3rd
congress, convened i'll extraordinary seS
sion. 1t was an unusually brief i0cu
mcnt, dealing exclusively with the need
for a thorough, moderate and WciIc0H-
Sidcrcd revision Of thc tariff. The pr"ei
icnt drew attention To the necessity for
IN early reform in the banking and cur
rency laws but %rcfrained. ne said. from
urging. for the present. any other leg
i|siation that might divert thc energies Of
congress from its clearly defined duty
toward the tariff question.
The message referred to no particular
schedule, mentioned no rates, and in
GUIDED 10 statistics. 1t was an cnuncia-
ton Of the presidents principles on tar
III revision. His specific views and
icdas * to rates ana duties. il has been
generally accepted, VIII be contained in
the tariff bill itself which he is now con
Sidering in detail. The presidents de
ciSiou TO pat the weight Of the admins
traji0n'S influence behind the bill with
It's various schedules. as drawn by the
house ways and means committee.
caused him to omit specific reference t.
tariff rates until the measure was iinal
i agreed upon in the opening days of
the present session.
The message urged that special priv
ilegr and exemptions from competition
hc cat out Of the nations tariff system
aud that the revision DC made 40 square
with the facts as they are Ak The out
Srt. the president calleA attention to the
purtvS ricdge for tariff reduction.
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE.
To th" Senate and House of NcproScn
t|atiyya:
| hly" called the congress together i'll
extraordinary session because i duty
was laid upon the party now in power III
the recent elections which ii ought to
perform promptly. i'll order that the bur
den carried by the people under exist
ing law may be lightcncd as soon rs pos
Nlblr and in order. also, that the bust
ness interests Of the country may not be
kept too long in suspense as to What the
fiscal changes are 10 b" 10 which they
will be required To adjust themselves.
It is clear to the whole country that the
tari1 duties must be altered. They must
be changed TO meet the radical altpra-
ton in the conditions of cur economic
life which the country has Witnessed in
The last generation. While the whole
face and method of our industrial ana
commercial life were being changed be
Yon3 recognition the tariff schedules
have remained what they were before
the change began. or have moved III the
direction they were given when no large
circumstance Of cur industrial develop
mrnt was what il is today. Our task is
70 square them with the actual facts.
The sooner hat il done the sooner we
shall escape from suffering from the
Facts and the sooner our men Of business
will TX free 10 thrive BY the law Of ma
tUrc (thr nature of free huSin"sS) ill
stead Of by the Law Of legislation and
artificial arrangement.
M" have seen tariff legislation wan
der very far aficld in our dav-vcrv far
indeed from the field i'll which our pros
pCrity might have had 4 normal growth
and stimulation. No one who looks the
facts Sguarclv in the face or knows any
ching 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 'protccting" 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 III
public policy hardly remember the con
dltlons that preceded tive have sought
IN our tariff schedules to give each gr0uD
81 manufacturer or producers what
they themselves thought that they needed
Ih order 70 maintain 4 practically cx-
elusive markqs rs against the rest Of
the world. Consciously Or unconscious
III. We have built M 4 >ct If privileges
and exemptions from competition he-
hind which it was easy TN any even the
crEdcSt. forms Of combination to ORGAN
lzc monopoly; until at last nothing IN
normal. nothing is obliged Ia stand the
tests Of efficiency and economy. in our
world Of big business. but everything
thrivcS BY concerted arrangement. Only
now principles Of action viii save III
from ] final hard crystalization Of mo-
nopoly and a complete loss Of the in
i~lucnccS that quicken enterprise and
keep independent energy alive.
1t is plain what those principles must
be. We must abolish everything that