The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1915-08-26
LEST We FORGET"
Speech Of Congressman j. Hampton
Moore. OF Pennsylvania, Member Of
the Ways and Means Committee OF
the House OF Representatives, at


the Ways and Means Committee Of
the House OF Representatives, a.,
Worcester. Mass, August nth.
LEST We Forget" is about the best
text that can be recommended to Re
publicans at the present time. The
European War and the temporary
prosperity it has brought about IN
spots is being used for all il is worth
70 make Republicans forget what was
done to them in 1912. Above all
things this is the time not TO forget,
but to remember. We should remem-
Der that the whole country was pros
porous and that all men were employ
ed prior to 1912. We should remem-
Der that the entire Republican system
of prosperity was attacked and that
we were charged with responsibility
for the high cost of living and for a
great variety of economic evils. Presi'
dent Wilson came to Congress with a
direct message to back up these
charges. He did not mince words, but
declared emphatically that the prog
lress we had made under the Protec-
tive Tariff System must be destroyed,
In his address from the Throne,
April s, 1913, Immediately after he
had called Congress in extraordinary
session, he said:
Eve must abolish everything that
bears even the semblance Of privilege
or of any kind Of artificial advantage
aside from the duties laid
up on articles which we do not, and
probably cannot, produce, therefore,
and the duties laid upon luxuries and
merely for the sake of the revenues
they yield, the object of the tariff
duties henceforth laid must be effec-
tive competition, the whetting of
American wits by contest with the
wits Of the rest Of the world"
This was the beginning Of the Presi-
dents efforts to put into effect the
promises of the Democratic Party. In
any discussion of the relative merits
of Republican or Democratic system
of government, this message Of Presi-
dent Wilson should not be forgotten.
Neither should we forget the failure
of the Administration to reduce the
cost of living, to destroy the Trusts,
or to remedy any of the other evils
charged against the Republican Party.
We should not forget the conse-
quences of the policy which the Presi-
dent advocated with such vigor. Our
Democratic friends prefer now to dis
cuss the war in Europe, but we must
not hold them to the industrial war
they have wrought at home.
What was the effect of the Presi-
dents tariff declaration
First: A staggering blow to all
business in the United States because
of the fear of what was to come.
Second The passage Of the Under
wood low tariff law which produced
the most unsatisfactory industrial
conditions.
Third: The loss Of trade and en-
ployment at home, and the develop
ment of industries abroad.
Fourth An Income Tax and War
Tax imposed upon people who were
at peace with the world; and grist
Of legislation adverse to the American
enterprise.
Fifth: A depleted Treasury with
more taxes in sight, since the present
war tax bill expires by limitation at
the end Of the current year and will
have to be renewed in some form.
In seven months, from January /, to
July 81, 1914, the loss of revenue
under the Wilson Underwood Tariff
Law, as compared with the repealed
Republican Tariff Law of the previous
year, was upwards of $23,000,000 The
damage to the country in that period
was enormous and foreign manufac-
turers displaced S24S,000,000 worth of
American labor. That, however, was
only the beginning.
The whole argument in favor of
President Wilson's low tariff system
was based upon the alleged control of
trusts and monopolies and the high
cost of living.
Let us remember how his remedial
scheme worked out. By admitting the
goods of foreign cheap labor free OF
duty, and at such rates of duty as
made American competition impos-
siple. the Wilson anti" artifcial" tariff
law cost the American Treasury full
slO0,OO0,000 Of revenue the first year.
The retail price of foreign commodi-
ties was not reduced TO the American
consumer because the foreigner added
the duty to his price. The Democrats,
therefore, did not relieve the Ameri-
can consumer, but added SlOO,OO0,OOO
to the profits of the foreign manufac-