The Alaska daily empire., 1915-02-09
TEE OLD GUARD
 BACK ON THE JOB
(By Senator Robert Nj. La Toilette in
 La Follette's Weekly

| NNN taaANfasa'A aH..reN.Hr
 La Follette's Weekly
 Tho return to Congress of a mum.
 Der ol the old standpat lenders from States and districts in which Aldrich ! has been the ideal for quarter ol q century has been hailed with joy by special interest press and politicians. ! Business Is to loo revived and labor is| 1 to be rewarded,
 Already the first number of the pro, gram of new administration is an. i lnounced- restore the Payne.Aldrioh ! ,oriff They propose to rescue our. l pertaining industries" They arc ai-
 ready counting upon "o large Increase l in duties an along the line. 0f0
 course it will raise prices and Increase
 the cost of living. Tho consumer wiu lboye to pay the piper But what of lthat2 We must have prosperity at ! any price.
 And the Wilson administration has been disturbing busines5 lis prin cipal offense is that it has reduced the
 tariff
 That there should be some business disturbance following reduction ofl the high tariff duties was inevitable. l That much of tho depression was ar- ufcial cannot be disputed Does any rational human being doubt that the tariff interests would fight to tho lastF ditch to maintain their unlawful pro. flts2 They he'd many times warned | tho public that it would be unsafe to interfera with them t was an openf boast of standpat statesmen at tho be glnDing Of the tariff session under che present administration that Che pro-l tected interests would make the Amer lcan people pay dearly for their folly in the election of 1912; that when a few million laborers had been laid ofL and the balance had suffered cut in their wages; that when the banks re- duced the credit line and people were made to feel the pinch they would be eager to bring Aldrich and cannon back and beg them to make the wheels so round'
 Tho interests could afford to take Q small percent loss on manufactured depression to restore their privileges of monopoly and huge profits for an- other high-priced tariff period.
 And so we have had our season of sbusiness depression"-a small meas. ure of 1t the logical result Of tariff changes necessary during the period f of redajustment from the false, arti- lciol inflated basis to Q sound. honest stable basis of actual values. There was no reason for a business depres, sion of Q radical or general character.
 Democratic tariff duties on the schedule of manufacturers, with the exception of some of the more highly finished products. accorded to those industries a fair measure of protection against foreign competition. On wool and sugar and most of the products of agriculture. the cut was unwarront- ed. For the most part it is true that the farmer cannot be materially bene fitted by tarin duties upon bls product bur upon many things grown upon the farm he has foreign competition main- tained under conditions which entitle him to the same measure Of protec- j ton accorded to the American monu- faclurer. This he did not receive in the Democratic tariff bin. But on the whole the bill was protective tariff measure, and infinitely better and fair or to the American people than the Payne-Aldrich law
 The investigation ol Tagts tariff board proved beyond dispute that many favored industries were en- renched behind the tariff duties Of , the Payne-Aldrich law, ranging from one to two and three hundred per cent more than "the difference be- tween the cost of production at home g md abroad"
 No such tariff monatrosity can ever e be maintained. It may contribute to c he political success of a few Senators ? md members of Congress from pro arilf States to contend for such leg. station. But it is supreme folly for t sreat industries to hope to establish Q security and real prosperity !. ,n a bisis of wrong and iniustlce
 Remember 1908, 1910. and 1912 Like s produce like results. Let a hat not be forgotten O