The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1916-10-20


means of utilizing 1t, and in no case
shall the rate Of interest exceed pei
cent on such loans. II may be as low
as 4, Az or per cent, but not ex.
ceeding s per cent. cite this as
a second reason why favor the re-
election of President Wilson.
The Progressive platform declared
too, for the amendment OF the anti
trust laws. and the President took up
! this matter with the Congress and
urged it until the Clayton law was
passed. Because the President rec.
ognLed and contended for this
fundamental principle that labor is
a part of life, rather than a com.
modify, which principle is so essential
to the social welfare of the country,
and so humane and so kindly in its
import, will give him my vote in No
vember.
We Progressives declared for a tar
iff commission In the view that the
tariff should be taken out of politics
entirely. Everyone knows that the
making up of the tariff had fallen into
hands which manipulated 1t SO as to
grant special privileges to some IA
vored persons and inequalities to 9th
ers. The Payne-Aldrich tariff law was
the climax of the old grab-bag fashion
of making up the tariff, and it was so
| obnoxious that more than one-half of
the party that enacted 1t condemned it..
The Progressives in their platform
advanced the proposition that the
tariff should be removed from
politics entirely, in the view that
it was purely business question;
therefore, we favored a non-partisan,
scientific tariff commission which
should be charged with the duty of in
vestigating the facts as to the differ
ence In the cost of production in this
country and in foreign countries, with
view OF ascertaining a true and am
equitable measure, after which the du-
ties on particular schedules might be
fashioned. The proposal did not nee
essarily mean protection, but 1t meant
justice. In some cases a protective
tariff, OF course, would essentially be
the result of the investigation where
articles were produced cheaper In for
eign countries than here because of
the lesser wages paid on the other
side than here. In other cases it might
mean no protection whatever If It
should appear that 1t cost more to pro-
duce particular articles in other coun-
tries than here, so their importation
might not result in beating down our
prices. The proposal was so eminent
ly just that even the Republican party
this year has adopted 1t and written
1t into its platform. President Will
son, however, was in the advance as
to this, for he declared in favor Of it
year ago, The Democratic party,
too, has written the same proposal
into its platform, but Mr.. Wilson and
his party have the advantage in point
OF performance, for under his leader
ship the Democratic party has already
enacted our Progressive tariff commits
sion into law. And so it is, If the two
parties be sincere, the tariff is re-
moved entirely from the arena as a
political question and is to be treated
in the future according to the Progress
sive plan along the lines of intelligent
business principles. This Is another
reason why am in favor of Mr.. Will
son, because, forsooth, he not only saw
and understood the justice of our pro-
posal, but persuaded his party to ac-
tually enact it into law.
The Progressive platform declared
in favor of the eight-hour day princi-
pie in continuous industries, and some
three or four different portions of that
document reflect this view. Impend-
ing controversy between the railroad
employees and the owners of the rail
roads came up this summer The men
demanded an eight-hour day and pay
and half for overtime. The owners
of the railroads rejected these de-
mands and proposed an arbitration
The railroad men refused to arbitrate
and insisted upon their right to have
an eighthour day.
The President said, as the en-
lightened opinion of society has set
tied the question of an eight-hour day
as right, 1t wasn't one for arbitration,
but, indeed, as a matter of positive
right should never be so submitted.
The owners OF the railroads contended
the whole matter should be submitted,
and their proposal amounts to the |
same thing as in case one who should |
violate the Sunday laws would insist
upon the matter Of arbitrating the |
question in respect to this. The bet |
ter thought of the world has settled |
long ago upon the proposition that it |
is right to observe one day in seven |
as a holy day, and this Is true, what
ever our religious views may be. The
matter having been thus sanctioned !
by the concurrence of public opinion,
1t is established as right and there
by removed from the field of discus
sion as to propriety and likewise the
purview of arbitration. The President
was clearly right, according to the
best thought of the world as to this,
and he proposed, too, that the other
matter in dispute-that is, the pay for
overtime-should be considered after
an investigation of the facts, not &C
cording to the opinion of either the
owners Of the railroads or the men.
To do this 1t was essential that some
should be had to ascer-
tain what would appear to be a just
for the overtime, and
now great the burden would be on the
railroads touching that matter. In so
far as the President denied the appli-
cation of the principle of arbitration
rs to the eight-hour day, he stood
on the Progressive platform
i IL.