The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1916-11-01

lowest wages, and you might also tell
us why shoe manufacturers, whose
almost every product is upon the free
list, pay the highest wages in America.
1 might almost have said paid the
highest-perhaps Henry Ford pays
higher. and Horny Ford has no diff
| Guilty in competing with the pauper
| labor of Europe. God knows Henry
Ford makes things cheap enough.
Jacob Schiff, a New York banker
and a lifelong Republican, said:
| Renewal of tariff agitation is the
only thing that can stop the great
prosperity we now have
president Underwood Of the Erie
| Railroad said the same thing.
"Now, about the Tariff Commits
| sion. My friend suggested that the
President hads written some kind OF
| letter to Mr.. Kitchin. Well, he did.
The only trouble about the Senator's
quotation is that he did not quote all
of it. The President said: "A COM
mission such as have suggested (this
| is the tariff commission) would have
nothing to do with theories of policy.
They would deal only with the facts
of the industry and the conditions of
economic change prevailing in the
world, SO that legislation Of every
kind that touched these matters
might be guided by the circumstances
disclosed by it's inquiries and the
| Stamford Advocate, a Republican
| paper, commenting on this. said, No
honest protectionist asks for more
| All right.
why, my friends, there has never
been any trouble in this country with
the honest protectionist. There isn't
any free trade party in America to-
| day; there isn't any party in Ameri-
ca today that Is promising to uproot
| md disturb tariff conditions except
the Senator's party. There isn't any
party in the world which is disposed
to renew this quadrennial disturbance
of business by tariff agitation. We
have taken the tariff out Of politics.
We have provided tariff commits
| sion SO that future revisions of tariff
may be made upon the basis Of bus
| ness necessity and not upon the par
tison requirements of the Senator's
party. That is what makes them
unhappy We have deprived them
of the one argument they had and
that wasn't an argument. That was
only a bug-a-boo.
Nov we pass on quickly. The
Senator In very moving burst Of
| eloquence spoke about the 'serpentN
of the sea- that were coming here
fifty at a lick and shooting up Ameri-
can commerce. Well, now, I have
read magazine articles and novels
which exploited penny dreadful stuff
of this character, but wars do not
come that way. Every war has a
| history behind 1t. But the question
is. what are you going to do about
it? L ask the Senator what he
wants to have done about It? Does
he object to the bills that the Demo-
cratic party has passed? Why. we
have just passed the largest budget
for Army and Navy, which has ever
been passed in the history Of Ameri-
ca or any other country.
"Ah, I wish that the Senator had
the frankness Of certain other Re-
publican, the Hon. Leslie M. Shaw.
| formerly Secretary Of the Treasury
in a Republican administration, who,
speaking at indianapolis on April 26.
of this year, said now listen: T
have no hesitancy in admitting grave
doubts whether the Republican par
| ty can, even if it should try, and also
whether 1t ought to try to defeat the
party now in power upon an Issue of
excoriation because it has failed to
accomplish in four years what we
failed to do in forty years. II we
have a small and inadequate army
and navy, the Republican party is 80
per cent. responsible for it's inenicien-
cy. for the Republican party has been
in power 80 per cent. OF the last half
century. If our coast defenses are
silly, I submit that it does not like In
the mouth Of the Republican party
to say much about It.
why, we passed an Army Re-or-
ganization bill. We have run the
number up from 100000 to $4,000.
We provided a National Guard with
peace strength Of 100000 men. We
have got an available force Of $780,
600.
1.-THE Navy wish I could stop to
read these figures but the time is 50
late and I must pass on. But we
have done more in the last two years
for the army and navy Of the United
States than the Republican party has
| done in its entire history.
| t'I regret that the Senator has seen
fit to raise the issue Of sectionalism
in this country. I profoundly re-
gret that in this moment when Amer
lea ought to stand together as 1t has
never stood together before, any man
could be found who would endeavor
to reissue the war cries of thirty
years ago. All, my friends, this is a
united country. When Grant gave
back the sword, the sword Of surren-
! der. to LeeI it would seem as If the
processes of reconstruction and
friendship ought to have begun.
America is a great country. Washing
ton and Jefferson and Patrick Henry
| were from the south. When we had
the Spanish war who was more eager
/, to defend the flag than the people
from the South? It was F1tzhugh
Lee and General Joe Wheeler, and
the first victim Of the Spanish Ameri
can War was Ensign Bagley from
| North Carolina. The Blue and the
Gray have mar ohed together up
Pennsylvania avenue and they have
had their reunions at Gettysburg.
IT say that any man who in this
present crisis Of American history
when America sees confronting her
| an entire world in arms. that any man
| who at such period raises the cry
of sectionalism is rendering sorry
service to his country.
| sHrhoro ira Gonna paoplo INV friends