Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1916-09-07

Is 1t one based upon permanent cendi- |
tons? Certainly not. Like every other
Instance Of this sporadic prosperity OF
which tho Democracy boasts. 1t 10 bound
TO cease and terminate a. soon - the
war IL over. and it u none too soon to
prepare ourselves for what win inevitably
follow.
1T was war that sent up the price Of
material; II was war that caused the de-
mand for and sent up the price Of
labor. From business point Of view,
war is utterly different from peace. War
is urgent. It cannot stop to haggle. 1t
cannot afford to wait. Peace bargains.
but war pays the price. It has been paid
and is paying. the price that has put the
punch In American bust
ness. American business today Is like an
artifcially stimulated. or. If may use
the vernacular, q "doped" race horse.
We are speeding furiously while the dope
is in US. but what will happen when the
dope wears of. Can you doubt that there
Is bound to be a reaction, reaction even
more violent than the original stimulus. l
say to you, men and women Of Maine.
that the time has come to prepare for the
luSVlLdUlc IcduJuoIiLACAGS sonAN S-AN fo--~
way to do it is, first to Dust the Demo-
cratic party from office. and then imme-
diately to repeal the Underwood law en-
acting in it's place tariff which shall
be based on the Republican policy-the
American policy Of giving adequate pro-
lection to our citizens both in their Indus
tries and in their labor.
"Only a word about the Underwood
law. It was enacted with great flourish
of trumpets. Statesmen fought for the
pen with which the President signed It,
A pen of what material composed, l do
not know, but it would have been appro-
pirate, think, If it had been goose
quill. Four things were promised for it
by it's author and its signer. We were
told that 1t would increase imports, with
out damaging any American industry;
that by broadening our markets it would
raise ample revenue for the needs of the
government, and that it would greatly
lower the cost of living. How were these
promises fulfilled, from the time this law
was enacted until the European war UP"
set the financial conditions of the weird?
Briefly, half of their first promise came
true. Imports did increase, they in
creased about 10 per cent. but thousands
of American industries were either dam
aged or ruined. Did experts increase up
to the time of the war? On the contrary
they fell off more than SO per cent. Was
ample revenue raised? On the contrary.
the revenue fell off so far that we were
forced to submit to an oppressive and
burdensome war tax, in the time of pro-
found peace of which they boast. Did
the cost of living go down? On the con-
trary it went up, and the truth of this
statement l will leave to any man, wo-
man or child in the State of Maine. AS a
destroyer of industry the Underwood
tariff law was brilliant success. AS
promoter of commerce and as a pro-
Queer of revenue, it was sorry failure.
War over. we shall face at once two
fundamental conditions: First, the high
est wages ever known here and second,
frenzied desire on the part Of Europe to
recuperate her financial losses. For the
things we are sending her now, there will
be no demand, except probably for raw
materials and food stuffs, but for one
thing which we produce, and which she
has been sending us in large quantities,
she will have an insatiate demand. !
mean, for our gold. The only way she
can get it will be by selling here all kinds
Of products, regardless almost of cost,
at prices which our producers cannot pos
where near what 1t now is. We might
hope to retain for ourselves a small share
of the American market if we reduce the
American scale of wages one-half. Do
you want to do that? If not, there is but
one recourse, and that Is to protect our
markets as they are not now protected.
"As an instrument for national defence,
the Underwood law will be about as eff
fective as one of our old monitors; the
monitor whose principal use today Is to
serve as target for the guns of our mod
ern war ships in practice; and the Lord
knows. they need practice with Josephus
Daniels at the head Of the Navy.
If the democracy has been failure in
raising money, 1t has been a monumental
success in spending It, take off my hat
to them. This Democratic Congress has
been the most successful band Of treas
ury looters in our history. They used to
talk very few years ago about Repub-
lican extravaganza and say that before
long we would have 81, oOo, 100000 congress-
For this year they have spent something
like ST. 100000. Millions upon millions
have been poured into a certain favored
section Of the country Millions Of dol
lars have been spent to provide super
nuous and useless Offices, and the civil
service laws have been grossly violated,
Gr.5 a.
The end Is not yet. They have just begun