The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1918-03-08
progress as to the proper type of
machine gun for the Army.


If Secretary of the Interior Lane
would pursue his facts and arguments
to their logical conclusion, he would
become a pronounced advocate of
protective tariff. In a statement re-
Gently given to the press he says that
development of American mines
would supply 100000 tons of miner
ais now imported and allow the ves-
sells to carry additional food and sup
plies to our army in France"
Among the minerals we could pro-
duce, he mentions nitrate, sulphur,
manganese, tin, graphite, mercury,
potash, tungsten, antimony, chromite,
magnesite and mica "American
mines can produce all of these miner
ais, providing they are given the
necessary assistance of the govern
Assistance of the government"
Of course the Democratic method is
an appropriation from the treasury.
The Republican method has always
been an import duty which would
cover the difference in cost of pro-
duction here and abroad. Republicans
have never asked for a prohibitory
tariff, but one sufficient to place the
! American producer on an equality
with the foreign competitor who has
the advantage of lower wages
But the Republicans do not confine
their encouragement of home produc-
tion to minerals nor to war times. We
believe that America should be at all
times as nearly independent industri-
ally as it is possible for her to be, so
that when war does come we shall not
be embarrassed as we were in 1914.
Mr.. Lanes only point is the saving
of ship space. Republicans go much
farther and advocate home produc-
tion because by that means we not
only save the ocean freight but we
keep the money in this country to pay
American laborers, who, in turn,
spend the money in the purchase of
the products of other American work.
men. We believe in keeping the dol
lar in America, where it will change
hands ten or twelve times year, thus
putting ten dollars of activity into
American business for every dollar
spent here instead of abroad.
! Mr.. Lane takes the Republican view
to considerable extent when he inti-
mates that new mining industries
now developed may have difficulty in
surviving "after war conditions" Re-
publicans do not limit their concern
to mining. We are apprehensive re-
garding the after-war status of our
new dye industry, and we fear that
when the war is over we shall have
a recurrence Of that disastrous for
eign competition of 1894, unless the
protective tariff shall be restored.
Secretary Lane has in him the
makings of good Republican. He
believes in home production of some
things during the emergency Of war.
He believes in the assistance of the
government in promoting home pro-
duction of those things. Now if he
could only extend his vision so that
he would advocate home production of
everything practicable in either war
or peace, and broaden his Assistance
of the government" so that it would
include legislation establishing an
import duty at least equal to the diff
ference in cost of production here and
abroad, we should gladly welcome
him to the ranks of the G.. o. p. He
has been somewhat lonesome figure
in the company he is now in, and be-
longs among constructive statesmen.
| Senator Ollie James, Of Kentucky,
expresses deep concern over criticisms
of the administration, which he de-
scribes as Shaking the rope" over
which the President is trying, Blon-
2din-like, to carry the country. He is
too dense to see that instead of shak-