The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1920-06-04

! ticle to believe that the present DEM
ocratic tariff is in any sense respon-
sible for present conditions as to Euro
! pean trade balances, or depreciation
I of securities. The fact, is, as HE
would doubtless say, that present con-
ditions generally speaking are due
wholly to the war and not in any big
sense due to the tariff or lack of it.
The Business Farmer advocates a
tariff on all agricultural and manu.
factured goods high enough to raise
the wholesale price at seaboard OF
! foreign produced goods to the level Of
the wholesale price of domestic goods.
This would give the foreign producer
no advantage over the home producer.
1 This principle is embodied in Con-
gressman Fordney's "anti-dumping"
bill, now before the cenate.
With this cause the Herald is In
hearty accord. 1t is, we believe, a
sound protection policy. The only
possible exception would be when by
giving a little better margin, we
might encourage and build up some
industry which would otherwise not
attract capital to it's establishment.
But when established, this too, should
be governed by the same law.
The tariff is an inexhaustible sub
iect and it is needless to discuss it
further here. / apprehend, however,
that the protection policy Of the Mich
igan Business Farmer will satisfy the
majority of the Republicans and spare
us from the imputation of being a
"Free Trade Democrat"
We congratulate the Business Far
mer on its definite declaration Of po-
licy.
Answering your criticism that we
"dodged" the general question on a
protective tariff, / desire to say that
this is not correct. Your original in
quiry did not have to do with "gen-
eral" protective tariff. You asked
"Have you ever seen a single editorial
in this paper advocating a protective
tariff" and l specified the proposed
bean tariff as particular instance OF
our advocating protective tariff.
On this clause we are willing to
let by-gones be by-gones except to
say that we did not say "a" protec-
tive policy. but ga protective policy"
which we do not believe in any fair
construction of language is at all diff
ferent from A GENERAL protection
policy. A protection policy is not
made up of schedule here or sched-
ule there, but of a system. Hence
! when Bro. Lord specified specific
schedules we saw in this no advocacy
of a protection policy. AS he we'll
knows, an editorial in favor of tariff
on one or two articles no more makes
protection policy than single swal-
low makes a summer.
You are in great error to assume
that the criticisms published in the
Business Farmer were for the purpose
of discrediting Mr.. Fordney or caus-
ing his defeat at the next election.
AS we have already pointed out the
statements leading up to this discus,
sion first appeared not in the Business
Farmer, but in the Detroit Free Press,
strong Fordney supporter. Our at
tention was first called to them by a
number of irate subscribers who sent
us the clipping with some pointed re-
marks to the effect that at looks as if
Mr.. Fordney were laying down on the
job" l wired Mr.. Fordney asking him
if he had been correctly quoted. Ten
day later l received his reply, but not
before,-after waiting a reasonable
length of time,-I had laid the facts
before our subscribers.
/ Again we congratulate the Busi-
ness Farmer when it asserts that it's
criticisms "were NOT FOR THE
PURPOSE OF DISTRIBUTING MIR.
, FORDNEY or causing HIS DEFEAT
at THE NEXT ELECTION" We can
readily understood how those inter-
ested in an increased bean tariff,
might NOT understand why this leg
islation might not be enacted right off
the reel and why they might be some
what impatient and critical toward
Mr.. Fordney because it was not done,
but it did not seem to the Herald fair
W MI. VI uiiey, VII ClS cNiuChSC VI q
Texas Democratic Free Trader to as
sumo or "surmise" that Mr.. Fordnes
was not doing all in his power for the
farmers of the eighth district, who
constitute the large majority Of his
constituents, when Congressman Os-
borne, who was watching his bill with
the utmost interest and very desirous
of having it passed, bears direct tes-
timony to the devotion of Mr.. Fordney
to the cause of the bean growers.
Neither did it seem fair to intimate
that "others can get all they want
when it is not true that either the dye
stuff, nor pearl buttons, nor any othe,
special bill has been passed by con.
gress nor received the approval OF
President Wilson, nor will any of them
be passed.