Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-07-12
TARIFF AND DISTURBANCE.

The House minority reported that
rhe For,iney tariff will prove to be
~an economic. bovcott against the civil
ized world That cry, however, was
damned by the Rest Minds who i'm
unediately proved, according to the
Bible. Shakespeare and the Republican
lsarty platform that it was an act Of
God. For,iney and the President which
was 10 reseat breeches and fill TO over
flowing the three million empty dinner
pals now in the United States.
But oratory has never conquered
fact, and the apostrophes TO the tariff
wall which are ringing within Con-
gressional corridors will not offset the
mischief that this bill can create. The
gentlemen who are constructing it are
following the architectural ideas of
Brothers Mckinley. Dingley, Payne
and .Aldrich. Unfortunately for the
country they have not the same ma
terials with which 10 work. a palace
Of mud cannot withstand the storms
as can an edifice OF stone.
our economic position as a nation
is not what it was prior TO that event
ful day. June IS. 1914, when half
crazed student assassinated the Arch
duke Francis at Sarajevo. We are
now the worlds largest creditor nation.
Ry building a wall 10 high Heaven we
can keep out imports. But do we
want 10 keep out imports? Is it nee
essary? If our debtor nations cannot
sell TO us, we cannot expect them 10
repay loans made in war days. And
II they cannot sell. they must not he
expected to buy. II does not take an
abnormal business imagination to con
ceive what will be the result Of such
an economic boycott. The palace Of
prosperity cannot stand if the ma
terials are weak. Neither the farmers
nor the average city families will
benefit by this Fordney bill. We may
expect, however. that the cost Of mere
existence in this land of plenty will
skyrocket 10 the sun. Every piece Of
clothes We wear viii pay tribute 10
those graybearded trusts which mask
as infants The food we eat will be
priced according TO the agricultural
schedule. and not 10 the demand. Other
necessities will be hoisted accordingly
1t is quite true that certain Sena
tors who represent the interests which
are 10 be protected" viii reap their
harvests. Maybe that is why the Sen
ate is vet called the rich man :
club But if Europe cannot sell I,
us she cannot pay her debts owing US
and that means that our taxes will
have 10 be increased TO maintain ouI
government. With increased taxes
and increased living costs can any
zane person imagine this being a pros
porous and a contented country?
TO judge by the cries of .'Bolshe-
visit" which come from the camps
OF great interest on occasion, the seeds
of unrest evidently are being sown
But would it not be better 10 remove
the cause Of economic satisfaction nov
than TO have TO plant machine gun,
in battery in the public streets Z
decade from now.
The very forces which would suffei
most from social disturbances ar,
those which are giving cause for dis
turbances. A high tariff at this tins
will further enrich few groups o
exploiters. 1t also viii increase 1iv
ing costs and taxa ton at time wher
three or more million men are out o
work. The crime will be on the headi
OF the exploiters if disturbance eveI
is made in this country. We believ'
that the possibility Of such is mor'
fancied than real-but the seeds of j
lie in the F'ordney tariff bill. WhetheI
they sprout after being sown is
different matter.