New Britain herald., 1930-07-11
POLITICAL PARTIES
 NO LONGER DIFFER
Tariff Similarity Wipes Out Last
 Divergence in Views

Washington, July 1.-The close Of ! every session of Congress demon 1 strates all over again and mora | clearly than ever the fact that there | is no real difference between the | two major political parties, that one is the party in power and the other 1 the opposition and that when they | actually line up against each other | there is nothing discernible in the situation except a row between the "ins" and the outs"
 The Republican party has been normally in and the Democratic party normally oul, So when al election year comes along anI jobs are at stake and the two fac tions of the politicians union start slamming away at each . other the Republicans begin talk ]. ing credit for all the good things that have happened to the coun- try and forgetting all the bad things. And the Democrats Of course, forget all the good things and harp on all the bad things as they point accusingIy al the Re pubIcans.
 AS far as national politics are concerned, there isn't much more 10 it than that. The party in power boasts and defends itself; the party out of power sneers and . condemns. The Republican party is attacked not because it stands for anything in particular. but for the way it does things when in power - the way 1t revamps th4 tariff, the way 1t enforces or doesn't enforce prohibition the way it helps or doesn't help the farmers, the way ic stimulates or doesn't stimulate business and employment,
 Each party claims certain fine, high-sounding principles for its own, but neither has an honest, clear-cut or fundamental issue.
 Once there was a rather com mon popular impression that 3 real clNavage existed between tho two parties on the question of the protective tariff. The Republi- cans were supposed to be high tariff and the Democrats lon tariff. And it is true that the Democrats have seized on tho Hawley-S Smoot tariff act as the biz issue in the congressional cam paign of this year.
 But where were the Democrats ir 192So straddllng the fence and assuring the country that they, tco, believed in the protective tariff. Promising the country, in effect, that the Republican rates of duty as fixed in the Fordney- NcCumber act Of 1922 were good enough for them and that no one need fear g Democratic assault on the tariff walls in case the nation chose a Democratic administration
 Candidate Al Smiths position was that the tariff must be taken cut of politics and that a scien- tific, non- partisan tariff commis- sion could do just tkat. We'll, to- day President Hoover and other Republicans are echoing the same thought and Mir. Hoover has said that the flexible provision in the new tariff lav can be used to take the tariff out of politics.
 The Republican spokesmen ar forced to take credit or blame tor the new tariff. but again and again they nave been trying to make the Democrats share #, They are able 10 point out that all but one Democrat in the Sen ate voted for one duty increase or more and against various de- ereases and the Democratic record ir the House is about the same, Five Democratic votes passed the bill in the Senate.
 They're Getting Together
 All this makes a strange spec tacIe. In effect. the Republicang are trying 10 prove that Demo- crats and Republicans feel alike about higher tariffs, thereby dis sociating themselves from the an- cient argument that the G. o. r was the only protective tariff party. They are willing to go that far to meet the attack of the Democrats NnlGh IS Dase0 oh i'C- publican sponsorship of an ad- mittedly unpopular measu"-.. Meanwhile, MT. Hoover has hedged 10 the extent Of admitting that his dear friends in Congre*3 put enough bad stuff in the bill q force him to make quite fe" re- adjustments.
 Possibly some bright young per son can think Of another issue on which the parties are more deti- nitely opposed 10 each other than they are on the tariff. Possibly there is some real issue which 's more than merely something 10 grab at for temporary use in cam paigns. But probably not.