The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1930-06-11
Whose Tariff?

If all the senators who oppose the billion dollar
tariff bill vote against it. the bill will be killed this
week That is admitted generally But it also is adj
mtted that several senators-perhaps enough to de-
ternne the close vote one way another-are listed
as willing to vote for the bill to which they really
opposed.
These senators are represented as knowing that
the bill if becomes law will destroy American pros
perity which already has been seriously crippled by
a 81 per cent fall in export trade, due chiefly to
foreign reprisals. But it is said, they feel that
loyal party members they should subordinate their
own convictions in this instance to the demands and
interests CT the Republican party and administration
To defeat the bill would advertise the impotence
of the administration and would be direct blow
at Hoover, according to his argument.
Such reasoning is subterfuge of the worst kind.
In the first place senator's oath of allegiance is
not to the Republican party to the administration
but to the nation His responsibility is to the people
whom he is supposed to represent. Any senator who
sacrifices what he believes to be the peoples interest
to preserve party regularity is guilty of treason.
This ISSUE however, is not at stake in the tariff
fight. The Hawley- smoot-Grundy bill is not Re-
publican party measure, is it an administration
measure 1t is the measure of the reactionary group
which hitherto attempted by methods Of dictator
ship to control the Republicans in congress- Whether
these dctators will succeed in loading the responsible
ity for this tariff bill the Republican party remains
to be seen when the vote is taken.
But to date the last official Republican position is
against, not for the bill We mean, of course, the
Republican national platform of 1928 1t pledged
the party to limited tariff adjustment to help the
farmer. 1t did not favor general upward revision
This billon-doar bill is reversal of the Republican
platform. Party loyalty and party faith, if theSc
are the chief considerations of any senator's demand
a vote against the bill Any Republican who
fuses party loyalty with loyalty to the Smoot-Hawey
group and its interests is a very poor party man,
from any angle.
Likewise the attempt to pass off this bill as an
administration or Hoover bill is false The President
is not on record as favorng the high rates of this
bill Some time ago the Smoot- Hawley crowd init
mated that it had White House support, but later
had to announce that it could not speak for the
President.
Last week when further efforts made to as
sociate the President with this grab the White House
announced that Hoover had not made up his mind.
We have no desire to relieve the President of
any of the responsibility which he personally has
Incurred. We share the general belief that Hoover
leadership could have killed this vicious bill long ago.
We think he should have expressed himself the
suicidal rates. as he expressed himself the deben-
ture and administrative provisions.
But failure to intervene against the bill is
tning, ana oIeCV IeSpoIlsi1IllS AOl She Oiu 10 "
another thing The first appies to Hoover. The sec
ond does not. Tariff legislation is congressional
responsibility This bill was not written by Hoover.
1t has not been supported publicly by him. There
fore it is not an administration bill and not Hoover
bill. And no senator can get away with vote for
the bill on that excuse
Indeed unless Hoover has gone back on his spe-
cihc and repeated campaign pledges, he is opposed
to destroying prosperity by general tariff increase
Loyalty to Republican campaign pledges demands
that the bill be killed.
Loyalty to the Democratic platform pledge de-
nands that the bill be killed.
Loyalty to American interests demands that the
bill be killed before it kills what is left of
prosperity