VOLUME 9, NUMBER IT
6
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The Commoner.
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UNDIDR THE hcadlino "If Mr. Patten lind
J.ivo(J In Merlin," LaFollotto's Magazino
says: "Wo Americano, being the smartest pco
plo under tlio sun, do not caro to adopt the in
tuitu tions of tlio offoto monarchies of J-Jurope.
Far from it. But it may ho interesting to note
that if Mr. Patten, who waited until the farmer
had no wheat and then boosted tho price through
a skillfully worked corner, had lived in Berlin,
ho would now bo explaining to tho authorities
instead of tho reporters. Over there grain deal
ers are obliged to gain permission of the authori
ties before they can operate in futures, and when
tho 'longs' catch tho 'shorts,' a la Patten, tho
victims may settlo with tho Patton of tlio occa
sion by paying him six per cent on tho averago
price instead of going into convulsions and bank
ruptcy. It seems much more our way, however,
to lot tho bulls make tho bears dance, while
tho bakers raise the price of bread, and tho
mills Bhut down because Mr. Patten's wheat is
worth more to spoculato with than it is to grind,
and is too rich for tho plain people's blood. Odd
pooplo, thoso Gcrmana, aron't they!"
AN ASSOCIATED Press dispatch from Wash
ington, D. C, tolls an Interesting story con
cerning man's though tf illness for a faithful
boast. Tho dispatch follows: "A faithful gov
ornmont servant has been recognized and re
warded by Ormsby McIIarg, assistant secretary
of commerce and labor. This servant is an old
horso namod Caleb, which for twenty-four years
has devoted his onorgics to pulling a wagon be
longing to the United States fish commission a.c
Greon Bay, Mo. .Last week, after a serious at
tack of boils, ho showed his inability to serve
tho govornmont any further by lying in his stall
and refusing to, bo harnessed. The ofllcials at
Greon Bay, knowing that tho animal's day of
usofulness was over, reported tho fact to the
bureau of commerce and labor and asked for a
now horse, also expressing tho intention of
killing Caleb. This report fell under the eyes
of Secretary McIIarg, and ho immediately issued
an order that the faithful animal bo placed in
tho pasture until ho died a natural death. This
is ono of tho fow cases on record in which a
horso has boon placed on tho government's pen
sion rolls."
SENATOR GORE of Oklahoma, precipitated
an unoxpoctod dobato in the senate when he
declared that tho scale of wages per ton of coal
mined in tho Pocahontas fields of West Virginia
W,aSxTloss ihan tno wagGS DnI(1 In tho coal mines
of Nova Scotia and England. The Washington
correspondent for tho New York Evening Post
says that the republican senators were "rudolv
awakened" by Mr. Gore's attacks. The Even
ing Post correspondent added: "So keen and
acute woro tho shafts of the blind senator that
ho soon had the 'standpatters' in tho upper house
reverting to tho panic of 1893 for a defense
Senator Goro mot thorn horo on their own ground
and for half an hour kept tho republican de
baters dodging The vice president 12 com!
Sccas1ons."aP gal,0rleB t0 ordop on soveral
f ONCERNING Senator Gore's attack upon tho
J protective citadel th.e Evening Post" i corre
spondent says: "At tho conclusion of a rd 1
Sdf ,TecJl by Senator Scott (Ropo of
West Virginia, Senator Goro said that, following
tho mandate of tho American people, ho wa!
S??wry wn30,?.?th,the, rQPublicns in framing a
tariff bill which should cover tho difference in
tho cost of protection here and abroad" and at
the same time allow a reasonable profit Ho
said tho standard on which labor wages should
be reckoned into tho equation should bo the
labor cost, and not merely the wages. Anruin
from this point, he inquirer, if it leio troetoat
the wages of tho coal miners in tho Pocahoiit
West Virginia region was 27 cents per ton. Thte
brought Senators Elkins and Scott of West Vir
ginia' to the fore to assure tho senator that ho
was wholly mistaken. They declared that tho
cost o coal per ton at the mouth of tUe Vest
Virginia mines ranged from 85 cents to $1 per
ton, including all Incidental Items of transporta
tion and outside labor. Senator Gore then asked
at what prico this coal was soiling at the mine
mouth, and was informed at from $1 to $1.10.
Senator Elkins said the operator usually counts
upon a profit of from 12 to 15 cents per ton.
lie said this cost was double what it is in Eng
land and Canada, and three times that of Bel
gium and Germany. Senator Elkins also called
attention to the cost of transportation from tho
mines to tho New England market, saying it cost
tho West Virgiuia operators about $2.10 a ton
to Boston, as against GO to 70 cents for tho Nova
Scotia operators. Senator Goro replied that tho
cost of mining coal in Oklahoma was 72 cents
per ton, and in West Virginia from 27 to 56
cents, according to figures furnished him by an
expert. He wanted to know if the Payne bill
duty of G7 cents a ton was not more than suffi
cient to meet this cost of labor and a reasonable
profit, as provided in tho republican platform."
SENATOR CLARK (Wyo.) said "government
experts wero the 'wildest guessers' extant.
Senator Elkins said that the West Virginia min
ors were making from $3 to $4 a day each, and,
with tho help of an apprentice, could make $6
a day, a rate of wage several times higher than
that of Europe or elsewhere. To this assertion
Senator Gore replied that he had heard such
'ordinary sophistry' before; that the real reason
for the high wages in America had been revealed
hy Senator Elkins to be the superior intelligence,
industry, and efficiency of the American work
men, and not thov protective tariff. At this
juncture Senator McCumber of North Dakota In
quired if it were not true that more than half of
the American coal miners were foreigners. Sen
ator Gore retorted by declaring that he had al
ways understood it to be tho function of tho
republican party to ward off competition of the
pauper labor of Europe with American labor.
Senator McCumber then revived the panic of
1893, Indicating that the superiority of American
labor at that time had not saved it from the
soup house. Senator Gore promptly replied that
'the republican party had always been adept at
reversing the fundamentals of logic by making
the effect recede the cause,' and that he wel
comed a 'departure from the real of facts into
the atmosphere of speculation. He then re
viewed the history of that era, with especial
emphasis on the passage of the Wilson-Gorman
?!!? , more than a year after the Panic of
1893 broke out, and he taunted the republicans
with having prepared the plates for a bond issue
during the Harrison administration. He said
he was willing to have the panic of 1893 attrib
uted to the democratic party if the republicans
071873 andd100t7reBPOMlblllty fr the PaniCS
SPEAKING IN the senate Senator Bailey of
Texas denounced the principle of a protec
tive tariff as unfair In taking money from one
man to give to another. Referring to Senator
Bailey s speech the Associated Press said: "After
he had proceeded without interruption for over
an hour several senators engaged in colloquies
with him. Referring to Mr. Bailey's statement
that the duties of tho pending bill might be
Swied ?3 13 Per cent' Mr' Aldrich "sked
whether ho supposed the profits of American
industries equaled that amount. Mr. Bailey re
plied that in case of tho United States Steel cor
poration he believed they had and he cited the
anCrSnnCaPl.t?11Zatin f tllat ownlzatfon as
an evidence of enormous profit. He insisted
that such a lowering of the rate of duty would
not seriously affect importations because he be
lioved American manufacturers would be stim
ulated by the added foreign competition aSi
would continue to supply5 the markets Mr
Boi ey discussed his amendment providing for
an income tax, which was criticised by Mr Ald-
woulfiaSh.tGMdIng At0 r?duce the Protean that
would be given American labor if it should re
sult in a proportionate decrease of customs du
t es. Mr. Bailey favored restriction of immiirra
A??.n,8 a ProtectIn to American labor. Mr
Aldrich retorted that while Mr. Bailey was reiiv
to keep the foreign laborer from ouT shores ho
was not averse to allowing tho produce of this
cheap labor to come In competition with the pro
duct of American workingmen. Speaking of the
proposition to turn over to a tariff commission
tho consideration of the schedules of the tariff
bill, Mr. Bailey declared he did not believe in
'turning over to political eunuchs' the consider
ation of such a great question. At some other
time, he declared, he would speak on 'the folly
of attempting to guarantee profit by any law and
the injustice of taking from the millions who
labor in any line of employment to "bestow an
advantage upon the few 'particular industries.'
He would not, he said, at this time discuss free
trade, which he declared was impossible in thia
country. 'I do not hesitate to say,' he added,
'that I believe in taxing wealth instead of con
sumption." Mr. Bailey said if he could do so ho
would abolish all tariff duties and support the
government by the same general system of tax
ation that exists in the different states, but the
restrictions would make that policy impossible.'
MESSRS. ALDRICH and Bajley became in
volved in a discussion concerning Mr. Aid
rich's statement in the senate in 1894 that the
income tax was supported by the socialist, pop
ulist and democratic parties. Mr. Bailey said
that Mr. Taft now favored an income tax and
asked Mr. Aldrich if he considered the president
a socialist, populist or democrat. Mr. Aldrich
replied that his statement was true at the time
it was made. Mr. Bailey declared that Mr. Aid
rich had voted for substantially all large appro
priation measures. He said that the Rhode
Island's senator's recent stand in favor of econ
omy occurred when the burden was about to be
placed on the rich. "If this bill as he presented
it," said Mr. Bailey, referring to the chairman
of the finance committee, "coupled with an in
come tax will raise too much revenue, let's re
duce the rates that we collect on the necessities
of life." Referring to an "expatriated citizen,"
who he said owned $10,000,000 of real estate
in New York City, he said that the workingmen
of this country were taxed to protect his prop
erty, while he went untaxed during the war with
Spain. For more than eighty years, said Mr.
Bailey, the action of congress and the decisions
of courts had maintained the validity of an in
come tax law. Postponing the conclusion of his
remarks until tomorrow, when he said he would
give some attention to supreme court decisions
on an income tax, Mr. Eailey said in conclusion:
I do not think that any citizen or senator is
precluded from indulging in just and fair criti
cism of any question relating to any department
of this goverrment. The judgment of the su
preme court governs me in any partioular case
and I submit without complaint to that judg
ment, but I do not subscribe to the doctrine that
because the judges have spoken all other men
must receive their speech in silence."
ERVING WINSLOW of the anti-imperialism
league writes to the Boston Herald to say:.
It is a mistake to suppose that the enactment
of the proposed tariff revision law for the Phil-
S1? f ands' Urged, upon congress by the presi
dent In his message, is acceptable to the Filipinos
?n nianfyif the friends of the Filipinos!
in spite of the president's recommendation and
the statement by General Edwards that 'the
proposed revision has the approval of the gov-
?nn?rgm a,nd th? government he represents
in the Philippine islands.' General Edwards'
statement is true only if It be assumed that
the 'government' which the governor general
represents is the civil commission. It is in fact
but a part of the legislature; the representative
part, the assembly, protesting through thei?
delegate against any such enactment. I quote
the words of Senor Pablo Ocampo de Leon tho
Philippine commissioner, spoken under tho n
twos Inrn U W he house ofrSentE
t ves April 2: 'Furthermore, viewing the aues-
dan Jr11; J B F0?'11,1 aspect' is notttew a
danger that the future independence of the Phil
ippines would be hindered by the ties conse
quent upon the establishment of free trade The
trusts and other corporations tha? woSd estab
by freeTradrwm th es7lTouAsea
aLinst inlni" Ppooe a' formidable barrier
against Filipino freedom. If We have elements
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