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caso was argued, and also because of decisions
rondorcd.by tho court sinco the income tax case
was disposed of. ...... ,
ltoot followed Borah. Ho submitted statis
tics to show tho oxtent to which tho wealth of
tho country was now taxod by states, counties
and municipalities.
"It Is now a fact," said Root, "that in this
ropubllc property does not bear a very great
proportion of tho burden of taxation."
Root gavo figures to show ad valorem taxes
levied upon that property were at tho rate of
about three-quarters of ono per cent, which,
he said, would bo equivalent to tho Income tax
of flftcon per cont throughout tho country. Ho
said that in Now York state real pstato did not
yield a not income of more than three -and a
half to four por cont, so that ho regarded thistax
au considerable. ,
Jiornh Corners Root
"Who, at last, pays this real estate tax, tho
oal oslato owner or tho renter?" askod Borah.
Root replied that it was imposed upon tho
property and paid for it in splto of any analysis
that might bo made as to whore it camo from.
"But if this incomo tax existed," interposed
Borah, "it would catch a part of tho tax that is
shiftod to tho renter, would it not?"
"Yes, oh yes," responded Mr. Root.
Sonator Bailey assorted that property did
not even approximately contribute according to
its value to tho support of tho federal govern
ment. Ho declared that a tax on an occupa
tion could not be dofonded. It was his firm
conviction, ho said, that wealth ought to bear
tho tax.
"It Is a monstrous injustice" ho insisted, "for
a man after being compelled to wear a suit of
clothos to tax him for buying it. I think" it is
not right that obedience to God's law, a law
which made us hungry, should compel us to
appease our appetites and yet bo charged for
tho things which keep tho body and soul to
gether." On May 5 Mr. Dolllver acairi took the floor
warning his colleagues that if this tariff bill
should bo put through it would cause an imme
diate country-wido demand for another re
vision. On May G Senator Cummins of Iowa took tho
floor. The following is au Associated Press dis
patch concerning Mr. Cummins' speech:
Washington, D. C May 6. Predicting that
a failure to pass a tariff bill providing lower
duties on imports would provoke a political con
test for another revision of the tariff, Senator
Cummins of Iowa' delivered a notable speech'
in tho senate today.
"The bill now before us," said Mr. Cummins,
will not bo accepted by those who have fa-
vored a revision of tho tariff as either a fulfill
ment of tho party pledge or as a settlement of
tho controversy. If this bill, or anything sub
stantially like it, becomes a law, I predict that
a campaign for lower duties will begin tho
moment tho extraordinary session of congress
adjourns and will continue with increasing zeal
until the judgment entered in tho court of the
public conscience Is also entered in the journals
of congress.
"It gives mo no pleasure to utter this
prophecy, for I have earnestly hoped tho revi
sion now in progress would end the dispute for
years to come, and that the business of tho
country would enjoy the peace and tranquility
which is impossible during the existence of a
movement to materially change duties upon im
ports (
"Who insisted upon tariff revision? It was
not tho manufacturers; it was not the lumber-
E?!J.iW?B in0t tne,?oal man5- It was not tho
iron and steel man; it was not tho glass man
it was not the cotton or tho woolon man: it was
not tho oil man. During" tho whole agitation, I
never heard you never hearda demand from
, those people that tho tariff must bo revised
The demand came from those who believed that
tho duties upon many articles and commodities
were too high; from those who believed they
were paying too much for tho things they had
t,n,Uflld that ?cessive import duties, coupled
with other conditions were enabling a favored
few to .reap inordinate profits and therefore
they wanted, as one of the steps leadlnir to tfrl
remedy which they sought, a substantial ra
tion of these duties. It is not necessary at this
moment to inquire how many people so believed
or in what part of tho country they lived
n " r:, v ,v- u DU1U Yur' ana over Binca
fGal I ? discussionnot of course & puttie
Wo
tho voices of those who aro clamoring for an
increaso of customs house taxation aro moro
distinctly heard in tho corridors and committeo
rooms, but there will como a time presently
when tho clamor of tho millions who want re
lief will Bound like tho roar of a thousand Niag
aras from ono ocean to the other. I have beard
it said many times that those people who wero
insisting on tariff revision wero not familiar
with tho subject, and had no opportunity to
know whether duties wero too high or too low.
"This distrust of skepticism of the judgment
of tho common man is a fundamental mistake
often made and always atoned for in sackcloth
and ashes. Tho people, it is true, have not the
advantage of hearing the specific statements of
interested beneficiaries and witnesses who havo
filled and overfilled tho capitol during theso
months in which tho subject has been under
consideration.
tin
we oegan tms discussion, not of course in public
debate, hilt fn .nrlvnM 1.1 ,,' M-VfuuV'
fcro but few people comparatively W'are'ln
terested in a. reduction of duties.? ow that
rpVi-v rnrr1o Vioirn on art 4-Tns fnrnoa rf nnmnfifl-
tion gradually weakened in tho larger fields of
industry through concentration, combinations,
agreements and all the other modern mechan
isms which an ingenious ago has discovered."
Continuing ho said:"
"They have seen competition shut out of some
of these fields by the intervention of excessive
import duties. They havo felt tho injustice of
the discriminations which the vast powet of our
transportation system can inflict. They knew
that these things were wrong; and after bearing
the burden until it became intolerable, they be
gan to move with irresistible strength along the
pathway of reform. They have made some
progress toward the regulation' of transporta
tion and the repression of corporate evils. The
last administration will bo remembered, so long
as the history of our country is preserved, for
its victories in tho struggle for rate regulation
and for corporate fair dealing.
"The work has just begun, and I sincerely
hope the present administration will be no less
distinguished than the last ono for Its energy
in dealing with these perplexing problems. One
part, however, of tho program was assigned by
common consent to this administration, and its
conspicuous leader assumed without hesitation
the task of tariff revision. The people know
what they want with respect to railways and
to industrial combinations; and their intelligent,
educated, patriotic instinct is just as certain
with respect to the tariff as it was with re
spect to transportation and monopolies. If wo
fall now to substantially reduce the duties on
the important schedules, we but postpone the
justice duo to the people, a justice which, thanks
to the genius of our institutions, they have the
power to enforce, and which In the fullness of
time they will enforce."
Passing to the consideration of the lumber
schedule he said it made little difference wheth
er there was a duty or not so far as the preser
vation of the forests aTe concerned. With re
spect to the cost of production, in the greater
part of the United States at least, he said, tho
American had the advantage of the Canadian,
and a duty was only necessary to equalize a'
disparity in rates of transportation.
Commending the course of his colleague Mr.
Dolliver, in his attacks upon the pending tariff
bill, Senator Cummins turned to Mr. Aldrich
and said that the man who challenged the re
publicanism of senators because they seek to
revise the schedules of duties forty years old
was taking a most remarkable course.
"Have we arrived at that slavish state of
public opinion?!' he asked, "in which it becomes
a question of political fealty to insist upon the
correctness of schedules made forty years ago
when we consider them in relation to conditions
existing today?"
Senator Beverldge joined with Mr. Cummins
in asking from the committee on finance an ex
planation of the fact that the duty on oil cloths
had been doubled, by making It apply to narrow
widths.
Mr. Flint of the committee replied that tho
answer would be made in due time and addPd
ftn ,Ji,i,lSiS?fmbeJ8fcof the flnance committee
had the ability of the senators from Indiana
they, would give the answer off-hand "
Mr Smoot explained that the oil cloth duty
had been put on to protect the American pro
ducers, but before he had concluded was1 in
terrupted by Mr. Cummins, who said he did not
care to give way for a speech.
As the senator from ntnh nunm t, i
Mr, Burroughs rising in his place and speaking
in low tones, deliberately said he did H,oWhlnk
the senator from Iowa- "-had been courteous" to
the senator from Utah; lo
Disavowing any intention to be discourteous
Mr. Cummins, fesuirtef the controversy. lL
1,1 it! i . At . ,
ing he was not satisfied with Mr. Smoot's ex
planation. Ho wanted something less thread
bare. He wanted to protect the hoihe manufac
ture, but ho wanted to know why these duties
had been raised.
. Mr. Cummins said that he had special oppor
tunities for understanding the affairs of the
American Steel and Wire company. Mr. -Owen
inquired how he had acquired such special in
formation. "I was attorney for the company," replied
the Iowan. ' , ',.
Mr. Scott inquired whether the senrftor- had
received his feo as attorney in money orv in
stock.
"If I ha'd lived in West Virginia," replied
Mr. Cummins, "and had been surrounded with
influences prevalent there, I fear I would be
ashamed to answer; but as I live in Iowa, whore
there is an honest atmosphere, I can reply that
my pay was in cash and I had nothing whatever
to do with the capital stock Issued by that
company."
Further replying to Mr. Scott, Mr. Cummins
said that the stock of the steel corporation had
gone up so high because Qf its unlawful profits.
"Unlawful from a moral standpoint, I mean,"
he said. He further declared that from a moral
standpoint the profits were dishonest. He said
that the corporations could not produce a single
ton of steel more cheaply than could its constit
uent companies, or than the so-called indepen
dent companies can. He denied that it was co
operative to any extent, saying that Its employes
had been allowed to purchase stock, as any one
else could do.
Responding to a query by Mr. Depew, Mr.
Cummins said that he had not ventured to look
forward "to that disastrous day when all the
industries of the United States and the world
are concentrated in a single hand or a single
board of directors. When, he said, a' day should
dawn when a single man shall direct the ener
gies of the earth and control the fortunes of
mankind so far as manufacturers are concerned,
"there will still remain the lamp posts and the
common people after the law has failed, In order
that the country may be rid of those monopo
lists who coerce the whole world."
"THE MEN WHO MANAGE KEPUBfcXOAN
CAMPAIGNS HAVE BUNCOED '
THE COUNTRY1' "
The following editorial appeared in the Min
neapolis Tribune, a republican paper, of April
29:
It is pretty well understood that there are to
be no material changes from the Dingley law.
The mon who manage republican campaigns
have buncoed the country and the party again.
Duties are to be put up by the house and down
by the senate, or down by the house and up by
the senate, so as to make a delusive appearance
of legislation. But after all is said and done
the schedules will be practically where they
are now. The sooner the consumers of the
country make up their minds to this, the less
disappointment will they suffer.
The surest prophets of tariff legislation aro
the custom house reports and the stock market.
The heavy and sustained increase of imports
indicates expectation of a general increase of
duties. But it may be explained otherwise.
General prices are low in the stagnation of
trade waiting for tariff legislation. They should
be higher when it is over even without much in
crease of duty. Shrewd Importers may be tak
ing advantage of this. If so, 'they are only act
ing like other business men. Whether dutiea
are to be higher or lower, whether actual busi
ness conditions are to be worse or 'better every
body expects some Improvement when they are
settled.
. This being so, the sooner it is all over the
better, for the country. The Dingley schedules
themselves are better than prolonged uncer
tainty with small hope of anything better at
the end of it. When the people expected some
benefit from tariff legislation, everybody was
willing to endure a period of business uncer
tainty, and suspense.
;Now that nearly everybody has made up his
mind that no improvement is to be expected
and .that the country will be lucky if we do not
get a worse tariff, tho chief anxiety everywhere
is to get the thing over and send members of
congress back to settle with their constituents.
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