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The Commoner.
JULY 23, 190S
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ed to harm it Instead of to help It It will recall
tho fact to the minds of republicans that this Issue
has never received tho indorsement of any repub
lican national convention. The republicans, as a
war measure, passed an income tax in 1861, but
at that time tho government was fighting for Its
life, and it reached out for all the cash that was
In sight. Soon after tho war, when tho heavy
drain on the government ceased, tho tax was abol
ished. It was tho most unsatisfactory impost
which was ever lovlcd. The cost of collection was
heavy, and tho number of votes which it drew
away from the republican party was largo. Re
publicans who remember that act when it was in
operation, or those who have read about tho con
fusion which it caused, will bo likely to voto
against any tax of this sort in tho future. As a
Greek bearing gifts, Mr. Bryan's championship of
tho Income tax will arouse republican distrust.
It has been tho good fortune of the republican
voters of tho country to have fought Bryan and
Bryanism through three national campaigns, and
neither tho ono nor the other lias changed suffi
ciently In tho past twelvo months to alter tho re
publican attitude. It will bo remembered that Im
mediately after tho election of 1896 Mr. Bryan
declared that his trail through tho campaign was
marked by increased republican majorities. If,
as now seems to be probable, ho takes tho stump
In favor of tho income tax amendment, that propo
sition will loso tho votes of many republicans who
otherwise might be inclined to accept tho tax as
a necessary evil. St. Louis GIobo-Dcmocrat.
"EVERYBODY WORKS' POOR FATHER"
Washington, June 30. (Special Dispatch "to
Lincoln, Neb., News) How do tho tariff sched
ules, as adopted by tho senate, hit father?
A careful analysis of the bill in its present
stage of development shows that the man of
family is entitled to a" considerable grouch,
granting of course, that the increase made In
the duties of some of the necessaries of life,
as well as on minor luxuries, mean a corre
sponding raise in retail prices -which Is usu
ally the way a tariff bill works. The very first
thing in the morning, supposing pa is fond of
bologna sausage for breakfast, he may well
wrinkle his brow, for the tariff on that article
of food has been raised beyond expression In
figures of percentage.
In the Dlngley law and the Payne bill, the
succulent bologna was on the free list; tho
tariff rate was no percentage at all. The senate
made the rate 25 per cent ad valorem.
Should pa lead off in his breakfast bill of
tare with a few juicy slices of pineapple, bologna
would bo the second jolt to his nervous system.
Payne raised the Dlngley rate on pineapples,
the senate finance committee raised it some
and the senate shot it up again, the net result
being 128 per cent over the Dlngley duty.
When he comes to his German fried potatoes
he will get a third shock, for the senate aero-,
planed the price of potatoes from 2.5 to 45 cents
a bushel an elevation of 80 per cent.
Buckwheat cakes will be a fourth reminder
of the senate's penchant for boosting rates. The
tariff on buckwheat was raised over Dlngley
and Payne rates 25 per cent.
Unless the milliners are philanthropic enough
to bear the tax, father will find that he will
have to pay more for his wife's and daughter's
trimmings next fall. If it is true, as has been
alleged in the senate, that retail profits are
higher than the present temperature in Wash
ington, maybe the milliners will deduct the In
creases made in the bill, but father hardly ex
pects that. The duty on ostrich feathers and
on artificial fruits, leaves and other exhibits
from the farm, field and forest that adorn the
headgear of the feminine, has been increased
20 per cent.
His monthly bill for the children's clothes
will also be higher. In the matter of cotton
cloth the house adopted the Dlngley rates, but
the senate bill raised the rate on common, un
bleached cotton 125 per cent; on the bleached
400 and on the colored or printed goods, 50
per cent. The finer grades show Increases of
10 to 50 per cent, and some are unchanged.
Knit goods remain about the same, the aver
age rate exceeding 100 per cent. The Payne
bill raised the Dlngley duty on woman's cotton
stockings from 20 to 30 cents a dozen, but the
Aldrich bill restored the Dlngley rate.
Pa may find some consolation, also-, in the
fact that ladles' and children's gloves, on which
Payne raised the Dingley rates from 100 to' 300
per cent on the ground that the protection would
transfer the industry to this country, have been
returned to the old rates in the Aldrich bill.
He can not help wondering, however, what the
conference committee will do to this schedule
as well as to that relating to shoes, on which
the senate placed a duty of 20 per cent ad va
lorem as compared to 15 per cent In the Payne
bill and 25 per cent in the Dingley law.
Tf ho has any occasion to buy silk plush out
fits, ho will be .confronted with the fact that
Aldrich raised the Dingley rate of 75 per cent
to 105 per cent. He will learn that there is
an lncreaso of 15 per cent each on silk, velvet
and ribbons. Many other varieties of silk
fabrics have been increased from 10 to 13 per
cent.
Lingerie will also give father some palpita
tions of tho heart, for Aldrich succeeded in rais
ing tho tariff on laces and embroideries from
tho present rate of 60 per cent, tho highest that
had ever been imposed, to a rate varying from
70 to 150 per cent. This falls particularly upon
the very cheapest laces, those that In tho Europe
market sell at less than two cents per dozen
yards. It should bo noted, moreover, that tho
increased duties are not confined to laces
proper, but are Imposed equally upon all articles
of which laces form evon tho most Insignificant
part.
When father pays his grocery bill ho will
find that there havo been increases over tho
Dlngley rates on lemons of 50 per cent; celery
51 per cent; jellies 28 per cent, and grapes 25
per cent.
The same old rates, however, prevail on such
imported food supplies as meats, eggs, bread
stuffs, dairy products, fish and berries.
There havo been also tho following Increases
on farm products:
Corn, 33 per cent; oats, 32 per cent; wheat,
20 per cent, and rye, 100 per cent.
It may afford satisfaction to father to learn
that imported "hand-me-down" suits are not
increased in the Aldrich bill over the 50 per
cent ad valorem rato of tho Dlngley bill. '
It will depend largely upon the corpulence
of father's pocketbook whether or not he will
have any reason to growl over the fact that a
duty of 35 per cent has been put upon foreign
made yachts, whereas, they used to come in
free.
But after the bills for tho month have been
received, and father compares them with his
balance in bank, perhaps he may find relief in
turning to paragraphs 14 and 78. Ho may take
his choice as between chloroform and strych
nine, as each has been reduced to 50 per cent.
THE TARIFF BEFORE CONGRESS
Tho two houses remained practically idle
while the conference committee deliberated. An
Associated Press dispatch under date of July
16 says:
"Twenty-four hours would soo the end of tho
work of the senate and house conferees on tho
tariff bill, and a substantial agreement on tho
questions at Issue, but for the five propositions
Iron ore, coal, hides, oil and lumber upon
which the president stands firm for radical re
ductions or even abolition of the tariff. This
is the way the conferees describe the situation,
and upon capital hill they aro facetiously calling
these propositions 'the national Issues.' "
On July 16th, twenty-three republican mem
bers of congress called upon President Taft and
sought to impress upon him the importance of
having a tariff on raw material. Referring to
this meeting, the Associated Press says:
The spokesmen of the visitors were Repre
sentative Young of Michigan, who dwelt on the
necessity of placing a high duty on iron ore;
Mondell of Wyoming, who is particularly inter
ested in coal; Gaines of West Virginia, speaking
for coal and iron; Langley of Kentucky, for
coal and lumber; Cowles of North Carolina, for
lumber and Austin of Tennessee, for coal, iron
and lumber, and Hayes of California.
Mr. Langley put the matter squarely up to
the president as a question of political expe
diency. "We come from democratic states, some of
us," said Mr. Langley, "but we were elected as
republicans who believe in the protection of
the raw materials. If we fall to protect our
constituents we will bo 'revised downward'
into private life."
President Taft remarked dryly that he was
as much interested in republican success as any
one could be.
Tho President's Statement
Later in the day the following official state
ment was made at the White House:
"Mr. Young of Michigan opposed free ore;
Mr. Mondell opposed free coal or reciprocity
with Canada and free hides; each on the ground
that the 'policy would injure the interests in his
state, and a discussion was participated in by
other representatives who urged that the doc
trine of free raw materials was not a republican
doctrine. The president nplled that he was
not committed to the principle of free raw
material, but that he was committed to the prin
ciple of -a downward revision of the tariff which
he had promised, and that he was obliged to
look at the matter not from the standpoint of
any particular district, bnt from tho standpoint
of tho wholo country, and also from tho stand
point of responsibility for tho ontiro republican
party. Ho said tho question in each caso was a
question of fact, to bo determined by ovldonco,
as to whothor tho prcsont duty was needed for
protection, or whether tho rato was oxcessivo
so that a downward rovlsion, or putting tho ar
ticle on tho freo list, would not injure tho in
dustry. Ho repeated tho platform of tho republican
party, and he said ho understood it meant a
downward rovlsion In many instances, though
porhaps in somo few cases an lncreaso might
be needed; that ho reached this construction
of tho platform on what he understood to bo
the princlplo of protection and its justification,
namely that after an industry was protected by
a duty equal to tho difforonco botweon tho cost
of production abroad, and tho cost of production
in this country, including a fair profit to tho
manufacturer, tho effectiveness of American
labor, and tho ingenuity of American invontora
undor tho impulso of competition behind tho
tariff wall, would rcduco tho cost of production,
and that, with tho reduction and tho cost of
production, the tariff rato would becomo un
necessarily high, and ought to bo reduced.
This was the normal operation of tho tariff,
as claimed by tho dofendcrs of tho protectlvo
system not in every case, but as a general rulo
that of course a revision of tho tariff would not
bo perfect, must have defects and Inconsisten
cies, but insofar as his influence wont, when
called upon to act, in connection with legisla
tion, it would bo thrown in tho direction of
performing tho promises of tho party as ho
understood them; and that if iron oro and oil
and coal and hides did not need protection and
the conditions were such as to enablo the oro
producers and tho oil producers and tho ,coal
producers and tho producors of hides to com
peto successfully without reduction of wages,
with tho producers from abroad then they did
not need a duty and their articles should go on
tho free list.
It was a question of fact which ho hoped to
make up his mind with respect to, on suc,h evi
dence as was available to him in order to carry
out what he understood to bo tho promises of
the party to the wholo people. He said he felt
that his position aB tho titular head of the re
publican party and as president, gavo him a
somewhat broader point of viow than that of"
a single member of congress In respect to ar
ticles produced in" his district. Ho felt strongly
tho call of tho country for a downward revision
within the limitations of tho protective princi
ple and ho hoped to be able to respond to that
call as he heard it, as well in the interests of
thq party as of tho country.
WILL THE VOTERS FORGET7
Tho following dispatch was printed in the St.
Louis Republic:
Chicago, 111., July 1. "More democratic
votes, more democratic sentiment is being cre
ated by Senator Aldrich today than William Jen
nings Bryan ever created in his wholo life,"
said Harry Selz, second vice president of Selz,
Schwab & Co., wholesale shoe dealers, today
In discussing the tariff on heavy hides as pro
posed In the Aldrich bill. "But what havo the
people to expect from democracy when ten of
Its principal representatives in the United States
senate voted with the high protectionist republi
cans, as they did for a duty on hides?
"When I protested before tho senatorial com
mittee In Washington that they were making
democratic Votes and sentiment they laughed at
me.
" 'Oh, the voters will forget all about it by
the congressional election a year from next
fall,' they replied.
"Well, wait and see, but I'll bet they
won't."
Mr. Selz was commenting upon tho prospects
for an increase in the price of shoes and the
protest of the shoe manufacturers, who met
at the Union League Club on Wednesday.
"It is the trust methods to which I object,"
he declared. "I don't care if the packers do go
into the leather business they are fast getting
a monopoly of tho tanneries as it is nor do I
care If they go into the shoe business, if they
don't have special legislation to help them drive
the independent manufacturer out of the business."
WELL! WELL! WELL!
So the republican senate has endorsed the In
come tax amendment! Well, have a smile wiUi
us.
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