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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (July 30, 1909)
,.-!-.." "r -,-7 , The Commoner. VOLUME 9, NUMBER 29 4 I! I It. If. Woolen company, organized and developed un der tho Dingley law. Managing this great cor poration, reaping tho advantages which tliat law gives to worsted mills, what are his present views as to tho revision of that law? Instead of a frank statement of reasons for his course, It Is silence as to his letter of 1897, a moro or less secret working agreement with William "Whitman, and this disingenuous statement to tho puhllc: , w " 'I ought to say that tho American Woolen company, for fear of hclng misunderstood, as It has often boon regarded as a trust, has noth ing whatever to do in influencing tho present tariff. Wo havo studiously kept away, and al though wo havo been Invited to send a repre sentative, wo declined to do so, being satisfied to loavo it to tho other woolen manufacturers of tho country, bolieving that they were com petent to tako caro of the situation, and what ever would bo to their advantage would cer tainly bo to ours.' "Both sides to tho controversy agree on the merits of tho question. There can be no dis agreement. Tho right is clear. Tho difficulty is in getting the peoplo's representatives to act In accordance with tho facts." VETO TUB WOOL TAX Following is a special dispatch to the Chicago Record-Herald: Now York, July 18. Asking him to veto tho tariff bill unless lower rates be made In the wool schedule, the National Association of Clothiers, of which Marcus M. Marks of New York City Is president, has sent a letter to Prosident Taft which In part follows: "Tho National Association of Clothiers have already filed with you their objections to tho wool schedules embodied In the tariff bills now in conference between the houses of congress. Practically no change from tho Dingley bill has been embodied in tho new tariff, and wo must therefore assume that no relief from the present unfavorable conditions can be had save through your intervention. "Eighty million woorers of woolens are pay ing yearly much more than tho total value oil tho domestic wool clip to afford excess profit to a comparatively small number of sheep raisers and worsted yarn spinners. "Wo are not opposed to a reasonable protec tion for tho wool grower and to the domestic manufacturer, but from our practical experience we know that the Dingley bill, through the un just discriminations against tho lower and cheaper grades of wool, has created a condition which has decreased the weight and durability of the clothing worn by the masses of the peo ple and unduly advanced the price of the de preciated cloth. Should present tariff condi tions continue the situation will grow worse and the burden on all woolen clothing will be come extremely heavy." Fourteen thousand merchants throughout the United States havo been asked to appeal to their senators and representatives in behalf of reductions In the wool schedule. A CHALLENGE TO OPEtf TIIE BOOKS In a letter to Senator Lodge, W. C. Hunne man, a manufacturer of carded wool, challenges tho republican managers to make public the contributions which the woolen interests made to the republican congressional campaign fund. "If you will not make the demand that the list be published, .why not?" asks Mr. Hunneman of the senator from Massachusetts. It was Inevitable that this question would be raised sooner or later In the tariff fight. Al though the republican national committee through the influence of Mr. Taft, made public its contributions and expenditures, there was no publicity In regard to the money collected by tho congressional committee. Here was the same old opportunity for barter and trade, the same old secrecy under which the republican party for years has trafficked in tariff schedules and other special privileges. Mr. Hunnoman's suspicions may be ill-founded, but when a Roosevelt Is found to have dealt with a Harrlman, when the Standard Oil com pany contributes $100,000 to elect a Roosevelt when tho life-insurance companies turn over ?150,0Q0 of their policyholders' money to the republican campaign fund, secrecy always justi fies further suspicions. Now that a crisis has been reached in tariff revision, with Mr. Taft and the people on one side and the republican reactionary leaders and the protected interests on the other, what must be thought of tho republican congressional com mittee if it flouts the challenge to open its books? A New York World Editorial. THE TARIFF IN CONGRESS Excessive duties, many of them higher than the Dingley rates and bearing especially on the clothing of the poor, are to remain in the bill and are not even a subject of controversy between the two houses or between the con ferees and the president. Special Dispatch to Philadelphia North American Tho Washington correspondent for tho Phil adelphia North American (a republican paper) wired to his paper under date of July 18, as follows: " Tho effort to show that when President Taft signs tho Aldrich tariff bill it will represent a satisfactory revision downward in accordance -with tho pre-election promise of the president himself, and also with his statement of last Friday, is now being given full force; From tho conference committee of the two houses, dominated by Senator Aldrich, and from the White House the statement has been sent forth that President Taft is to obtain what he wants, and that if necessary the house of rep resentatives, controlled by that patriot and public-spirited statesman, Joseph G. Cannon, will engage the senate in furious combat should the senate resist the demands of the president. The intimation is made as strong as it can be that the president will have won a notable victory for tariff revision over the high protec tionists, and that the latter, headed by Senator Aldrich, will have been forced to humble them selves in the dust before the triumphant forces of tho administration led in person by Joseph Cannon; also that Cannon will be compelled to exercise great self-restraint if he refrains from planting his foot firmly upon the neck of tho prostrate Aldrich. In the reflected glory of this splendid fore cast, the net results of what Mr. Taft will get in the way of revision downward are described in such glowing terms that the public can not fail to be impressed and gratified. He is to get free coal, free iron ore, and free oil, and hides also will be made free or the duty of 16 per cent will be cut in two. All the spe cifications of the fulfillment of the president's hopes coming either from the room of the con ference committee or from the White House end with the enumeration of these four products. To make them appear important, however, they are to be made the basis of whatever con . flict may arise between the president and the senate. The statement that the president will get these concessions is unquestionably true, but that they will so change the character of the tariff bill as to make it in accord with all the public had a right to expect from the promised revision of the present law, Is palpably absurd. At the present time the reports going from Washington describing the situation are, with few exceptions, colored to deceive and fool the public as to what is actually going on. It may be unfair to the president to suggest that he Is a party to this Intended deception, but it is true that Mr. Taft is personally re sponsible for statements that the bill will be made satisfactory to him, a plain intimation that if this occurs, then the measure will be in ac cordance with his latest utterances in favor of general reductions. There is everywhere shown a determination to juggle with the phrase, "revision downward." Aldrich and Lodge are already upon record as unalterably opposed to a reduction of duties, but for political purposes they are now ready to concede that the party was pledged to. revi sion downward, and so are engaged in proving that the manipulation of the schedules by Aid rich himself has been a fulfilment of that promise. It would not require much investigation to prove that these so-called concessions to be made to the president are not concessions at all. The truth Is that the republicans in both houses are divided with respect to tho question of raw materials, and a majority of them probably favor placing them on the free list. The house without any urging at all from President Taft made them free. The senate restored them to the dutiable list, but with the understanding that this was dono to placate some of the western- senators like Borah, of Idaho, and Dixon, of Montana, both of whom were inclined to rebel against the excessive rates fixed by Senator Aldrich in the principal schedules of his measure. Senator Aldrich has been embarrassed by the conflict between his promises to western sen ators and his desiro to aid New England. In his embarrassment he decided to let the presi dent determine which way the controversy should bo settled. It is probably true that Senator Aldrich knew full well that President Taft would decide in favor of free raw materials. It is also probable that ho wanted him to decide that way. But in presenting the proposition to the president he stipulated that Mr. Taft should exert his in fluence to the utmost to get votes enough to put the bill 'through the senate. Apparently the president in agreeing to this proposition has relieved Aldrich of much trouble. That the senate will accept tho so-called con cessions there is apparently little question. It is now expected that of the ten independent republicans who voted against the bill on its final passage, four of them, Beveridge of In diana; Crawford of South Dakota, and Burkett and Brown of Nebraska, will vote for the re port. The western senators who may voto against it if hides are put on the free list do not number more than six, to which may bo added Elkins and Scott, of West Virginia, who are demanding duties on coal and iron ore. These, with the independents, would not num ber enough votes to defeat the measure with all the democrats opposed also. Prosident Taft is talking very freely regard ing his purposes, and he has said that he will veto the bill unless he gets what he wants. But when there is any analysis of what the presi dent expects, it seems, apparently, that he is determined to be satisfied with very little. The reductions made yesterday in the wool schedule, which, the confere.es declare, should be credited to President Taft, indicate how little there is in the talk of downward revision except upon raw material. A reduction of 5 per cent is made upon women's and children's dress goods. But when this is investigated it is found that the duty as first established by Senator Aldrich was a' frac tion of one per cent in excess of 104 per cent, and the reduction leaves the duty still a triflo in excess of 99 per cent. The duty on woolen tops, which is .also her alded as revision downward, after all reductions have been made, remains between 75 and 100 per cent, accordingly as the value of the tops may vary. In the Dingley law the duty on wool tops was made the same as the duty upon woven cloth and higher than the yarns which are made from the tops. It was one of the jokers in the Dingley law inserted for the benefit of William Whitman and the makers of wool tops. So it is with all the other great schedules of the measure. Excessive duties, many of them higher than the Dingley rates and bearing especially on the clothing of the poor, are to remain in the bill and are not even a subject of controversy be tween the two houses or between the conferees and the president. A HUGE BLUFF The following special dispatch appeared in the St. Louis Republic: Washington, July 18. Tariff activities In con gress and at the White House are now resolved chiefly into a publicity campaign intended to convey the impression that President Taft is indeed procuring a revision down in conference. Messrs. Aldrich, Payne and Cannon are busily granting it, and assert their complete harmony with the president and their intentions to meet his wishes. The method of this policy, of course, is found in the obvious motive to still the outcry in the country against the pending measure. The purpose is to create the impression that the whole tariff issue the question of the cost of living, the rock-bottom fact of the tariff drain on the pocketbook lies in the contention remaining over free coal, free hides, free, oil and free ore. Mr. Taft is to get some reductions upon each of these items, possibly one or two will be put VI s r immiMi,