r-.7T-ntBnrwwrryyy'' r"
AUGUST 27, 1909 .....,,
The Commoner.
7
3P
'
6NT OPICSj
u
gCURte
BF. YOAKUM, chief of the Rock Island
Frisco railroad lines, addressed the farm
ers' union at Shawnee, Okla., recently. Mr.
Yoakum said: "We should make more homes
arid riot so many fighting ships. It is better
to grow more farm products and to make pros
perous the man -who sows and harvests than to
build more battleships and new guns. If devel
opment is permitted to go on and our country
t& grow as it should we need not fear war with
any country or combination of countries." An
other thing which Mr. Yoakum decried was the
wanton extravagance which the government, he
declared, had always practiced with reference
to the construction of water ways, as well as
wanton extravagance in all lines. "The Btory
of wanton extravagance on the part of the gov
ernment," he said, "Is being so broadly told that
the masses are beginning to realize that some
thing is wrong. The same disregard of the
value of money would send the strongest private
business in this country to speedy bankruptcy.
This' extravagance is the result of increasingly
expensive political machinery, and the deficit in
our, national expenses should be made tip' by
reducing expenditures' and not by raising taxes
to Increase revenues."
MR. YOAKUM declared1 that he was not speak
'ing against the army and navy, but simply
against the growing' expense of maintaining
therii: Last year, he said, they cost every family
of five the sum of $17. France has been com
pelled to adopt a new form of taxation to build
up'her navy, and the bitterest fight which par
liamentary England has had In decades is bein
waged over new' fbrms of 'taxation. ''The Euro
;peaii natidnS are'iteachlh'g'us a lesson," he de
cTa.e.v "Tlt'e controversies in England, the re
cerit troubles jn Spain, the unrest in Russia and
the Quarreling over military taxes In Germany
and the struggle against new taxes in France
should strengthen our faith in the proposition
that it is better to build homes than it i3 to
build battleships. The extension of tho grain
and the cotton .fields in the Mississippi valley
and in the west are stronger military defenses
than, are ships. We should spend more of the
money we burn up in powder in making new
farms. A forty-acre, farm Irrigated will com
fortably support a family of five. It costs
$55,000 to make a twelve-inch gun. This-money
.would reclaim 1,571 acres of land, providing
homes for 196 people. When all the guns on
all the battleships are shot one time ,the govern
ment blows off in noise and smoke the sum of
$150,000. This would reclaim 4,000 acres of
land, glying homes to more than 500 farmers
and their, families. The money consumed in
powder is lost for all future time."
THE WASHINGTON Times prints what it
claims to be the explanation for the resig
nation of Crumpacker of Indiana from the ways
and means .committee. The Times says that Mr.
Crumpacker would have resigned long ago ex
cept for "his aversion for creating a party scandal.
The Times tells the, story in this way: . "Repre
sentatives are not In the habit of resigning from
the ways and means, especially In circumstances
which make reasonably certain that they may
be retained. The reading of the letter of resig
nation caused, a mild sensation, for everybody
realized that back; of it there was some remark
able story.' Mr. Crumpacker was on the com
mittee throughout the preparation of the Payne
bill, and had been a hard worker. After the
measure had been coinpleted and was ready
for reporting to the house the fight over the
election of a speaker and the re-adoption of the
old rules came up. f It "became sharp and close
and it presently became apparent that the life
of the old organization and the old rules hung
in the balance and by a most slender thread.
'At tho very crisis of this fight the republican
(members of the ways and means committee were
told on the highest authority of the house or
ganization that they would have to re-organize
the bill so far as concerned its relation to the
duty on petroleum. tr Under the DIngley act
petroleum was subjected . to a countervailing
duty. Tho committee had removed this and
placed petroleum unqualifiedly on tho free list.
But the word from the organization was sharp
and final. That countervailing duty must be
restored because It was riecessa'ry in order to
get certain vdtes which must bo controlled for
Canndh mid the rules. The comniitteo took
back the bill, and obediently mado tho change.
It whs not an easy thing to do, In view of the
fact that there had been no opposition in tho
committee to the removal of this duty, and that
it had been announced and widely published
that the change to free petroleum had been
made. But the committee took Its orders and
obeyed them. One member who didn't at all
like to make the eleventh-hour change was
Sereno E. Payne. Another was Crumpacker.
Indeed, the entire body was filled with disgUBt
and dissatisfaction over tho proceeding, but the
word of the organization was law. Crumpacker
was so disgusted that he spent three days In
solemn contemplation of whether he would not
write the speaker a letter, resigning at once.
He talked with some close friends about It and
was advised that to resign at that time when
the reports were in circulation about tho alleged
deal" to get voters In exchange for tho oil duty
would certainly stir up a sensation. It would
compel men to talk about things nobody wanted
to talk about, and in all probability would cause
the introduction of a resolution for an investi
gation, which would bo likely to bring out
various embarrassing things about the eleventh
hour changes in tho bill and about the interests
which were taken care of in consideration of
special relations to the higher powers of the
house. Crumpacker, to avoid a mess that would
certainly be unfortunate for the party at 'the
very beginning of the tariff consideration, "do
cided not to resign. -He- took his Ihddiciilc'Uc
qule'sce'd In' the oil duty and went through1 the
motions of regularity. After the' bill got into
the house the insurgents managed on a fluke one
day to get in control long enough to strike out
the countervailing provisions and place oil abso
lutely on the free list. The vote on tho proposi
tion was very close. Speaker Cannon turned
over the gavel to a substitute and went down
on the floor, where he made an impassioned
speech in favor of retaining the duty. When
he was done the roll was called and it was no
ticed that Crumpacker was not among those
voting. He dodged, his disgust having reached
the point where it could not longer be -neutralized.
And that Is the reason, or at leant
one, of the reasons why, when the tariff billj was
duly passed and the possibility of party scandal
avoided, Crumpacker resigned from tho committee."
THERE IS SOME disturbance just now over
the fear of a tariff war between France and
the United States. An Associated Press dispatch
from Washington says: "If there has been any
discrimination against France In the application
of the provisions of the new tariff to that coun
try, officers of this government are not, aware
of it. They are quite confident that the Impres
sion which seems to obtain In some quarters in
France that such Is the case is founded upon a
complete misunderstanding of the facts. This
may be simply stated from the point of view
of the executive branch of this government. At
the same time it is stated that the president
is entirely willing to consider carefully any rep
resentations in tho nature of a protest that may
be made. Indeed, there is reason to beileve
that exchanges on the subject have .taken place.
It may be Intorestihg tq know just what effect
the application of the new tariff would have on
the commercial relations between France and tho
United States, presuming the normal course were
followed and also what might be the results .of
a tariff war brought about through the, applica
tion by both countries of punitive maximum
rates. The balance of trade with France was
in our favor during the fiscal year of 1908,
showing exports of $116,000,000 as against Im
ports of $112,000,000, a reversal of conditions
in the previous year when French iinports
amounted to $128,000,000 as against exports to
that country of $114,000,000. Each country will
suffer should a tariff war between France and
the United States ensue and reprisals be made
hy applying tho maximum rates of tho respective
tariffs. America would feel the cffectH in the
exportation of canned meats, table fruits,
dried or pressed fruits, cemmon wood logs,
hops, prepared pork, minoral oils, lard and
Porto Rico coffee, while France would be hard
hit in exportations to tho United States of
brandies, still wines and vermouth and cham
pagne. When tho reciprocity agreement with
i' ranee expires Octobor 31 the exporters will bn
required to pay dh Amor'can importations an
Increase of from $1.75 to $2.60 per proof gallon
on brandies or other spirits distilled from grain
or other material; an Increaso of from 35 to
4.j and 60 cents per gallon, respectively, accord
ing to alcoholic strength, on still wines and ver
mouth in casks, an increaso of from $1.25 to
$1.85 when imported In cascB made up of bot
tles or Jugs, and also an increase of from $C
to $9.60 per d07.en quarts of champagne and
other sparkling wines. Should tho maximum
rates be levied by the president as a resulL of
discrimination against American products, there
would be an addition to these rates of 25 per
cent ad valorem."
THE FRIENDS of tho late Lieutenant Sutton
are not satisfied with the verdict of the
court of Inquiry. An Associated Press dispatch
from Washington says: "Sharply criticising the
conclusions of the court of inquiry which re
cently reinvestigated the death of Lieutenant
James N. Sutton, of tho United States marine
corps, Henry E. Davis, counsel for Mrs. Sutton,
in a statomont declares that the judge advocate
was derelict in his duty In not confirming the
two1 legal propositions submitted by Mr. Divis.
Had ho done, so. and the court heeded him, Mr.
Davis ' Says,' 'it would liavq been absolutely
dbllged' to exclude tho hypdthesis of sufcldo and
almost als certainly to exclude tho hypothesis
of a wound self-lnflictod as tho explanation ot
tho cause of Lieutenant Sutton's death.' Of the
two propositions, Mr. Davis states that one ot
them related to tho 'quality and extent of evi
dence necessary to avoid a verdict of suicide,
and the other was as to the conditions undei
which a phenomenal explanation of a given sit
uation in this case the nature of Lloutenant
Sutton's wound could be accepted.' He refers
to the language used in tho decision of the court
as 'eminently unjudicial and unnecessarily
harsh.' 'I am compelled to this course in large
part,' said Mr. Davis, 'by the apprehension that
those who know only so much of the case as the
press has found It possible to publish, may be
led to think that the determination of a body
of officers in the military service of tho country
must be a righteous result, and that Mrs. Sut
ton's attitude may have been Justly estimated
by those to whom the honor of tho service, as
well as the cause of Justice, was for the occa
sion committed.' Mr. Davis then reviews ex
haustively tho finding of the court and concludes
by saying that the statement Is on his own re
sponsibility and is given out without conference
with any other person. Mr. Davis declined to
state what further action he would take, al
though it was- made evident that the case would
not bo dropped."
i , , 4
0
DO THE FARMERS UNDERSTAND?
' Duhlap, Kan., August 18, 1909.
0 Dear Commoner: In your Issue of Aug-
0 ust 13, 1909, you ask: "Do tho republi- 0
0 can farmers understand now what a pro- 0
0 tective tariff means?" One ex-republican 0
farmer thinks he knows; viz. To us it 0
means, root hog or die, that the few
may revel riot in riches gathered from
the tollers. I would say to the fool farm-
ers, of which I am one, we have the num-
bers and the means if wo had the good
sense to secure legislation, state and na-
tional, that would be just and equitable
. to all. I. know that protection, as used,
' is a fraud, thief, robber and assassin of
oiir Industry. P. B. MAXSON. 0
A Farmer, 83 years old.
0
' 0
el
.xn
'M
'I
tfijefc'U.
,ji ;tami u..