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The Commoner.
6
VOL. 3, No. 1.
CURRSNT GOPICS
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P. I
THAT AT THE VERY MOMENT WHEN THE
groat powers of the world aro pretending
to bo engaged In an organized effort to preserve
tho world's ponco the United States should take
stops to increase its naval forces to marvellous
proportions, is thought to ho strange by a con
tributor to a recent publication. This writer has
overlooked tho fact that In tho opinion of military
mon, as well as that of many statesmen, "the best
mothod of preserving pcaco is for a nation to bo
prepared for war." An interesting essay on this
subject will bo found In an address to tho house
of roprosontatlves delivered January 30, J 824, by
President Monroe. Tho house had passed a resolu
tion roqucating tho president "to communicate a
plan for a 'ponco establishment of tho navy of tho
United States." Mr. Monroo transmitted a report
from tho secretary of the navy containing tho plan
called for and availed himself of tho occasion to
maho some remarks concerning this plan which,
in his opinion, "iho Importance of the subjoct re
quires and oxperience justifies."
YN THIS ADDRESS MR. MONROE POINTED
1 out that two great objections aro to bo re
garded in tho establishment of an adequate naval
l'orco: tho first to prevent war so far as it may
bo practicable; tho second to '(111111111311 its calam
ities when It may bo inevitable; and in Mr. Moh
roo's opinion tho subjoct of defense therefore "be
comoa intlmatoly connected in all its parts in war
alid in peaco for tho land and the sea." Mr. Mon
roo reminds tho house that "no government will
bo disposed in its wars with other powers to vio
Inlo our rights if it knows wo liavo tho coasts and
aro propared and resolved to defend thorn. Tho
motlYO will also bo diminished if it knows that
our dofonscs on sea and by land are so well
planned and oxecuted that tho invasion of our
coasts canliot bo productive of the evils to which
wo havo horctoforo been exposed." ;
1? If
TF A SYSTEM OF UNIVERSAL AND PERMA
1 nont poaco could bo established, or if in war
tho belligerent parties would respect tho rights
of noutral powers, Mr. Monroo thought that wo
should havo no occasion for a navy or an army;
and thereforo the expenso and dangers of such
establishments might ho avoided. Mr. Monroo
also brought out an interesting fact when he said:
"Tho efforts of all ages provo that this cannot bo
presumed; on tho contrary, at least one-half, of
every century in ancient as well ns in modern
times has boon consumed in wars and often-of tho
most goneral and desolating character. Nor Is
thoro any causo to infer, if wo examine tho condi
tions of nations with which wo have the most in
tercourse and strongest political relations,- that
wo shall in future bo exempt from that calam
ity within a period to which a national calamity
may ho oxtondod. And as to tho rights of neutral
powers it is sufllcient to appeal to our own experi
ence to demonstrate how littlo regard will bo paid
to them whonevor thoy como in conflict with the
interests of powers at war whilo wo rely on tho
justice of our cause and on argument alone?'.' .
AN INTERESTING DISCUSSION, COMMENCED
in tho United States sonato and engaged in
by ropublicah politicians and editors goridfally
rolntes to tho question: "Did Mr. Dingloy the
fathor of tho oxistlng tariff law, admit that many
ot tho duties in that law were purposely placed
higher than thoy would otherwise havo boon in
order to havo a margin for reciprocity trading pur
poses with foreign countries?" Senator Vest in
a spoech delivered in tho sonato, said that Mr.
Dingloy did make this statement; but Senator Aid
rich and other republican senators, who object to
any uterferenco with tho tariff, insisted that Mr.
Dingloy did not nmko tho statement and that tho
chargo was "a reflection upon his memory."
TT WOULD BE INTERESTING IF THE RE
X publican lenders who dony tho Rfntomnnf
attributed to Mr. Dingloy would ex linwnTtho
cut os in tho Dingloy tariff law wore placed so
high. Every ono knows that these duties aro ex
orbitant and it would seom that those reLns
Sh S2.S ?J1 the charged K
fi 7, ;"v mwu uowiuwaueu ior mo bonnfif nf orn
V cial interests would be quite willtag to a Si
themselves of tho excuse that thoy were purpose
ly placed high for what Mr. Dingley regarded as a
patriotic purpose or as a basis for the conclusion
of reciprocity treaties to which plan the republi
can party has repeatedly committed itself.
TN SPITE OF THE DENIALS OF SENATOR
1 Aldrich and other republicans it seems to be
so well understood that Mr. Dingley did make tho
statement attributed to him that there aro some
republican leaders who admit the fact. In a speech
delivered in tho sonato January 13 Mr. Dolliver of
Iowa said: "It is true that in the bill which he
(Dingley) had reported from the committee on
ways and means he did put duties up for the
express purpose of having them traded down."
Mr. Dolliver said that ho did not regard such a
work as "infamy" against which the memory of
Mr. Dingley should be defended. Mr. Dolliver
pointed out that the reciprocity provision in tho
Dingloy act was as distinctly a part of tho tariff
policy of the United States as the coal schedule;
and he intimated that it was a reflection upon the
republican party that "not one line of the wisdom
of James G. Blaine remained on the statute books
and not a step had been taken to fulfill the pur
pose and spirit of the last Buffalo address of
President McKinloy."
TN SUPPORT OF THE CLAIM THAT MR.
1 Dingloy made tho statement attributed to
him, Mr. McLain, editor of the. Philadelphia Bul
letin, a republican paper, has written a letter say
ing that such a statement was made by Mr. Ding
loy to a member of tho Bulletin staff. It is fur
ther pointed out that the Bulletin printed this
statement in September, 1902, and although the
statement obtained wide circulation its correctness
has never, until now, been denied. Walter Well
man, tho Washington correspondent of the Chi
cago Record-Herald, takes part in the discussion
and reminds his readers that about one year ago
ho sent to his paper an interview with no less a
person than Senator Hanna in which interview Mr.
Hanna discussed the then pending Cuban tariff bill
and said: "Everyone knows that many of the
rato3 in tho Dingley law were purposely put high
for tho purpose of using them to trade off to other
countries for concessions, and it is not right now
to fail to keep the promise which McKinley made
to Cuba in order to preserve those high rates
intact."
J? &
MR. WELLMAN FURTHER MAKES BOLD TO
say that Senator Hanna obtained his in
formation from President McKinley whose in
timacy with Mr. Dingley and with the spirit of the
Dingley tariff act is well understood. Mr. Well
man also quotes a republican, whom he says was
closely connected with the ways and means com
mitteo at the time the Dingley law was framed
as saying: "There is no question that many sched
ules were pushed up for trading purposes. Why
anyone hould imagine it is an attack upon Mr.
Dingley to ascribe such a statement to him is
more than I can understand. To shade duties for
that purpose was a' perfectly legitimate procedure.
It is done by all protectionist countries which
have reciprocal bargain rolations with their neich-
bv'th fiTiinr,S?frlfC WU was loaded bitSa
'pLJ .1 o. wWoh no one expected would be
come law, as they were more clubs to hold over
hnJn? in conference. to be abandoned if the
house gave way on something else. There was no
conference and the bluff items stood . Approprla-
othepbta 5la3vhS,nn8tUir0d by ne house
oinei in playing the same game. There wnq
nothing reprehensible in putting hhrh clitic in
tariff act for reciprocity t?adlngS if there g any
thing reprehensible about it the blame must
tended' PUrp80 tor whloh th were in-
HP HE COAL CONSUMERS OF THE COUNTRY
L 'rVT ntly felt vo keenly the oSlo
Harrison of Chicago issued HrtT&taS'KS
purchase of twenty-five carloads of coal and caused
the same to be distributed among the poor of -that
city. Mayor Maybury of Detroit has issued a
call for the reassembling of the "Get Coal"' con
vention at Washington January 27. The prose
cuting attorney of Detroit has commenced pro
ceedings against the local cdal trust of that town,
In the Indiana state legislature a bill has been
introduced making it a misdemeanor for any one to
participate in an effort to limit the output of coal.
At Toledo, 0., an order was issued directing tho
release of, all prisoners who were confined on the
charge of stealing coal and the announcement was
made that until further notice no prisoners charged
with coal stealing would be accepted by the jail
authorities.
EVEN THE REPUBLICAN CONGRESS HAS
been persuaded to pay some, attention to tho
situation. On Wednesday, January 14, a bill was
passed in one day through the house 'and tho sen
ate providing for a rebate equal to the duty now
imposed on ali kinds of coal coming from all
countries for a period of one year. This bill pro
vides: "That the secretary of the treasury be and
he is hereby authorized and required to make full
rebates of duties imposed by law on coal of ev
ery form and description impbrted into the United
States from foreign countries for the period of
one year from and after the passage of this act"
In the committee having this bill under considera
tion Mr. Richardson, a democrat, proposed to
strike out the words "for a period of one year."
This amendment was voted down. Mr. Richardson
then proposed an amendment placing all coals on.
the free list. This was likewise defeated. Finally
the vote on the adoption of the bill was unani
mous and when the measure came up in the house
for passage it passed by a vote of &58 to 5. On
the same day tho bill passed the senate- after it
had been amended so as to -provide .that .after tho
expiration of tho twelve months the' Dingley Jaw
should not be so construed as "to justify a tariff
on anthracite coal.
IT IS AN INTERESTING FACT THAT PRIOR
to the meeting of the house committee which
acted on this bill, the republican members of that
committee held a session. Mr. McCall, a republi
can member from Massachusetts, proposed that
provision be made that after the expiration of the
year, during which the rebate is to be paid on all
coal, that all coal coming from countries which .
admit our coal free of duty be admitted free into
this country. Mr. Tawnoy of Minnesota, another
republican, favored the proposition, but their col
leagues on the committee opposed it on the ground
that as a temporary measure was under consid
eration they should not adopt any permanent
5
&
T N THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE REC
TonnvfTnmen diS thepassage pjLthis bllf which
rSomade by Chairraa R&foe, it was said:
cl i n? t emergency measure, demanded' be
sn tin f nardty nnd higlx Prlceof c re-nthmPtfnoitll0-reCOntT1proIo?gG(1
strlke in the
Sk fSSnS in fmiUnS; , Precedcnts for such action
Eastno?M TtllGnCltoSo fire and the fire at
flSSS ? iIn theSQ cases PSress rebated the
Sets SlUS? ? dtaB the burned
the imnortnni F th? Ration will increase
me mportations or reduce the price of coal iq a
?aUnSdoninntSli "T diflep' s all SgrLs
mam? fn I l Q premises d will satisfy the de
mand for many of our citizens. Whilo there is a
S!TSS!2t SS na?in, in any Pt of the eoun ry
iin 55 n doaf car t0 tlle cries of the peo
ple; The committee Cid not consider it best to
make any changes in the tariff on coal after the
inThdsLnne Vea, ProfeSglo hi-u
aemLoJJ?7 measuro' aud ot
uesnmg to go into the quest on of tariff reviHinn
even upon this one article. If any relfef can come
to the people from such legislation it wfli beaSv
secured in the period provided for in the bU?
-pWO STATEMENTS IN MR. PAYNE'd REPORT
1 are particularly interesting, One is "If anv
relief can come to tho people f Pom such leilsta-
uie uiii. But it will bo understood that
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