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The Commoner.
10
VOLUME 9, NUMBER 44
T
Letters From the People
; William Loith, Vandyno, Wis. In
,Tho Comuionor of September 10 in
the current topics is a Lexington,
Ky., dispatch to the Chicago Record
Ilorald concerning former Governor
William S. Taylor. Was former Gov
ernor Taylor in prison or a fugitive
from justice? If a fugitive from jus
tice why was ho not apprehended?
When did the governor of one state
obtain the right to pardon a man in
another and by what authority?
(Mr. Taylor was never imprisoned
but fled to Indiana where he was
protectod from extradition by a re
publican governor. Ho was finally
pardoned by the republican governor
of Kentucky. Editor.)
James J. Hlpsley, Avoca, la. I en
close a clipping from the Des. Moines
Register and Leader. I thintt it de
serves a place in your paper. I con
sider it one of the very best articles
on the tariff I have seen. I have
known the writer, Mr. Leach, who
has always been a republican, for
twenty-five years:
Free Hides
Des Moines Register and Leader:
Avoca, la. To the Editor: Noticing
a number of pieces written in regard
to free hides, here is one. I have
been in the meat business here for
twenty years. Never bought but one
carcass of beef of the packers in my
life and that out of curiosity. Why,
if free cotton wijl make cheaper
clothing, if free lumber will build
cheaper houses, if free iron will make
cheaper nails, wire, etc., why not
free hides make cheaper boots, shoes,
harness, otcs Will not the same arg
ument apply ''to one -as 'well . as the
other? ' Who would be foolish
enough to say it would not? If
duty free goods of any description
"will make cheaper prices for an ar
ticle why will not the hides proposi
tion work all right? Here is one
reason why it would not be noticed.
Every tannery, every manufacturer,
every boot and shoe firm and har
ness shop is loaded up with high
priced hides and leather. It will
take time to work this off; also there
are so many different grades of leath
er worked up in boots, shoes, har
ness, etc., and everyone nowadays
wanting the best on earth, It might
not be noticed as much as it really
is. Another reason why free hideB is
all right is there are a great many
more buyers of boots, shoes, har
ness, etc., than there are sellers of
hides. I am one wlio will.be a loser;
also the packers. Plow is the farmer
or cattle seller proposition as to loss?
Why does a sheep feeder always,
when he can, shear his sheep before
sending them to market? Why not
let the wool go with the sheep? He
will tell you he can get more for
his wool from a wool buyer than the
packer would pay. There is no one
I know of so easily skinned at pres
ent as the farmer, excepting the fel
low who is trying to do the skinning.
The farmer would keep his hides if
he could the same as he keeps his
wool. I have alwavs boucht all the
cattle I needed in my business to
kill. I have bought and shipped cat
tle. The price of hides as to the
farmer never entered the deal In
either case. I almost know all
butchers are alike in this respect. I
have bought cattle for 2 cents on
foot. Beef cost 4 cents. Sold the
hide for 3 cents. I have bought cat
tle for 4 and 5 cents and sold hides
for 4 cents. In fact I have sold
hides for all kinds of prices. This
is called the butcher's rake off, and
tho farmer is not taken into consid
eration any more than the farmer
takes you into consideration when
he sells you corn and keeps the cobs
and sells them for $2.50 per load, or
loads up his cattle with grass and
water and wants to sell it for cattle
prices. If there would be no benefits
derived from free hides there would
be no benefit derived from free any
thing. I do riot blame the western
senators for voting against It, be
cause most all farmers think they
are' beat out of just that much. When,'
in fact, they are benefited by it,
Yours respectfully,
' H. E. LEACH.
Guaranteed for 15 Years
No More Roof Exoense
Dr. John M. Fulton, Audubon, la.
The republicans are publishing
throtigh their subsidized press what
great things Mr. Roosevelt will do
when he gets homo from his lion
hunt. They have been busy at this;
predicting for the past seven years,
but with all his "trust busting" pro
clivities not a single trust was
Mbusted" nor a malefactor landed in
jail. He did nothing that could be
construed as ''progressive." 'He' did
not even appoint a progressive to
office when he had the opportunity.
His appointment of Taft to carry out
"my policies" now puts him in the
position of a physician, who, upon
being called to attend a patient had
other duties that compelled him to
refuse the call. In such an emer
gency he recommended another
physician whom he claimed would
carry out the same kind of treatment
as he would himself if he were there.
But the patient finds out to his
great grief that the physician sent
was incompetent; that he did hot
try to carry out the - treatment of
the family physician and thereby the
health of the patient was lrrepair
ably injured. Where would the pa
tient place the blame? Mr. Roose
velt is in the place of the family
physician. The patient is the public
anxiously waiting for a revision of
the tariff downward as was promised
last fall, and other needed reforms.
Well we remember the republican
campaign cry last fall, "After Elec
tion." Mr. Roosevelt will not be
nearly so popular when he gets home
to find out that the man he recom
mended to carry out "my policies"
has not "made gdod" and the blame
will be laid at ' hjs dopr. Jf it had
not been for the promise t1a.ai was
made that Taft would enrry out the
promises made in the Chicago plat
form and part of them known as
"my policies," Taft would have, never
been elected.
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W. H. T. Wakefield, Mound City,
Kan. The article by S. D Bailey
on page 3 of your issue of the 10th
inst., voices the views of many dem
ocrats. This note of despondency is
to be deplored, though .it is not with
out cause. Ever a Jeffersonian dem
ocrat and always an ardent support
er of Mr. Bryan, yet for years I have
had little hope of democratic success
at the polls nor of any considerable
benefit to the common people a& a
result of such success. This lack of
hope is because the party has seldom,
and upon the most- important issue
never taken an independent and logi
cal position of its own and adhered
to it long enough to attract the peo
ple. By the "most Important Issue"
I mean the tariff question, or the
question of national taxation as a
whole. The democratic policy of a
"tariff for revenue only" is illogical
and indefensible. Considered as a
method of taxation It ignores both
benefits received in return for the
tax and ability to pay it, making it
In fact a head tax upon men, women
and children, the expenditure of
which inures almost solely to the al
ready wealthy classes and of their
political satraps. It is not a tax on
property nor on special privilege, but
upon labor and production for tho
benefit of property and special privi
lege, hence is distinctly class legisla
tion. As a challenge to the protec
tive idea it fails because if Is but a
smaller chip from the same block
with a natural tendency to rapid
growth. A tariff for revenue only is
as protective to its extent as if
avowedly for protection and no clear
line can possibly be drawn between
tho two systems. We now produce
so cheaply that -a tariff sufficient to
Taise any considerable revenue will
furnish sufficient protection fn v
elude foreign goods and enable tho
trusts to continue their extortions
Can- one imagine a congress engaged
in framing a revenue tariff in which
there 'will not be a secret, subtle
corrupting influence exerted to raise
tho rates to a protective basis? Tho
plea of necessity for more revenue
would always be a sufficient excuse
for those congressmen whose cam
paigns had ben secretly financed by
the ones profiting by higher duties.
A tariff of any kind is a restriction
of natural freedom incompatible with
American ideas of equal rights for
all, special privileges to none, a re
striction inherited from the mon
archies of Europe of 150 years ago.
I know that a portion of the demo
cratic party favors an income tax,
but pnly. as supplementary to .a tariff
tax, hence do not propose to abandon
th,a tariff as the chief source of na
tional revenues. While an income
and an inheritance tax are desirable
to reduce overgrown fortunes, or
w.ould be if they could be made to
"stay put," the trouble is that they
can be largely evaded or shifted to
others, in higher prices as tariff taxes
are. The only sound principle of tax
ation is, tjie reciprocity tax, which
means the payment to organized so
ciety (nation, state, etc.) of the val
ue of jthe social or economic privilege
received from society, such as fran
chises, the right to the exclusive use
and possession of valuable lands,
mines and water powers. All econo
mists agree that this is the only tax
which can not ,be evaded nor shifted
that stays put that it takes noth
ing , from "labor" which labor has
produced, these being socially pro
ducqd values, hence public property,
yet are the values wjiich now go to
nake millionaires Such a system of
taxation - would give an economic
basis of rdejnocracy, without which
democracy has e.yer .been' the. basis of
aristocracy everywhere and the dem
ocracy that does not destroy it is
certain to be destroyed by it. Our
franchise values alone would easily
raise all our necessary national rev
enue, or, if all public utilities were
owned by the public and gave servico
at cost,, only 50 to 60 per cent of
the" rental values of land, exclusive
6 improvements, would raise all our
national, state and local revenues.
This would abolish the taxation now
paid by labor on all (it eats, drinks
and' wears, from the (cradle to tho
grave, and by rendering it less profit
able to hold land Idle and more
profitable to put it to its best use
would double opportunities for em
ployment, raise wages,, cheapen pro
duction and cost of, living, destroy
trusts ,and monopolies. These are
thq fundamental issues' between de-
- I, i . , . ii ii - - mm
WORD AND WORKS
Word and Works, now eighteen years
old,, has achieved a splendid roputation
among American magazines. The
monthly weather forecasts by Rev. Irl
R. Hicks are now, as they always have
boon, the leading feature of this popu
lar 'magazine. But fn addition to Rev.
Hicks'- monthly weather forecasts
Word and Works contains, a variety or
interesting matter in its numerous de
partments. ' ' '!
HICK'S' AliMAN'XO "
Tho 17th annual edition of this popu
larr almanao is moro (interesting and
mor.e valuable, than ever before. The
1910' almanac contains Hot only tho
wddther predictions of Mr. Hicks but
valuable original astronomical mattor
and. imuch other practical mattor.
Wo have made arrangements by
which vo are able to malco a llboral
combination offer of Tho Commoner to
gether with Word and Works and tho
Hicks' Almanac for 1910.
the Commoner $1.00
, 'Hicks' Almanac ...;....., .00
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OPtfr a limited time' we. fire going to
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matter.) Show It to your friends and
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Send all 'subscriptions to" The Com
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