Jasper County Democrat, Volume 5, Number 39, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 January 1903 — POLITICS OF THE DAY [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

POLITICS OF THE DAY

The Coal Problem. The President, in ids message to Congress, recommended that the dutyon anthracite coal be abolished. One or more bills to amend the Dingley tariff bill have been introduced in Congress to that end, but the committee to which they have been referred has taken no action. It is stated, semiofficially, that the Republicans iu Congress have determined not to report any bill that will “meddle with the tariffs,” as even suc%t an innocent bill as one to remove the duty on anthracite coal would, if reported, be open to amendment, and thus start up the whole question of reforming the protective tariff. A vote upon an amendment to such a bill would put all the members of Congress on record, and most of the Republicans do not care to be recorded as being opposed to taking off the duty on trust products that are being sold to foreigners cheaper than to the American people. A great many Republican Congressmen would he between the devil and the deep sea if •hey were compelled to record themselves on this issue. Some of them, perhaps enough to carry an amendment, might vote with the Democrats. To have a number of Republicans vote to place trust products on the free list would be disastrous to that party, as it would show a split on an important iSsue and would perhaps lead to further demoralization. Thus to save the Republican party from exposing its lack of unanimity, even the recommendation of President Roosevelt for the removal of the duty on anthracite coal remains unnoticed by the party leaders, and this slight relief to the people is denied.

If the President had also included bituminous coal in his recommendation, his case would have been much stronger, for free soft coal would give greater relief to the coal consumers than free hard coal. Tliere have been some importations of what is called Scotch and Welch anthracite coal under the stress of the present coal famine, but as it ranks hut little better than the good qualities of bituminous coal, it is not very salable at the price that is demanded for it, nor would it be if the duty of 07 cents’per ton was not added to its cost. On the other hand, free bituminous coal would greatly relieve the distress now prevailing at the seaboard cities, for the Nova Scotia coal would compete nt New Y'ork and Boston, aud every ton imported would reduce the demand for anthracite by one-half or twothirds, the relative value of the coals varying somewhat for heating purposes. The importation of Nova Scotia coal, free of duty, would, therefore, relieve the situation and help to regulate the price and to keep it within the bounds of reason. It would allow more coal to be shipped from the mines to the Western States by reducing the quantity needed at the seaboard. It would also relieve the railroads of that much freight and allow them to hurry forward the much-needed coal which they now say they are unable to carry in sufficient quantities to supply half the demand.

Free coal, both anthracite and bituminous, Is, therefore, an immediate necessity to every one, and yet Congress delays to pass tills most necessary legislation. For partisan reasons the Republicans have decided that the tariff issue must not be opened for discussion. This may be “letting well enough alone” from the standpoint of Senator Ilanna, who is a mine owner and who is piling up riches by charging exorbitant prices for his coal, hut it is cruel and inhuman to the suffering poor and Is robbery of those iu better circumstances. The political necessities of the Republican party are so interwoven with the trusts. It so relies upon the trusts for campaign funds, that the leaders who dominate Congress will not allow any bill changing the present tariff law to come up for consideration. The Democrats would have the right to offer amendments to such a bill when it reached the stage of the committee of the whole, and if a bill was reported to place anthracite coal on the free list, the Democrats would propose to include all coal. Amendments would also lie offered to put trust products on the free list,nnd that is what the Republican lenders fear. Thus the abject misery that comes from lack of fuel is intensified by the grasping partisans who control the Congress of the United States. The trust mother, the tariff, must not be touched, even to a hair of her head, to prevent the suffering nnd loss of life that is sure to follow if free trade in coal Is not nt once provided for. Pennsylvania Kailro««l Subsidy, The Pennsylvania Railroad combine, which is all-powerful at Washington, has succeeded in forcing through the House of Representatives the subsidy toward building a union depot nnd raising the tracks above grade in the capital city. This subsidy bill was held up in the Inst session of Congress by The Republicans, as they did not think It good policy to go on record for a subsidy to a railroad just lief ore an election. The claim of the Republican leaders that the people voted to let the trusts still draw their subsidies through the pro-

tective tariff has been interpreted to meau that voters favor more subsidies in other directions. The ship-sub-sidy steal nas already passed the Senate and is now awaiting the action of the House of Representatives. Reciprocity Treaties. In making treaties with foreign countries, the administration evidently does not understand the conditions that exist about the commercial matters that the treaties are drawn up to cover. The latest treaty to receive a black eye is that concluded by the State Department with Newfoundland, which those interested in the Ashing industry of the New England coast claim is disastrous to their interests. The opposition of some Senators to the treaty is so decided that it will, like the French treaty aud others, he either laid aside or, if brought to a vote, will undoubtedly be defeated. These treaties are all supposed to be jnade by the rule of reciprocity; that is, soiqe one or some interest must suffer to open our markets to some foreign production. .The foreigner will not open his door unless we will open our door to the same extent. Therefore reciprocity and protection do not work smoothly together. For if the door is opened by reciprocity, even a little bit, some protected industry feels a draught, and at once protests that it will be made sick and perish if the door is not promptly closed. Trying to amend the protective tariff by the round-about way of reciprocity is proving an utter failure, or else the Republican management of the State Department is not equal to the occasion. All of the important treaties that have been arranged since the prohibitive tariff was enacted have not been enacted by the Senate, and there is no probability that any of them will be. The trusts will, in the future as in the past, if they continue to manufacture a surplus, be compelled to sell at a far less price to the foreigner than the protective tariff allows them to exact front our own people. Certain trusts would be glad to see a treaty ratified that would open foreigu markets to their products, but the equivalent reduction demanded by the foreigner on other products pinches the toes of another trust and interferes with its monopoly so that no agreement can be arrived at. Monopoly of the home market and enormous profits for trusts is the principle upon which the protective tariff rests, and any competition from outside breaks down the theory and practice which supports it.

Will Not Rezulate Railroads. What will Congress do about llie Interstate Commerce Commission's latest report ? Nothing. Yet that report sets forth once more a condition of thiugs which should startle a self-governing people into insisting upon immediate drastic action by the nation’s law-making body. The commission sets forth, what everybody already knows, that the railroads of the country have practically ceased to compete with cue another; that they give secret rates to favored shippers, which enable those shippers to kill off competitors, and that the transportation managers pay no respect whatever to the law which forbids discrimination. "There ought to be some power,” says the commission, “which cannot only compel those carriers to maintain tlie published rate, but which can compel them to publish a fair and reasonable rate.” There is such a power. The commission itself points straight at it when it declares: “The fullest power of correction is vested in Congress, and the exercise of that power is demanded by the highest considerations of public welfare.” But Congress, which for years has had complete knowledge of the facts, has done nothing, and will do nothing now. Why? Because the shippers favored by the railroads are the big trust. UNCLE SANTA CLAUS.

HE IS GOOD TO THE TRUSTS.