Jasper County Democrat, Volume 13, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 September 1910 — WOOLEN TRUSTS. [ARTICLE]

WOOLEN TRUSTS.

Congressman Crumpacker Will Have Some Difficulty in Explaining His Part. Mechanic:—Jim. I have been reading some of your talks-with the Merchant and 1 am getting interested. Judge Crumpacker -*?nt me a "speech a little while ago. anti in it he said that the Ways and Means Committee in the house, I -uppose those are the fellows who study up®fhe>e things, had been studying the tariff and having hearings for over a year before the president was inaugurated. He said the committee "gate opportunity to all who desired to submit evidence or argument either for reduction of duties or for an increase.” I thought the Judge might be fair in that statement. Farmer: —You did? Did he tell you who had the appointing of That Committee? Mechanic:—No. Who did?

Farmer: —Why. I«*e Cannon, the man who a high - tariff > -acred, who gets, the big glove manufacturer just what he wanted. the very fellow the Judge has . «ttd for right and left all the ■ - ’ - ’ ■time*.,

Mechanic:—Well. didn’t that Committee act honestly and really hear evidence? Farmer: —Sure they heard evidence. but who did they hear? Have you got the. money to go down there and tell them you art- paying too much for woolen coats for your boys? Mechanic :—W ho did they hear? ■ '-'t-y-Farmer :—AYhy. the big woolen manufacturers for one thing, the glove manufacturers for another, the sugar refining people for another. Who represented you and me? o: ( . Mechanic: —Yoy mean to say that just the big fellows were card? Who represented you and tile? Farmer:—l don’t know. Ida Tarbell. the ctirageous woman who exposed "Coal-oil Johnny.” says in the September number of the American Magazine that "the method by which the bill was made was the worst possible, i ‘uties were traded openly, like »rses at a .county fair.*’ Mechanic:—What did the Judge mean when he said everybody had a chance to be heard' 1 don’t like to be deceived in things of this kind for I have got to rely on my Congressman to make my laws and so have. you. Farmer:—That’s so. But you know now what was done to you. don’t you? By the way. what did you read in that, little speech about woolen coats for your boys? Mechanic'The Judge admitted that reductions ought to have been made in wools and woolens, but that they were not changed at all. He really ought to have stood out in our favor in tha* thing to the end. There’s where I blame the Judge. He gave in too easy, for what reason I do not know. He merely said in talking about the wool schedule that he hoped some “substantial reductions”, might be made, but that he was onlv one member out of JQ2 in the - house and if any

legislation was had at all. it was better to effect a compromise on the best Terms possible, and that was done and the .Payne tariff law was the result of that compromise. Farmer;—Who did he compromise with, your friends or mine? Mechanic: —That s it. really I am getting doubtful. Farmer: —That’s a manly attitude isn’t it? Does the . judge know that at the very time he was letting this "compromise " go through, that the woolen manufacturers had one set of grafters up seeing Cannon’s Committee and asking them for Heaven’s sake not to change the duty on wool, or they would be forced to pay lower - prices to the American grower, andjthat at the same time another set of officers and grafters in the same manufacturer’s combnation w ere coming to a "gentleman’s agreement” to fleece the wool-grower and keep the price of wool down the minute the Payne law was passed. Mechanic; —W ell if the price of wool comes down I get my boys’ clothing cheaper then? Farmer:—You do hey? Not on your life. The old wool schedule in the Payne law that the Judge accepted as a "compromise” and voted for to the last, serves t ; ■ keep foreign wool out. That pri* : tects the manufacturers here Then they form a combination and have -a "gentleman’s agreement” to keep the price of raw | wool down to bleed the fellow who has wool for sale here,- and at the same time put *J‘e_price . ' oolen clothing and manufactured up to the Consumer, That’s where you come in. Mr. Meehan ic. for a fancy price for your boyV ■ >at>.

Mechanic:—Yes. and thatwhere you come in for a fleecing •»n your sheep. Thev've got us both on the hog train. But are you sure of that? Where did you find that out?Farmer:—See it? Why, in the Indianapolis Star for one place in the issue of September 9th. The Star said: ' Protected by the Payne-Aldrich tariff, the manufacturers can charge excessive prices to the consumer. Protected by their "gentleman’s agreement,” they can dictate prices on ment.” they can dictate prices to the wool growers. In other words, the manufacturers occupv the position of a proprietor of a "sure thing gambling house, skin ’em coming and going. No chance to lose. Mechanic:—Great Heavens ! When the Judge told his constituents down here that everybody had a .chance to be hea.xb did hr really know what was going on? Del this man consent to this "compromise." knowing that .hese theives were plottng t -kin you. on the one hand, who have wool to sell, and me on the • thcr who must pay for my children's clothes out of hiy hard-tr-rned daily wages? Fanner:-—Draw your own conclusions. neighbor. Ida Tarbell says. “There never was a greater humbug.’ Senator Dolliver. said in the United States senate: "The past year witnessed two events f unusual interest—tlie discovery of the North Pole by Doctor Cook and the revision of the tariff downward by tire Senator from Rhode Island—each in its wav a unique hoax." The Judge was there all the time and says everybody had a fair hearing. Let hint explain it if he can. An armload of old papers for a nickel at The Democrat office.