Jasper County Democrat, Volume 17, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 August 1914 — Once More the Tariff [ARTICLE]

Once More the Tariff

We are having a lot of tariff talk tins year. Our stand-pat friends, who are trying to patch up the old republican machine and get it to working again, say that all persons who are not fully' satisfied with democratic legislation should vote the republi can ticket. Can you remember as far back as 1908? Many of you voted that year for republican candidates, be cause they promised to “revise” the tariff. Well, they “revised” it, under the direction of the big manufacturing interests. The farmer, the daylaborer, the 6mall business man and the ordinary consumer had mighty little to say about the framing of the Payne-Aldrich law. 1 You were not satisfied with the Payne-Aldrich tariff law, were you? Are you going to vote this year for a man who favored that law and who has always been loyal to the organization that broke all the pledges solemnly made in 1908? Are you going to be fooled twice in the same way?

The democrats came into power and made the mistake of going squarely against the protective policy. In trying to correct the evils of stand-pat legislation, they jumped too far in the other direction.^ The democrats made too many promises. They said they would reduce the cost of living—put down the price of staple necessities. W ell, they did help to reduce the price of sugar for a while, but have you noticed that bread or butter or roast beef or eggs have been cheaper? Xo political party is responsible for the fact that good steak is 28 or ;pi cents a pound and wheat is a dollar a bushel. Foodstuffs are high all over the world, because the supply is limited and unusual conditions, including the state of war in Europe, have increased the demands. Bread and meat are just as high in free trade countries as they are in protected countries. They will continue to be high until more beef cattle are grown and more acres are planted in wheat. Any party that promises absolutely to control the cost of living is trying to bamboozle the voters. The Progressive Party favors the protective tariff. ft believes that foreign-made goods and Canadian oats and Argentine corn should not be shipped into this country and marketed, if the competition is going to work any real injury to Amer-

ican labor in factories or on the farms. If you are not altogether pleased with democratic tariff tinkering, that is no reason why you should put yourselves back into the hands of the tinkers who framed the PayneAldrich law. The Progressive Party says that the time has come to stop all this fool tinkering with the tariff and put the complicated and intricate business of revising schedules into the hands of a commission. This commission will be non-parti-san, unbiased and free from ("Control by any corporate interests. It will be as far removed from the juggling of party politics as the interstate Commerce Commission or even the Supreme Court of the United States. Mr. Voter, here is a prediction. Mark it up on the wall somewhere so that it won’t be rubbed out, and see if it don’t come true.

Prediction: BEFORE 1918 THE WHOLE MATTER OF ADJUSTING IMPORT DUTIES WILL BE TAKEN AWAY FROM CONGRESS AND PUT UNDER THE CONTROL OF A PERMANENT COMMISSION. The date is made 1918, because in 1910 there will be elected a President and a Congress, both favorable to the commission plan advocated by the Progressive Party. It is the only sensible solution of the everlasting tariff problem. For years Albert J. Beveridge has favored a tariff commission. The standpatters have ridiculed him and roasted him but now-—wonder of wonders!—they have begun to see a great light and read the handwriting on the wall, and they too are beginning to fav m a Tariff Commission!

Listen, Mr. Voter. Every blessed plank of the Progressive Party is going to be written into the laws of this covntry be.fore the children now in the primary grades are old enough to vote. We are going to have a tariff commission, equal suffrage, the initiative and referendum, a minimum wage -for women, free text-books in the schools, better protection for the lives and safety of workmen, a square T deal for every citizen. We are even going to have the “recall,” which has scared some people nearly to death, because the “recall” simply means that on. a final showdown a government “of the people, for the people, and by the people” means that and nothing else. We submit our platform and ask you to look at our leaders.

Theodore Roosevelt is our national standard-bearer. We believe in his tar-seeing wisdom, superb courage and fighting honesty a nd regard him as the most useful American now living.* Our state leader is Albert J. Beveridge, a real stateman, square as a die, a superb fighter and the enemy of all those who work in the dark. Here in the 1 Oth District we have nominated for Congress Will H. Ade of Kentland. He is a well-to-do farmer and stock-breeder who has made his own way in the world. The voters of this District are asked to inquire into his ability, his reputation in Newton county, his private and public affliations. If you are a real Progressive—looking into the future instead of clinging to superstitions that are out of date—vote for Will Ade. A vote for Will Ade is a vote fjr a sensible and final solution of the 'ariff question.—Advertisement.