Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 40, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 January 1908 — IT IS WISE TO GO SLOW. [ARTICLE]

IT IS WISE TO GO SLOW.

v " ’? Tariff Tinkvring Woald Be Prod apt* ' Iva of Harmful Result*. It is an ackn»«rledged fact tha| th* wages of the American workmen are higher than in any other country. Not only in protected industries, but in ail lines of mercantile and manufacturing business, the wages of the Amerltan workman are higher. - In some of the trades, notably thfiu. building trades, wages bawYthched a particularly high standard, and the hours of labor have been materially shortened. It is ‘safe to say that despite the advance in the prices of commodities of all kinds, the condition of the American workman is superior to any other workman. To maintain this superiority and to keep the American standard of wages and living where they are to-day should be the purpose of all tariff legislation. In many lines of Industry the protection of tariff is absolutely necessary. Others do not depend upon the tariff and would not be brought into direct competition with foreign labor conditions, but the prosperity of the country demands that protection should be provided where it is needed, for all share In the general prosperity of the nation. -■ -*—■ * ——-—-

There may be tariff schedules which afford at present unnecessary protection. There may be inequalities which should be corrected, but in the main the Dingley tariff has been a great boon for the American people. Under its fosterting provisions the country emerged from chaotic conditions and hard times and entered upon a -period of unprecedented prosperity which might well be called the golden era. That prosperity has continued so strong and sure that even the great crisis in Wall street has failed to permanently disturb the general business of the nation. Under such conditions the decision of. the dominant party to let the tariff alone for the present seems wiser. To tinker would be to destroy confidence and create uncertainty. It is far better “to bear those ills we have than fly to others that wp know not of.” —Lawrence (Mass.) Sun.

Brynn In a New Role. Washington correspondents of eastern Democratic newspapers are devoting a good deal of space to a discussion of Mr. Bryan and of Mr. Bryau’s plans. Most of them profess to see in ills present program a decided change in policy arid they interpret it as Indicating the existence in Mr. Bryan’s mind of a strong hope of success. It will be recalled that on the occasion of his recent visit to Chicago, Mr. Bryan extended the olive branch to Roger Sullivan and to other Democrats with whom he has had differences in the past. And since then he has given unqualified denial to a statement attributed to him, in effect that he had denounced Patrick McCaijyen and was urging his Brooklyn supporters to retire Mr. McCarrep. Heretofore Mr. Bryan has been pursuing anything but a conciliatory attitude toward those Democrat? who refused to embrace his principles. On the contrary he has used the verbal lash unsparingly, with the result that there has always been a formidable opposition to him within the party lines. _ Nor is this radical departure confixed to persons. In iuatters of party policy Mr. Bryan is showing a deference to the opinions of Democratic leaders that Is quite incomprehensible except on the theory that having tried twice without success to win on fads, he is willing enough now to let others “name the poison.” At any rate-he is not letting out a whimper concerning government ownership, and has quit drawing the deadline on those Democrats who are affiliated with trusts or coqrorations. It is a misfortune for him, perhaps, that in this shifting of positions, he has not yet been able to carry all his following with blip, Several radical Bryan newspapers ore conducting the fight on the same old lines, utterly oblivious to the fact that their chief is playing a new game. But It takes time to work a complete revolution, and Bryan is a model of energy when once he has put on the harness in iris own behalf. He may, therefore, be able to round up the herd before serious damage has been done his fences. It will be an interesting political study to watch Mr. Bryan in his now role. That he is playing better politics than he ever did before goes without saying, but even in this there is danger from the fhet "thht the 'fanatics wlro have been bolding fast to his coat tails In season and out of sdnson, are so accustomed to the old method as not to fall -readily into the new. At best he Is sailing a tempestuous sea.—Toledo Blade.