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Show , ,.. - ...MmTTrrTrTOwmiaBPUMU'Uiuiti" ui'i'"' ' The Political Situation Unsatisfactory I I At tho recent Republican conference confer-ence held nt .Detroit, Congressman Patrick II. Kclloy delivered an lntcrf cotlng address on the present political politi-cal situation. It 13 well worth reading read-ing and a part of It Is herewith reproduced: re-produced: " , ' Geiit'cnien of tho .convention, the Republican party has been out of power but a llttlo more than a year long enough, howevof, to demon slrnto that tho sooner It la restore'd lo power tho better It will be for oar domestic nffalr3 and also for our standing among tho nations' of the' world. In a single year tho business of tho country has been halted and domestic production has 'seriously fa'lcn olT. Tho most favorable- thing that can bo said of our present Industrial Indus-trial situation is that tho business men of the country, emulating tho ex-amplo ex-amplo set by tho President himself, aro pursuing n. policy of "watchful waltlns.", And, so far as our foreign relations ore concerned, all tho woild rchlizcs the dlfforonco between tjio co'orleso diplomacy of Hrynn and the red blocdtd statesmanship of Knox and Jloot and Sherman and HlaUio 'nd Seward. "" " " "In his greut speech In reply "n Uajae. Webster said that whin 'the! ma Inci ha besn ibwwl fr "m&y days In Utick tfdsttier ed on imin j Known sea h itatnfally av'l lin-e'.f lin-e'.f of the ilMt, pause Irth stenn, iho cArtiest glanc.of the sua, to tU hie latitude and nitceitaln liow 10 far the clement have driven' 'him mna !s tro AiJi."1t vtn to.wjl!jir il'o 'meitctfti pcip'.a to emulite the irudcii' e ot the Jiwiluer and tnkc biCLn. cf our laoaent domestic nltua-tlon nltua-tlon and determine also, it wo can, whither wo ire' dilftlng In our relations rela-tions with tho world. " The Republican party went out of power a year ngo last MnfclifoiuV President Wllbou wiled 'Conferc's'a to-gcther to-gcther In Bpcclut eccnlon almost Immediately Im-mediately thereafter. The first uct of tho" now administration was directed di-rected against the doqtrlna o't protection protec-tion to American labor And 'Anlorlcim capltaf n doctrine which has Icid our country In tho last fifty years up out of tho lowlands to "a position of commercial suprcmac' among ;tho nations of tho earth. To mo tho doc-trlno doc-trlno of protection la so simple, B3 natural, so Just, and o wise for a nation that desires to maintain llstilf upon tho very" lilghcst p'anc or civilization civil-ization that I havo always marveled nt tho opposition It has encountered. Plainly fitntcd, jjotectlon Is tho simple sim-ple doctrlno of patronizing our own sto'cs, buying froniyour own merchants, merch-ants, preferring tho products ct our own fields, giving employment to our own pei-plo In short, It la tho Blnip'e hrme'.j doctrlno of taUInsj rare of our own fulks first as agnlmt nil tho tial-nm tial-nm of the world. Wo eoald almost bulM n church ao well lis a p.itty on that kind of a doctrlno. ' "When tho Demo'cratlc patty camo Into power a year ngo condition could not huVo been bettor fo.- trjlns out Its economic pollelos and ruUlns tn tho test Its thoorles of Rovernmenli.' Tho business of tho country was standing ftrm'y on Its foet.Our factories fac-tories wbro all riinnIuK.f''H..ttnio. i.n-bor i.n-bor was fully emp'oyed aml'recelv.Mg tho highest wages paid In all the history his-tory of tho republic. Tho farmer hud a ready market for corythlns he had to soil at prices hlgho- than ho had over received iioforo In ttmcj of pcaeo The saIngc banks wore full of monoy laid asldo by the pcop'.o to" n rainy day. Our merchants had gone out beyond tho seas In Quest cf murhots for their curp'us until -" ovports had grown to ncaily two 'd onchal! billion dollars per annum, t.u Incrcaao of more than a billion dollar1 per annum over our exports of ten yearn, , I ago. Our imports amounted to a llttlo llt-tlo ruoro than ono billion eight, hundred hun-dred millions p6r annum, leaving n baluico ct trade la our favor of approximately ap-proximately $700,000,000 por annum, or about JCO.Odo.OOO per luonth. And our domestic commerce, grown to 'a point beyond thc power of tho human wind to comprehend it, reached tho staggering total of $35,000,000,000.pcr annum. Thnt was tho condition in which tho Republican pnrty left tho country a year ngo. "Hut some people complained that tho cost of living was too high. Our Democratic friends always quick to promise, agreed that thoy would reduce re-duce the cost of living. They promised prom-ised tho consumer that tho prices which ho had to pay would be lower. Thoy then turned around and promised promis-ed the producer that his prices would ho maintained. Unmindful of the fact that labor la tho chief element in thq cost of any article, they promised prom-ised to maintain Uie price of labor nnd at the same time reduce tho cost of the output of labor. In short, they 1 romlscd higher prices for everything the pcop' had to sell nnd' lower prices for ovorytliltig they had to buy This wtB nil to be accomplished thru do -medium, of a Democratic Yarltt. "At the oponlh of U10 spoolal ses-tlon ses-tlon Mr. Underwood and hfs committee commit-tee brought in tho Uudarwoqd tariff bill. It wa3 dlscuBsed-for n month In .the Uouft at Representatives. 1 sat th tha Houbo ami HbuimkI to every' fcpeech that was. made on Uie tariff tor a month. So you c u seo that I am a long "buffering person. Tho spcooh tlmt particularly luterested mo was that mado Uy Mr. Underwood chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means and tho Democratic leader of tho'IIoiiso. -I wao anxious, to hear imtioViadito sny nbouf.thenowjta IIT lilll. I wanted to get tho viewpoint of tho Democratic patty. 1 v,:.ntcd to find out just how tho conditions of tho American people wes 0 to bo made better. In his nddrcss to tho House Mr. Underwood explained tho theory upon which tho bill .was drawn. Ho frankly stated that It was not dra.wn with any Idea of building up or fos tering or protecting or encouraging any American industry,. Ho said that a tariff built along such lines would bo a protective- tariff nnd In harmony with Republican doctrlno. Ho said that tho authority for lovylng h tariff tar-iff lies wholly In tho needs of tho government gov-ernment for roventie nnd that If tho government did not need to ralso any rovenuo from this oourco Congress would hav( no power to lovy any duties dut-ies whatsoever. This, of courso, Is the time honored polloy of tho Democratic Democrat-ic pnrty. "Mr. Underwood further said that In making tho now tariff bill thnt ho did not try to ascertain tho dirteronOo hotwoen tho cost of production In this country and abroad. , That did not concern them at all. If they fixed tho duty dual to tho difference In tho cost of production tit homo and. abroad, that would bo a protective tariff That would bo such a tariff nu 'ongrrsa has no power to levy according to Democratic doctrlno. "Mr. Underwood then went on to explain Just how tho rates were determined de-termined In tho now taillf bill. Ho said they obtained from thoN treasury department a statement bhowlng tho average amount and vnluo of evory nrtlclo Imported Into this country for a period of ten year3. Ho said that thoy then had tho oxports ca'eulato tho total consumption In the Upltoo States of evory article llstod In tl.u tnrlh. Prom thin data a tablo was prepared showing tho percentage of Imports of each nrtlclo as compared with tho total consumption. Whenever Whenev-er thoy found front this tnblo that thcro wcro no Importations of any aitlclc, or wbenovcr they found that tho Importations were light, thoy assumed as-sumed that the tariff was too high and thnt It hau Kept out of our "fnarlcet tho foreign product. Mr. Underwood said that they then proceeded to lower tho duties In every caso to a point where, in their judgment, tho foreign competitor could soil in the American market at a profit. "It this law accomplished tho purpose pur-pose for which It was framed, it means that tho clrclo of competition has been widened so as to brlug tho products of every country In the world within reach of tho American market. It means that an Invitation Invita-tion hns been extended to all our competitors, wherevor 'located and regardless re-gardless ot tho conditions under which thoy may be doing business, to crgaulzo selling agencies In the Unlt-ed Unlt-ed States and como in hero nnd scram-b'o scram-b'o for the American trade. "How is such n policy going to help tho people of tho United States? How 13 It going to help- tho worklngmen o America to htive a port ot tho work formerly done under our flag transferred trans-ferred to other lands to bo performed perform-ed by labcalniTmeu elsswjiere? How is it going to .make moio jobs for American labpr to. surrender some of those wo now hnveV How Is It going to .inoreiiso wagos, and shorten -hou's -and ihsprovo, conditions ot employment employ-ment o .be. forced Into cpTflpetltlon with labor recohlug lowor wages for longer hours undor less favorablo conditions of. employment? I can understand how such a policy will help Franco nnd Germany and England Eng-land and Japan, becauso we havo given giv-en them access to a great murkct which they could"not enter before. I 1 can understand how thU nq$v tariff, low Is popular In foreign cojintrica. I can understand how tho press of Kngland and Franco and Germany and Japan sing Its praises, for It Is tho lowest tariff law that has been In operation In tho United States ulnco l$2l. "Already our magnificent balance of fade of ?CO,000,000 per month has been completely .wiped out, nnd during dur-ing tho month ot April Just passed thcro la a bnlanco ot trado agaliiBt us ot $10,171,000! This tariff law wtia passed by tho Coagresi of tho United Statc3 nnd presumably In the interest ot tho people of tho United States. Hut In my Judgment It will operato to lmprovo condition 1 and Increase In-crease business In every other country coun-try In tho world nt tho expense ot tho people of tho United States. "Even tho Democrats In Congress nro beginning to feel unensy over tho unfair competition to which tho American- worklngmun Is subjected under un-der tho now tariff. law. A fow weeks ago tho Committee on Labor of tho Houso brought In a bill to prohtblt the Importation or goods mado by convict labor In foreign countries. As far as It Went, It was n good bill, becauso It had for Its purposo tho protection of American Inbor from cheap convict labor of tho old ivorld. I offered an amendment to this b'll, which it adopted, would also prohibit tho Importation of goods made by children chil-dren undor fourteen ears -of (tci. Hut thoDomocrat3 voted my amendment amend-ment down. I pointed out to Iho Houso that the cheapest labor-In all tho world Is tho labor of chlldron under un-der fourteen yenrs ot ago In foreign "nuntrlcB. I poli.tmd out tbut la ludy there nro over 50,000 children wilder fourteen years of ago working ia ftic- I (Continued on page coven) J PRESENT POLITICAL SITUATION UNSATISFACTORY I Continued from pago Uo) lories ten hours a day at an average dally wago of loss thn ten cents. 1 pointed 'out that In Japan there o CO.000 children under fourteen years of age working twclvo hours a day In the tcxtllo industry-for an nvorago dal y wago of lcs3 thau soven cotito. I pointed out thtt In India thoro nio ,30,000 children under fourteen jems of age making carpets and other textiles, tex-tiles, working fourteen hours a day at an nvcrago dally wage of five cents. I want to say to you men, representing tho beat homes and tho highest civilization in tho world, llir. it is little thort of a crlrao for the workingmon of tho United States to bo forced into competition with children chil-dren rocoUIng but flvo cents a day in tho benighted countries of tho world. "In all tho years that the Republican Republi-can party has been In power thero hss boon ri. steady Improvement In wages and conditions of employment. It has been our proud boast that conditions con-ditions for man who tolls are better here, and that tho bow of promlso Tor hl3 children is brighter hero than :.nyvhcro clso In tho world. Let us at all hazards maintain our high standard stan-dard of living for thq American workingmen. work-ingmen. Lot U3 not bo caught by -tho cry for cheap goods, for It means a cheap civilization. Let us set our. faces forovor against nil competition which would tend to degrndo American Ameri-can ltbor and drag It down to tho Wei prevailing In foreign lands. "Whl i) this new tarirf bill bus struck n heavy blow at the cities of .to t .ui'iry, the American farmor has lii-'-t nado .the goat completely. If they could find with, ft Hleseope or a microscope- tuytUhig that a farmer, )r!di",ccl, tliey ptiVK dm the free list. Ji com it, (f yearn ago our farmers-tfef farmers-tfef tafcTjU, .cerc.and -ery in-4llHiMit in-4llHiMit about the proipisd recloc-lywltli recloc-lywltli Cantyin nogotlatad by Presl-'dent Presl-'dent Taft. ThU Mranwiuerjt wns to bo In tho naturo of n trade. Wo wcro going to let Canadian fsrm products Into tho United States free, and In exchango they wore going to lot our farm products into Canada freorbul under tho now tariff law Canndltn Tn-mcrs can co 1 in our markcto, but w.o can not sell in thelso. Not enly that, but wo have invited every other country in tho world to dump its farm surplus onto tho American market to bo sold in competition with uio products pro-ducts of ourpjva flolda. I,et mo give tho farmers a couplo of cheerful examples ex-amples showing how this new tariff law ig likely to affect them. During tho last lour months of President Taft's administration wo Imported less than 10,000 bushels of corn Into tho United States. During tho corresponding corres-ponding four months under tho Underwood Un-derwood tariff wo imported 0,722,280 bushels of corn. During tho last six months under President Tuft wo Imported Im-ported 56,000 bushels of oats. During tho corresponding six months under Underwood tariff w0 imported 18,003-201 18,003-201 bushels of oats. I winder how this sort of thing suits our Democratic farmers? Democratic farmers wcro Just ns ugly lis Republican farmers about reciprocity with Canada. They did not liko tho Idea of free trnde oven with llttlo Canada, a countr with only 0,000,000 people, coming from tho samo stock ns ourselves ami with tho same high standards of living. liv-ing. If wo had to havo freo trndo with any country In Uio world, it would bo better to havo It with Canada Can-ada than any other. Reciprocity with Caunda would have been tho smallest teste of freo trado that could possibly bo administered to tho American farmor. far-mor. All ho w'as asked to do was to touch tho tip of his tonguo against freo tiado. He scorned to know without with-out trying that ho would nob like tho taste of It. I nm wondorltK now ho fs cnjoylnpf throe full meals n day of tho samo stuff . "Instead of discouraging ugrScul-lure ugrScul-lure in the United State' by exposing .It to unfair competition from ai gentian, gen-tian, Cuba, Austra'Ia and iraniUs, wa ought to bo doing erurythlng in our npy-'iO Unuilto production mid t' dicfuroge tho extension of farm operations in our own countT With millions of, acres yot undeveloped, why should we adopt a policy vhlob will mako our people partially dependent depen-dent on tho outaldo woria tor our food supply? Such a policy Is as harmful to tho city a3 to tho coun try The man who lives In tnj city must not forget that thenwaro fA- MiW l,ePl0 ,lvlns .on f(lln8, ot ll' United States, and tha't the American farmer Is tho best customer ot tho Arjo-ican farmer. If tho city needlessly need-lessly buys a part of-lts food'tupplv ibroad,' and thereby' roducos tho In-como In-como ot tho farm,. It has by bo mue h decreased tho purchasing 'power of Its own best customer, Just as any policy which lessens -,tho'lncbma of tho city wl'.l be roflcctcd In lha te-duced te-duced Income of tho farm. "Now gentlemen of tho convention, I want to say Just ono thing mora boforo I closo. In 1012, for trio second sec-ond time In moro lhnn half a century our party was retired from power. It wo3 not becnuso tho American pco-plo pco-plo preferred Democratic policies to Republican policies. It was not bo-causo bo-causo thoro wore moro Democrats than Republicans in tho country. Tho troublo In 1012 was that wo Republicans Republi-cans tried to elect two presidents '. onco. Whllo ouvparty was strong. It could hardly bo expected to sue-ccssiuliy sue-ccssiuliy perform so remarkablo o feat as that. By dividing our forces wo let tho Deraocrnts in. By unitit our forces wo will drive them out. This great convention Is la "Belt tl prophecy that tho Republican party will bo speedily returned to power. Fifty years of achievement without a parallel in the history ot mankind is our party's guarantee for ilia ru-ture. ru-ture. "In lowof all that thcro la at ntako for us and for our children and for a'l mankind to bo charged with tho destlnios of this mighty Kopublic Is a oubllmo trust. Fully nllvo to tho responsibilities which go with tho leadership of a groat peoplo, let 113 hero and now dedlcato our party anew to all tho high and holy purposes syra- Our lias stands for liberty under tho law. It stands for tho rights of per-sofi3 per-sofi3 mid tho rlghtB of property, it Btnnds for popular rule, and In this It is our destiny to lead tho way. it otatids for tho sohcol. It stands ror u Chrlstltn civilization. It stands for tho homo and nil tho virtues which 1 thrive and cluster around tho hearth-stone. hearth-stone. Standing for nil these things mfcy tho God ot our fathers protect lt and Cofend it, and may It never bo hauled down in defeat." |
