Show TilE DEMOCRATIC POLICY We notice that several of our protectionist pro-tectionist contemporaries are fond of referring to the tariff question as it was viewed in the time of George Washington and of Thomas Jefferson and hold it up in a triumphant fashion as though it ought to be enough to silence all present advocates of tariff reform Why if George Washington or Thomas Jefferson could see the McKinley Mc-Kinley bill they would be so astonished and exasperated that they would want to be tarIff smashers at once That Is I supposing they were animated by the same feelings and passions as when they were in the flesh If the Wilson bill should pass in its present form without further modification modifica-tion or change it will contain higher rates of duty than either of those patriotic statesmen ever dreamed would be iniposed These have to be retained so as not to disturb too violently vio-lently the existing order of things In time there can be further reductions The design of the Democratic party is to accomplish the reform entrusted I trusted to it by the people with as I little disturbance as possible to the industries and trade of the county I while keeping in view the principle of tariff for revenue only I The doctrine that reasonable rates of duty should be imposed on foreign Imports was a Democratic doctrine It i Is so today The increased rates imposed im-posed by the Republicans were justified in war times by the necessity of rais I ing revenue But after the war was over that party instead of reducing those rates increased them for the avowed benefit of a special class of the I people on what was called a protective protec-tive tariff with incidental revenue I The principle was wrong the practice mischievous S A tariff for revenue only may and doubtless will cause incidental protection i protec-tion That may be one of its effects But the c constitutional and primary purpose of a tariff is to raise money to meet the expenses of the government The Democratic party is as true to its tariff principles today as it ever was And it is as earnest a supporter of home industries and the development of the countrys resources as any party can be t The Republican doctrine of protection protec-tion shuts out such competition as is necessary for the public good It piles up high duties in the interests of the capitalists so that they may charge high prices for their productions even when through improvements in the mode of manufacture by machinery and the experience of skilled labor the cost of production is brought down to low figures Instead of reducing the < rates of duty on the foreign articles when the cost of its home production was greatly lessened they have raised those duties In the interests of moneyed mon-eyed corporations that the price to the I consumer may not be brought down The folly of the statement that foreign II I I for-eign dealers will place goods on the I American market at less than cost if I the duties on them arc reduced so as to shut up American manufactories j is too puerile for I argument The mere assertion carries with it Its own refutation i refuta-tion Yet that is offered as the reason why high duties are kept up and increased i in-creased when the cost of manufacturing I manufac-turing the articles < made dutiable is i less than the foreign price without the duty I i It is good policy as proclaimed by the early statesmen of this cOuntry to promote independence by building up such manufacturing interests > as will supply our needs without being dependent upon a foreign market and will furnish employment for the labor at hand And it is to stimulate this that the Democratic party desires to effect the tariff reform demanded by the people For it is not good policy 1 to tax the whole nation for the purpose of fattening corporations and trusts grown obese on a protection which has been entirely in their Interests If the effect of protection has been to bring down the prices of goods to the general consumer what need is there for still imposing high duties on the same class of foreign goods Is it not the fear that they will have to come down in prices if the tariff is taken off in any degree from the foreign article that makes manufacturers so fearful of tariff reduction re-duction And how could they be fearful fear-ful of that if it is true as claimed that they have already through protection brought down their goods to as low a price as the foreign made of the same class The truth is palpable that the purpose pur-pose of a high tariff is to enable the home manufacturer to charge a high price for his wares If not why is it I called protection and where would the protection come in If in the first instance in-stance for the protection of infant industries that policy was justifiable for the time being where is the sense and justice and good policy of keeping up and increasing those high duties when the infant industry has grown lusty and fat and can go it alone with a surplus of strength and vitality not only to compete with but overcome competitors To maintain those exorbitant ex-orbitant rates of duty on the foreign article when the home manufactUred is produced at a less cost than the foreign made is simply topamper the manufacturer at the expense of the people It Is done lo shut off competition compe-tition and enable the home monopolist to prey upon his countrymen By supplying an abundance of raw materials at low cost admitting free of duty classes of material of a different differ-ent grade to those produced in this I country causing a demand for the native I na-tive kinds for mixture with the foreign I manufacturers will be enabled to canyon I i cany-on their Avorks and give more steady employment to labor And by reduc ing the duties somewhat on articles the cost of production of which has been lessened greatly with the experience exper-ience of years the consumer will obtain ob-tain goods at a lower figure while the manufacturer will reap fair profits and the rate of wages need not be reduced Home industries are as much the object ob-ject of Democratic care as of any other partys But that party looks at the general welfare Of > the entire population popula-tion as greater than the interests of any class Protection is always for the producer but has no care for the consumer Jt coddles the seller but does nothing for the buyer Yet the purchasers and consumers are the multitude mul-titude the manufacturers and dealers the comparative few Democracy means the people and the Democratic party is for them all n |