OCR Text |
Show Tariff humbugcause THAT WORKED VHE REPUBLICAN DtFEAT IN 1910. McCumbir Rfpeiiti Silly Paper Duty Statement, on Which His Party Should Be Silent. Senator McCmber hna asln repeat ed the silly statement that the dlvtaton In the Republican party waa due to the failure of congress to remove the duty on print paper. In consequence of which a large part of the Republican Republi-can newspapers turned against their party, denounced the I'ayne-Aldrlch Inw and allowed the liemocrata to elect the present house of rcpre-sentatlvea. rcpre-sentatlvea. This Is a libel on the Republican newspapers. The dlHaatlsfactlon with the present tariff waa not created by them, and the duty on printing paper la a mere Incident. If Mr. MeCumber will rend the platform of hla own party adopted four years ngo he will therein find a promise of tariff revision, re-vision, with a cleer implication that duties should not be higher than dlf ferences In labor coats here and 1 abroad Justified. We need not atop , here to ask If any audi standard ol dtitlca be practicable; the reports ol I the tariff board have left no doubl , that It la not. ( Hut what la Important to notlc f here Is that the last Republican con I vent Ion deemed It expedient to mak ( a promise that waa unlverrally un I derstood to mean tariff reduction I That promise would not have beet . ' ynade If the convention had not clear f ( ly recognized that there was a power ful sentiment opposed to the Dingle tariff Inside the Republican party am . that some effort to placate It muat b made If the party would go Into tin election with any hope of succeai 1 IJIere Is the documentary evidence o ' deep and widespread opposition V ' extreme protection which hud m ' more reference to tho paper dutle than to any other single Item In th l' list. The I'ayne-Aldrlch tariff did no fulfill the plain and obvious meanln of the tariff revision promise In th platform, and resentment at this, u gether with other causes, many c them local, occasioned the Republica defeat In 1910. Hut In regard to the paper duties I Is worth saying again that we hav j, here a complete exposure of the nun t. bug and false pretense of the Repul Q llcane on the tariff. These paper an pulp duties were Investigated in ,r months by a committee appointed t g Speaker Cannon, a majority of who members were Republicans and pr a. tectionlsts. The result of their pr longed Investigations waa a recor a mendatlon that the duty on paper t I ' $2 a ton and that certain pulp be fr Z and other pulp bear a duty propc tloned to that recommended for pape With thia report of a Republican I vestlgatlon before It the annate, undi dictation of Senator Aldrlch, propoei to Increase the duty on paper ar make It $S. The Intervention of Pre Ident Taft caused a compromise b tween the two houses on $3.75, in quite twice as high aa the duty a R publican special Investigating cot mlttee reported would meet all tl requirements of the protective sy tern. In view of this record we shou think Mr. MeCumber and all oth Republicans would be careful not call public attention to the scand of the paper duty In the Payne-Aldrli tariff. |