Show 1 ra A 1 j ay NATIONAL A T 10 A L AFFAIRS j 4 WRITTEN FOR I OR THE PARK RE CORD HY BY F FRANK BANK P e A f ami iiii i imi tt ia iiii i i i in tile the good old days of politics when there were no other issues in sight the spell binders and those who control the destinies of 0 political campaigns could always turn to the lie tariff then tho the republicans would line up almost to a man for the protection of oe american industries and A american labor while the demo crates crates would set out to denounce protection as a holdup hold up of the robber tariff barous barons but those days are gone now and perhaps haps gone forever the number of the advocates of 0 the protective tariff in the south is growing by leaps and bounds bound the south is becoming a manufacturing cen center ter and in the agricultural districts eliere there the farmers realize that they need prot protection petion on certain of the commodities modi ties they raise on the other hand boand there are certain groups of persons in tile the east especially in the financial centers once favorable to protection and usually republican who due to changes in the international financial situation are now in baior of larger importations importation in the west too certain leaders usually classed as republicans are seeking to persuade the farmers to believe that they ought to stand tor for a lower tariff 4 40 an interesting sidelight on shifting conditions is furnished by one of 0 the democratic candidates for the senate in indiana alho Is a well known business man and banker in private life he is as declaring recently no one is promising tree free trade and no one proposes to jump from protection to free trade what we via do propose is tariff dut the objective of which is effective competition between foreign and domestic producers what we do propose is first the immediate substitution of a modern tariff act tor for the present immoderate act and thereafter slowly progressive tariff reAte tion in the direction of tariff tor for revenue only in that progressive reduction while anxious not to disturb business imprudently and unfairly we ve should always think of 0 the consumer for whom in ill medhi tariff revision there has been no nd thought at all 0 0 this sort of a tariff statement indicates of course courm the belief of the democratic leaders in indiana that free trade is no longer a popular battle cry aud and the suggestion of a gradual modification of the tariff will take the student of history bade back to the days of andrew jackson aben henry clay in a period of nall national IIII crisis although a staunch protectionist himself conceived a compromise tariff which would gradually the rates and at the bamo T i S itaf 1 4 i M fr time so clay believed prevent a civil war this grad gradual lual reduction however ultimately fl flooded the country with imports and brodu produced cei a huge army of 0 unemployed 4 this quotation from tile statement of a prominent democrat JA not given to convey comey the impression that it is the democrats alone who are modifying their views on the tariff because of pressure within the party the republicans as interred inferred above are not standing stand ng firm at all points in tie the I 1 line and in certain sections ot of tb he e country some of the leaders are just as prone to hedge as democrats in doing thas they are overlooking avei looking an important ani and effective issue the suggestion that the consumer is not always given enough consideration in framing tariff schedules brings up the question as to who is the consumer in Ai america merica nearly every man andl many of the women il zite are producers rather than bousu consumers in the producers are in the th 0 great majority majori ty As this is a government by ma majority arity it is difficult to see just why y giving prosperity to the pro ateer would not have the tendency ten denry to bring greater prosperity all around |