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“I . . . SHOWYOUTHE MOTIVE OFTHE PRESS
FOR MISREPRESENTING EVERYTHING”
193
●
TAFT,WILLIAM HOWARD. Typed Letter Signed, “WmHTaft,” as President, to
former Attorney General William H.H. Miller, assuring him that the press is not accurately
representing Senator Aldrich’s tariff bill because they have a financial interest in tariffs on
paper and wood pulp, expressing his desire to lessen tariffs substantially overall, and promis-
ing to veto the bill should the revisions tend upward instead. 4
1
/
2
pages, 4to, written on
rectos only of separate sheets, first page onWhite House stationery. (TFC)
Washington, 13 July 1909
[1,000/1,500]
“
. . .You can be very certain that I am fully aware of the opinion in the Middle West in favor of
downward revision, and that I am strongly in favor of the same thing myself.There has been a vast
amount of misrepresentation in regard to the Senate bill, which is by no means so bad as has been rep-
resented. This grows out of the fact that the newspapers of the country are pecuniarily interested in the
change which they seek in respect to print paper and wood pulp. . . . I merely mention this to show
you the motive of the press for misrepresenting everything that is done in the Senate. There were a
great many rates consented to in the Senate by Aldrich . . . . As a matter of fact, the Senate increases
over the Dingley bill are chiefly in agriculture products, which mean nothing . . . . I propose to make
just as strong a fight as possible to put hides on the free list. . . . If I can secure what I hope to secure,
the revision will be downward, and downward substantially, and will be a long step in the right direc-
tion. . . . I think that the bill as I hope to have it framed will be a substantial compliance with the
party’s platform; and I think that those gentleman in the Senate . . . will recognize the improvements
and vote for the bill after the conference has finished it.
“
If I shall fail in my purpose in the conference, I don’t like to say what I shall do; but there is one last
resort which I should hesitate to take because of the many admirable features of the bill, especially the
Philippine section, the administrative section, the maximum and minimum provision, all of which I
favor, and the corporation tax, which I like. Nevertheless, as the main promise was that the revision
was to be a downward revision, I shall feel justified if there is no substantial step in that direction in
resorting to my Constitutional power. . . .”
The final version of the Payne-Aldrich Tariff passed in August of 1909. Despite Taft’s efforts to live
up to the promise expressed in the Republican Party platform to reduce tariffs substantially,
Republican Senators from western states viewed the Tariff as distinctly protectionist.Their loss of faith
in Taft contributed to a growing rift in the Republican Party, leading to their loss of control in
Congress after the elections of 1910.