A Favorite Son Who Can Cut Taxes

The following article discussing the possibilities of Albert C. Ritchie, present governor of Maryland, as a presidential candidate for the Democratic Party, was written through the cooperation of the Ritchie-for-President Committee in Baltimore, Maryland, an organization which supplied the Crimson with the facts and outstanding qualifications of this possible candidate.

Advocating state rights, including determination of the prohibition issue, as well as strict curtailment of Federal Bureaucracy, Albert C. Ritchie, four times governor of Maryland, is a well backed Democratic candidate at the present time. At a time when, more than over, it is difficult to reconcile party and personal convictions on a multitude of issues with those of a bewildered public, Ritchie states his pros and cons without hesitation. Tariff readjustment to restore the foreign trade of the United States, non-cancellation of war debts, and the maintenance of adequate national defense are other viewpoints on which the Governor has asserted himself.

In addition to plain opinions openly expressed, Governor Ritchie has shone in local affairs; since 1920, for example, the tax rate of Maryland has been decreased thirty percent. The State has today an authoritative credit of one hundred percent, and in this Maryland is unique among the 48 states. Locally, therefore, Ritchie is strongly cheered; his economies and shrewd conduct of the business of the State have increased his hold on the citizens of Maryland.

It is a gamble, whether or not business in America has entirely succumbed to the entreaties of the economists and business experts for lower tariffs to rejuvenate trade. Why would not lower duties in the United States allow floods of commodities to pour in from outside nations that are badly in need of markets? If a readjustment in business relations is to take place, it seems a valid argument that manufacturers in the United States, with their higher costs, and more expanded production capacities, should be reluctant to speak for lower duties. In a run-down world where business expansion seems temporarily ended, producers in the United States may wish to keep their domestic markets at least, strangled as they may be without running the risk of exposing themselves to foreign, low cost producers. Ritchie states his belief in tariff revision. It is a question whether industry will support this stand. At least the Maryland Governor has ample experience in government, and economical budgeting and finance. Possibly it will be another case of the "local boy who makes good."