To stand pat, in politics, is to adhere unflinchingly to a high tariff.

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1908.  

        Under a spreading black slouch hat
  The grim standpatter stands;
He smokes a very strong cigar,
  One of Havana’s brands.
And turns a deaf ear to the meek
  Revisionists’ demands.
Year in, year out, he still stands pat,
  And will not budge a jot;
He cools his neck with chunks of ice
  Whenever it is hot,
And thinks the man who hankers for
  Revision should be shot.
Chicago Record-Herald, Oct.    

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1908.  If the Republican party has “stood pat” on the tariff, it must also be said that the Democrats, destitute of leadership and divided in purpose, have been unable to organize an able and intelligent Opposition.—N.Y. Evening Post, Nov. 2.

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