Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1872-05-25
A RACY SPEECH.
The Tariff Quesffon-sunset Cox ON
the Great Question of 9 Does Pro.
tectfOn profect?''

|
the gentleman if he would not extent
! the amendment so as to apply to sal
used in the preparation of pork, t,
which Mr. Butler gave his assent
After brief desultory discussion, Mr.
Cox, of New York, obtained the floor
and expressed his general views upor
the tariff as follows
do not propose so much to antago
nize the gentleman from Massachusetts
Mr.. Butler) in regard to making sal
partly free; / should like to see 1t en-
tirely free. Some curious arguments
were made yesterday. They go far tt
disturb some of my principles, if mo-
control my vote. A gentleman from
Pennsylvania (Mr. Griffith) appealed tc
my friend from Indiana (Mr. Kerr moi
to oppose the coal tax because he was
born above a coal formation laughter
in Pennsylvania, and his playmates were
honorable men. / feel the force of that
ad hominem. / was born near the salt.
wells Of the beautiful Muskingum, in
Ohio Before that stream had slack
water, before it was considered hard
ly worth dam [laughter] its banks
spouted salt water like a Massa.
chusetts member of Congress. 1t
was evaporated by bituminous COAL
mean nothing personal to the gallant
member from Massachusetts (Mr.
Banks)-I mean the salt water, not the
banks. Laughter. Around the wells
and kettles of my native river cluster
those sweet saline associations which
have preserved me ever young They
are hard to resist.
Another argument has still more force.
The gentleman from Maryland (Mr.
Ritchie) begged US not to throttle the
infantile coal interests of his beloved
Cumberland. Laughter
Although that unhealthy baby has
been fostered by "paternal govern
ment on pap, or, as | ought to say,
by a maternal government on milk
Laughter for so many years it's power
of suction is at least forty-tIlousand
horse power. Laughter. These are
statistics Laughter. Yet with rare
economic genius, followed by the elo-
quent fiscal member from the Kanawha
salt works, he appealed to us to let him
steal, so long as other sections stole
from him. Was there ever such an illus
tration as that just made on the gentle
man from Massachusetts, (Mr. Butler) ?
The gentleman from Missouri (Mr.
Finkelnburg) wanted to be so honest as
to help the people to keep pork by cheap
salt. The gentleman from Massachu-
sets (Mr. Butler) wants to cheat the
Treasury by free salt for Goldfish.
tr THIS is ALL LARCENY.
| TT WL.4
sonable or ethical2 Let us be to each
other instruments of reciprocal rapine,
Laughter. Michigan steals on copper;
Maine on lumber; Pennsylvania on
iron; North Carolina on peanuts; Mas
sachusetts on cotton goods; Connecticut
on hair-pins; New Jersey on spool thread;
Louisiana on sugar; and so on. Why
not let the gentleman from Maryland
steal coal from them2 True, but COM
parative few get the benefit, and it comes
out of the body Of the people; true, it
tends to high prices, but does not steal
ing encourage Industry Let us as NOR
alists, if not as politicians, re-write the
eighth commandment; Thou shalt
steal; because stealing is right when
common" m
AS am representative of New York,
and Onondaga, with the aid of the for
eign solar artisan, evaporates salt, ought
| not also to steal to help Onendaga2
STEALING BY TARIFFS, II
Mr.. Chairman, is, as De Quincy proved
Of murder a fine art. If everybody
stole from everybody, is there any re-
proach to anybody Laughter. If ev-
erybody is burglar, is there any need
for anybody to lock up houses2
The mining companies out West send
their ores to Wales to be so refined as to
get more wealth. 1t ought to be stopped,
Let them steal capital out of govern
mentl Why not pilfcr something out of
somebody else's earnings and build |
works in Colorado and Nevada like those |
in Wales2 How happy we should all be |
when the reproach of Goat Island is re-
moved from the Pacific, and from the
gentleman from California Mr.. Sargent)
laughter by grander steal for wool
and blanketsl
HOW HAPPY WE SHOULD BE
when we can look each other in the face
here, clasp hands, as now | look into the
face of the gentleman from Massachu-
setts (Mr. Dawes) and say God bless
you, my brother; you have stolen from
me, and from you; let us love one an
other" [Great laughter. Then the
little unprotected pigs, who are crowded
by the big pigs, quietly eating out Of the
trough, will squeal no more to be let in
[laughterl for on this idea all shall be
fed by swallowing each others food; and
when ali are fed no one loses, and we
shall be happy.
This principle commends itself to the
gentleman from Massachusetts, (Mr.
Banks), who has made the speech on
this subject that delights my heart. 1t
has so much moderation and wisdom.
1t has no nonsense, no doctrine in it.
1t is based on the principle of pure and
unSefiled, it is petit larceny. He would
not steal as much as others, but to steal
into good oompany-he would steal less.
There is then not so much motive for
detection and punishment. Other gem
tlemen are OVERRIDING it. He would
steal sixty per cent. less than others;
say on coal. But whether petit or grand /
larceny, the results are such that every !
cove has an equal chance at the
swag. William Sykes becomes as honor
able as the Artful Dodger, whom the
papers liken to my friend from Massa- ]
chusetts Mr.. Dawes) Laughter And
even Oliver Twist, like myself, could
ask for more" without affecting the
innocence Of his simple nature. Laugh
ier.l
-rH A FEW MORE STATISTICS, I
and / subside. Laughter. How u
beautifully this thought is illustrated by r
he well-laid breakfast table of my col 5