Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-05-23
al RACY SPEECH.

II
eussion In the House on Thursday last, ~
Butler, OF Massachusetts, offered an amend
ment that salt actually used in the preser
walton and curing of fish shall be admitted
free Of duty.
MIR. Finkehnburg, of Missouri, asked the
gentleman il he would not extend thC
amendment so as to apply to salt used il
the preparation Of pork, to which Mr.. But
Ter gave his assent.
After brief desultory discussion, Mr.
Cox, of New York, obtained the floor, and
expressed his general views upon the tariff
as follows:
do not propose so much to antagonizt
the gentleman from Massachusetts, (Mr
Butler) 10 regard to making salt partly free
l should like to see it entirely free. Some
curious arguments were made yesterday
They go far to disturb some of my princi
pies, if not control my vote. A gentleman
from Pennsylvania (Mr. Grifith) appealed
to my friend from Indiana (Mr. KERR moi
TO oppose the coal tax, because he was born
above coal formation llaughter] in Penn
sylvania, and his playmates were honora-
bic men. feel the force of that dd honi-
mem. l was born near the saltWells of the
beautiful Muskingum, in Ohio. Before
that stream had slack water, before it was
considered hardly 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
=, kl,rsn
which have preserved me ever young
They are hard to resist.
Another argument has still more force.
The gentleman from Maryland, (Mr. Rit-
CHEZ begged us not to throttle the infantile
coal interests of his beloved Cumberland.
[Laughter.]
Although that unhealthy baby has been
fcstered by ''paternal government" on
''pap," or, as ought to say, by maternal
government on milk, [laughter,] for 30
many years, its power of suction is at least
forty-thousand horse power. [Laughter.l
These are statistics. Laughter.l Yet
with rare economic genius, followed by the
eloquent 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 illustration
as that just made on the gentleman from
Massachusetts, (Mr. Butler?) The gentle
man from Missouri, (Mr. Fnkelnburg)
wanted to be so honest as to help the peo-
pie to keep pork by cheap salt. The gen
tleman from Massachusetts, (Mr. Butler,)
wants to cheat the Treasury by free salt for
Goldfish.
THIS IS ALL LARCENY.
T 10
able or ethical? Let US be TO each other
instruments Of reciprocal rapine. Laugh
ter. Michigan steals on copper; Maine
on lumber Pennsylvania on iron; North
Carolina on peanuts; Massachusetts on
cotton goods; Connecticut on hair pins;
New Jersey on spool thread Louisiana on
sugar; and so on. Why not let the gentle
man from Maryland steal coal from them
True, but comparative few get the bene-
fit, and it comes out of the body of the
people; true, it tends to high prices, but
does not stealing encourage industry? Let
US as moralists, ifnOt as politicians, re-
write the eighth commandment "Thou
shalt steal because stealing is right when
common"
As am a representative of New York,
and OnOndaga, with the aid of the foreign
solar artisan, evapOrates salt, ought I not
also to steal to help Onondaga?
STEALING BY TARIFFS,
Mr.. Chairman, is, as De Quincy proved of
murder, fine art. If everybody stole
from everybody, there any reproach to
anybodyP Laughter]. If every body is a
burglar, is there any need for anybody to
lock up houses
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 government
Why not pilfer something out of somebody
else's earnings and build works in Colorado
and Nevada like those in Wales? How
happy we should all be when the reproach
of Goat Island is removed from the Pacific,
and from the gentleman from California,
(Mr. Sargent) [laughterl by grander steal
for wool and Blankets
HOW HAPPY WE SHOULD BE
when we can look each other in the face
here, clasp hands, as now l look into the
face of the gentleman from Massachusetts,
(Mr. Dawes and say, "GOd bless you,
my brother; you have stolen from me, and
from you; let us love one another"
[Great laughter. Then the little unpro-
tected pigs, who are crowded by the big
pigs, quietly eating out OF the trough, will
squeal no more to be let in, [laughter,] for
on this idea all shall be fed by swallowing
each others food; and when all are fed, no
one loses, aud we shall be happy.
This principle commends itself to the
gentleman from Massachusetts (NIr.
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 undefled, it is
petit larceny. He would not steal as much
as others, but to steal into good company
he would steal less. There is then not so
much motive for detection and punish
ment. Other gentlemen 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
when every ''coYe" has an equal chance at
the swag, William Sykes becomes as hon.
orable as the Artful Dodger, whom the pa
pers liken to my friend from Massachu-
sets, (Mr. Dawes.) [Laughter.l And even
Oliver Twist, like myself, could task for
more" without affecting the innocence OF
his simple nature. daughter
A FEW MORE STATISTICS,
and subside. Laughter.l How beauti-
fully this thought is illustrated by the well
laid breakfast table of my cQAeague (Mr.
Brooks.) The happy family gathers around
it; grace IS said; God is asked to ''protect
us" in our joint and several efforts to steal
One guest pockets the knives and forks,
another the salt and salt cellar; another the
cream jug, plates and sugar bowl; another
the cloth; another the bread; another the
potatoes; another the plated ware; another
the mutton chop; brawny Robert Macaire
from down East lifts out the table; while
a sly Jean Jacques, to encourage
domestic cookery, slips into the kitch-
en-, puts out the fire and carries
off the stove and Goals. Laughter
The guests look at each other innocently
and say, ave have done all of this to in
crease the general comfort and to make
free with the breakfast table. Laughter
Are not our wolfish appetites assuaged.
Though we have not each general glut of
nourishment, are we not happy? Is there
not left coffee unground and unburned, and
tea undistilled, sWeetened by the memories
of sugar upon an absent cloth, and covering
an invisible tablet" l was about to pro-
duce some more statistics. They are so
powerful here. l will ask leave to print one
copies of this speech at the ex-
pense of the Industrial league of Philadel-