The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1877-09-06
OPENING THE CAMPAIGN.
HON. GEORGE Il. PENDLETON
ON THE LIVING POLITICAL IS
SUES.

cause honest, industrious men seek em-
ployment in vain, and their families
want food Harpers Weekly says "it is
computed that there are three millions Of
people in the country idle who would be
glad to work. Those who three or four
years ago received two and three dollars
a day now eagerly accept fifty cents G
day. All labor has been forced to sub
NIT to reduced wages"
We ought, in a candid spirit, to search
the cause. If Government, either in its
legislation or administration, is ut fault,
we ought to apply the remedy, This
work concerns us all equally, Therefore
I speak to you Republicans and Demo
Gratis alike. fl do not convince your
judgment, l will not wound your just sus.
capabilities. criticise policies, not mo
tives.
Ohio is fortunate State. It's soil is
fertile, its climate healthful, its mines
rich, its population hardy, enterprising
and intelligent The lake, the river, the
Marietta, the Baltimore and Ohio the
Pittsburgh and Fort Wayne. the Pitts
burgh and st. Louis, the Atlantic and
Great Western, the Lake Shore Railroads
the intersecting canals and railroads from
North to South, bring all its parts into
easy communication. Nature, always
bountiful, has given it an exceptionally
abundant harvest. Neither plague nor
pestilenCe has visited it. And yet the
highways and byways are filled with
tramps; the cities and villages are filed
with deeds of violence against person
and property; the station houses and
workhouses are filled with the poor and
hungry and miserable, as well as with
criminals; labor is discontented, and the
discomfort utters ominous threats, and is
occasionally tempted to wicked deeds.
In a word, men are idle, women are suf-
fering, children are hungry. all are un"
happy; our industries are all deranged,
business is stagnant, enterprise and en-
ergy sit with folded hands, and all men
look with anxiety for that which shall
come to pass speak of affairs in Ohio
because | know them. Ispeak what You
know, l testify that which you have seen.
Cause of Hard Times.
Now, why is this2 There must be a
cause. What is it2 One fact confronts
us in this inquiry. The laws Of taxation,
the laws of the tariff, the commercial
system, the financial system-these touCh
the very life and being of the whole So
cial and industrial fabric The Republi-
can party has established and admins
tered these laws and these systems. Il
has had power for half generation.
Even since the war it has had absolute
sway for twelve years. Once only in that
time has there been an adverse house of
Representatives, 1t has used this power
without stint. The Internal Revenue
system, even what is left of it, bears al
most entirely and very heavily upon
western industries and the product of
western lands.
The tariff is an i'll adjusted tax. It
produces little revenue; is extremely on
erous on those who import and pay du-
ties; extorts large subsidies for private in
terests from those who do not, and saps
the prosperity of every industry, even
those it affects to protect. Scarcely q
ship navigates the sea under the flag of
the United States, and the few which do
are built on the Clyde and belong to for
eign owners.
The financial system may be briefly
stated. An immense public indebted
ness, payable in paper, has, by the effect
of two laws, been made payable in gold
only, and thereby been increased 80 per
cent. Silver has been demonetized, and
gold the only remaining legal tender for
the bonds, has been enhanced accord
ingly.
Resumption of specie payments has
been ordained for January, 1879, and
within eighteen months they have no
plan, except the illegal contraction of
greenbacks or the impossible boarding Of
gold
The first measure largely increased the
indebtedness. The second diminished
the currency in which that indebtedness
can be paid. The third efectuaIly and
necessarily destroys the industries and
energies by which the means of pay can
be earned. The Egyptian policy of re-
quiriug bricks and not furnishing straw,
was mercy in comparison.
state facts only. l pass for the pres
ent closer examination of the effect of
these various laws. An Ohio audience
them well. The great cam
paign of 1875 was fought upon these laws
Their effect was foreseen, examined, pre-
dicted with unerring accuracy. The Re-
Act was analyzed, and its fur
thest consequences were pointed out.
The demonstration of silver was not
then appreciated, it has only increased
the momentum of the general movement.
Prophecy has become accomplished in
history, ard, this night, the ten thousand
failures of the last twelve months, the
weary fo9'e'eps of the innumerable mul-
titude Sc lg work, the strikes of un-
paid labore.s, the bloody and disgraCeful
riots in our cities, the roads filled with
tramps, and station houses filled with
homeless paupers, indict the Republican
policy as the cause of this condition Of
affairs.
Thu pauuhIican plaffnrm