Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1880-03-31
Forge Fires Free Trade-Demo-
cratic Trick-Democrats, Coff-
roth and Blackburn.

rOLn ana DIaCkOurn.
The Democratic majority in Con-
gress was obtained ON a false issue
1t was obtained by fraud, fraud in
this way, that while the Democratic
party claimed to be the friends of
American labor they were free tariff
men. 1t will be remembered that
they talked about the fires in the
forges having gone out. Stenger,
when he stumped his district, had
the outened fires of the forges for one
of the heads or divisions of his well
committed and well said speech. The
same may be said of Randall The
fraud was that they cared nothing
about the re-hghting of the forge
fires, but would rather have had them
permanently outened, and the best
way to keep them outened was to re
peal the Tariff iar,, that the Repub
hcans passed, and adopt free trade
laws, and that would so depress the
manufacturing of goods of all kinds
in this country that the fires could
not be re-hghted TIE fraud was in
getting people to believe that they
were in favor OF the industries of the
country, while indeed they were at
work for the passage of laws that
must of their very nature uproot
the industrial establishments.
When Randall was made Speaker
of the Democratic Congress he put
free-traders as chairmen of ali the
committees that had to DO with the
tariff laws. He put men at the head
of the committees who, if they had
their way, would abolish the tariIf
laws, and thereby break up American
industrial establishments for genera
tions to come; and now that the
business interests, The manufacturing
interests of the country are getting
on their feet and the fires In the
forges are being re-lighted, the free
traders are nearly wild, and last week
in Congress they pushed their claims
with the spirit of desperation.
The free traders were coaching a
bill to get it through Congress. The
Republicans were watching them
closely. The free trade bill should
have gone to the committee of Ways
and Means, but trick that should
be far beneath a common Congress
man was resorted to. The bill was
put quietly into the keeping of an
other committee, that of the Revised
Statutes. The trick was discovered
and exposed by the Republicans, and
the exposure led to great hurrah,
and confusion among the leaders of
the Democracy in Congress, for they
do not like to have their dirty work
exposed The exposure of the trick
caused number of Northern Demo
Gratis with tariff constituents to back
out, and that raised a fuss among
them. The following from a Wash
ington, under date of last Friday.
tells how the exposure of the trick
caused those who were engaged in it
to show their hand nicely. 1t was
Democrat Coffroth, of Pennsylvania,
and Democrat Blackburn, of Ken
tucky, that ventilated the matter as
among the Democrats:
Cofroth says soon after eleven
o'clock, having become disgnsted with
the action OF the free traders, he
strobe over to the kentuckian' seat
and told him plainly that the filibus-
tering had gone far enough. He
asked him to consent to an adjourn
ment, so that compromise might in
the meantime be patched up. Black
burn replied, tauntingly: Il have
already sent over to the Republicans,
your masters, two propositions for
compromise, and both have been re-
iected Randall" continued the fire
eating southerner, sis traitor to his
party, and had better pack up his
party, and had better pack up his
baggage and go over to the Republi-
cans at once. L would vote to-mor-
row to put Republican Speaker in
the chair
Coffroth defended the Speaker from
the charge Of infdelity to his party,
and insisted that the southern men
should be the last to bring such an
infamous imputation against him
Blackburn sneeringly retorted, "All
you Pennsylvania Democrats are
traitors to your party, to which Coff
roth quickly replied, do you mean
to include me ?" To this the retort
was. Yes, 1 do" Coffroth then said,
"You are liar" Blackburn at this
point reached out for the Pennsylva-
man. The blow was not struck. how
ever, as several members rushed in
and prevented it. Coffroth got in the
last shot, however, in these words:
:. Randall and myself are true to the
Democratic party, while you were a
traitor to your country, was guilty of
treason, and ought to have been hung
Ii you come outside, sir. / will slap
you in the face" Blackburn did not
go. Coffroth added: Il want it to
be understood that no rebel briga-
der shall bulldoze me-" This is al
legged to be the true story of an epi-
sode which has caused much talk in
Washington. Mr.. Blackburn denies
that he charged the Speaker with
partisan in6delity.
If the Republicans had not discov-
cred the trick of the Democrats to
get their free trade schemes before
Congress there would hrve been no
such scene as that between Coffroth
and Blackburn, for the lash would
have been put on and the free traders
would have succeeded. But free
trade measures gotten through by a
trick would politically kill
g Democrat in Pennsylvania.
The report that General Grant had
gone in q 81. nm to the bottom of the I