The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1882-01-21

head, and whose idiosyncrasies sometimes
led him. into strange and unnatural
company. attempted. at Chicago q
Jew days ago, to throw some
light on the iniquities of the steel rail
monopoly, they gave him to understand
that he was fool for his pains, and
that he was barking UP the wrong tree,
and then pleasantly referred his inquiry
| to the President of the Bessemer steel
Co.. and then to the Commissioner OF
Patents. How refreshingi Now if they
had only referred Mr. Grinnell's inquiry
to Jack the Giant Killer, we should all,
no doubt, have been enlightened. As it
is. I fear that we shall forever remain
in the dark, SO far as our present source
| of light is concerned. But Mr.. Grin
nelPs inquiry was not wholly without
results The astounding fact was de-
veloped that the cost of a railroad
had nothing whatever to do with the
cost of transportation, nothing
whatever By what mysterious pro-
cess of reasoning "a man like Mr..
Grinnell, himself large farmer, largely
interested in railroads, thoroughly western
in all his interests and sympathies, and
without a dollars worth of manufacturing
stock in the world that he calls his own,
can persuade himself that the monstrous
system of robbery now being carried on
under the form of law and thename of
Protection. whereby the profits of the in
dustries of the masses are taken from them
and given to the manufacturers, can in
any possible way, contingent or remote,
benefit the men whom it despoiis, the pro-
duoer,. the laborer, the men with whose
interests his are so closely identified is one
of those things probably that no fellow
can find OUT How the people at large
have suffered spoliation without protest, we
cannot understand; but to permit it is one
thing and to believe it right is another. SO
Protection, as we now have it, was a
war measure, and came in as a part of
the policy of the Republican party. So,
like the blood sealed" greenback that
Timothy o. Howe and the great Logan
used to rant about, it came to be regarded
as sort of sacred thing and opposi-
ton to it was thought to be worthy only
of an ''unrepentant rebel" Initiation,
following it, producing an unnatural
and fictitious prosperity, blinded the
people to the niquitous and the real
purposes of the system and gradually
protection 70 American industries"
became the settled policy of the Repub
lican party. In this way the farmers of
Iowa have beenskept poor. In politics
they believed the Republican party
right and the Democratic party wrong
Protection was part of the policy of the
party. Enough. They be-
lieved in protection. Why? Because the
necessities of the case and party fealty at
a time when party fealty was to them a
matter of great Importance, required it.
And this condition of things the wealthy
fast growing weather.,
did all they could to preserve. Discus
sion was discouraged, and all inquiry baf-
fed. Every attempt to bring the matter
before the people was denounced. Free
T rade was either Democratic trick to
destroy labor and subvert the Government
or scheme of British Gold" to paralyze
1ur industries and deluge the country
with the products of the pauper labor of
Europe. Nearly all manufacturers became
and those who did not, pos
;essed enough influence by means Of the
Millions they had stolen 20 make the Dem
ocratic party as cowardly as their oppo-
lents were dishonest Hence the anomaly
in the last presidential campaign of an |
vowed Free Trader on platform de |
handing protection to American indus |
ries" and rigid protectionist on plat |
orm demanding ga tariff for revenue only" |
The reason of this was that u Chicago |
wisdom got the upper hand, at Cincin- |
lati, folly Gen Garfields nomination
ection docs not protect. Gen. Hancock, |
by Eastern men whom protection does
protect. Gen. Garfield was a man of the
people and student of political economy.
with them. He knew that
protection was Ubiquitous and unjust.
Gen Hancock was not man of the peo-
pie, but the reverse, and he was not stu
lent of political economy, and he knew
lothing about Free Trade. He was man
II aristocratic associations, and entirely
by the interests of manufactur
ng Pennsylvania So, as usual, the plat
'orms were effectually neutraliZed by the |
and the result, nothing |
But there was one barrier broken.
The selection of Gen. Garfield, with
lis wellknown Free Trade procliv-
ties, was great step in advance, and
howed that the people of the west
lad begun to think, and Notwithstanding