The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1882-10-12
Arguments TO Special Interests.
TGalye ton NeWs,1

Hon. John Hancock struck the
keynote of the protectionist sophist
who pull the wool over wool-grow-
ers' eyes. Mr.. Hancock has a mas
sive fist, and when he struck that
keynote in his direct style it W as in
stantly cracked, shattered and splin-
tered. With an average tax of 113
per cent on wooden goods the wool
grower gets no benefit, as the price
of wool Is about the same all over
the world. What the American
wool grower wants is good Ameri-
can market to sell in or a cheap
foreign market to buy in. Under
protection he can get $500 of net
value in wooden goods for $1,000
worth of wool. Such an ar
rangement cannot be satisfacto-
ry. Suppose, then, that the duty
be raised on foreign wool. Will
American manufacturing be thereby
encouraged? Not at all; but with
out considerable activity in manu-
featuring there will be no sufficient
demand for wool to make a high
price. and tariff on materials of all
sorts discourages manufacturing,
while light tariff on finished pro.
ducts tempts the few manufacturers
there are to form combinations, limit
production and keep up prices,
which naturally keeps down the con-
sumption of goods. Thus, people
in the midst of plenty contrive an
artificial scarcity of comfort. Many
such reflections spring naturally
from Mr.. Hancock's remarks, in
his speech at San Antonio, in
relation 10 the tariff as it affects the
American wool-grower. Yet the
most appropriate and in true sense
the most democratic feature in his
discussion of the tariff question was
not that it was rank delusion for
wool-growers in Texas or elsewhere
in the Union, to believe they real
lied any benefit from the present
fearfully and wonderfully contrived
system of protective duties. The
grand idea of true Democracy is a
government of the people, by the
people, for the people-an idea
which, in practice, must resolve it.
self into government responsible
to general, not special inter-
ests, consulting the wants of
the many, not the wishes
of the few, and directed to the &C.
complishment of the greatest good
to the greatest number. To vindi-
cate this idea, it is not necessary to
address arguments to one or another
special interest for the purpose of
demonstrating that particular class
of persons do not enjoy, as they fam
cy, a peculiar advantage from legis-
Tlative favorlteism. The demonstra-
ton may be complete, but it will
only prove that the particular class
had, through misapprehension, been
betrayed into barren and gratui-
tOus stretch of selfishness which
grasped shadow instead of a pre-
cious substance. Proclivities and
habits of class selfishness are
not to be cured by merely
showing that such selfishness,
however shrewd IN its greed, is
liable to be mistaken in its quests.
Onesquest may go astray, but the
hope remains that another quest
will attain the coveted prize. What
is wanted is TO impress good citi-
zens of all classes with the moral
beauty of the true Democratic
philosophy which seeks the good of
each in the good of all, and holds
that to build civilly upon a system
of class favoritism and special privi-
leges is to organize instability and
insure disastrous catastrophe, as
though the social fabric were a
pyramid set upon its apex. What
is also wanted is to remove,
not passionately, but de-
liberately, seasonably and in the
spirit of q wise conservatism, facti-
tious and needless conditions which
may serve to stimulate class selfish
ness and infect special interests with
a distemper of false and dangerous
incentives. And in keeping with
these two considerations was the
feature in Hon, John Hancock's dis
cussion of the tariff question, which
referred to it, among others, as pre-
svnting the issue whether the coun-
try should be governed on the prln-
ciple of the greatest good to the
greatest number, or to fill the pockets
of the bloated few who sent men to
congress to uphold their interest
and not the interests of the general
body of the people, and which as
serted the unconstitutionality as
well as the injustice of a tariff for