Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1882-08-05

eous judgment.
I'd. Inaddifion to this important State issue,
the election Of 1882 involves many questions
Of National importance-questions which
deeply affect the prosperity Of the People Of
Maine. Whoever neglects to make his influ.
ence felt in the pending campaign disregards
the interests which pertain to his own future
| rnd his own ireside. The choice of four rep
! resentatives in Congress and Of a Legislature
that shall appoint q Senator of the United
States brings directly before the People
every issue that is involved in the Ad-
ministration Of the National Government
On every question on which parties
divide in this country, the interests of the
People Of Maine must lead then, after sober
| second thought, to support the Republicans
BY the spread of manufacturing industries, by
the growth of our agricultural interests, the
People Of Maine become every year more and
more interested in the maintenance Of a
Protective Tariff. No candid man
believes that a protective tariff would
be upheld for single year if the opponents
Of the Republican Party should come in
TO power, and BY just so much as any voter in
Maine helps to elev ate the Freetraders to power
by so much he aids TO imperil the manufac-
turing and agricultural interests of the State.
And not less 50 in the matter of Shipbuld-
ing. Two out of every three candid
Freetraders outside of New England
will probably declare that if their party
was in power they would at once pro-
coed to admit foreign built ships to American
registry, and would break down what they
term the odious monopoly of the cOasting
trade Causes which need not here be enum-
Grated have imposed long list of hardships
upon the Navigation interests Of the Country !;
but the Free trade party is the only one
which has proposed to alleviate those hard
ships by the utter destruction Of the Naviga-
ton interest itself
In the transfer Of so large proportion of
the ocean freighting to steam shps.the sailing
vessel has relatively lost its Importance; but
it still represents very large interest, In
which the people of Maine have great stake.
During the year 1882 our principal ship
building district will launch as large
number Of wooden sailing ships as it ever
did in single year even when those vessels
were the ocean freighters of the world.
Whatever contests may be before US in re-
gard 10 a revival Of American commerce, no
Maine man who is intelligent as to the future
of his State can vote TO sacrifice an in
terest which under every encouragement has
thus far been so energetically maintained.
1t would be curious to call over list of the
occupations of the people of Maine, and after
careful inspection of its details to have
the free-trader point out one that
would be helped by the destruction Of the
Protective Tariff-or indeed, one that would
not be harmed by it. The first one indicated
by the free-trader would probably be the nav
igation interest, which he would boastfully
maintain is seriously injured by Protective
Tariff. But the ship-owner would not desire
the destruction of the protection to manufac-
lures if at the same time it carried with it the
destruction to the protection Of the navigation
interest, which comes from securing the
coasting trade to American built and Ameri-
can owned vessels. Not to speak of the
countless sailing vessels engaged in the coast
ing trade on the Atlantic, the Gulf and the
Pacific, it must be remembered that the steam
tonnage engaged in the same trade, all built
and owned in the United States, is larger
than the entire steam tonnage of Great Britain
twenty five years ago. The cOasting trade
keeps alive the navigation interest of Amer
lea, and out Of it will some time grow a for
eign trade that will restore us to our former
and worthy rivalry with the chief commercial
nation of the globe. Therefore the Republi-
cans unite in holding on to the coasting trade
for our own vessels, and will yield to no COM
promise on this point.
Sd. The condition of Maine is prosperous
to-day-never more so in the sixty-two years
since the State was admitted into the Union.
There is not a man in the State who cannot
get steady employment at fair wages Every
banch of industry is flourishing; the great
agricultural interest is especially so. The
administration of Laws that produced this
result-so far as Laws Influenced it's en-
titled to the approval and support Of the peo-
pie of Maine. In the twenty five years that
have passed, since the Republican Party came
into power in this State, the progress of the
people in all forms of material pros
perity has been great. The valuation of the
property in the State has increased in that
time. from one hundred millions to two hun
dred and twenty millions. The Rail.
roads of the State have been so extended as to
embrace every County 10 their comprehen-
sive system, whereas, in 1857 but half the
Counties in the State had any Railroads. at all
But perhaps the most significant and conclu
sivc proof of the vast improvement in the
material condition Of the people, is to be
found in the reports from National Banks
and Savings Banks. The ready money, the
available cash at call, is the best test of the
financial condition of an individual or Of a
whole people. In January 1857, when the
Republicans succeeded to the State administra
ton, the total amount of money on deposit in all
the Banks of issue in Maine was but little over
two millions of dollars. To-day the amount on
A. .,.oc L. % ln;c ., Il