New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-02-08
pARTIES IND PANICS.

Ex-Speaker Randall Is quOteu as saylns "
the Free Trade Democrats who are hllouster-
ing against tariff legislation My opinion Is
"that if Congress does not pass this RI 'he
democrats will go under in 1884" Dem
oorot;c Congressman from this State who Is
ono of the most sagacious uen in his party and
y high authority on tariff questions SAN IT,
gently TO friend: al want this farm Dill
. nassed, for If the question goes over w 'ho
9next Congress il will work the RUIN Oh us III
@ISS4" These are significant OPINION = anu
IN our view they are sound. They are Dascu
ON q correct estimate of the popular dlstrust Oh
F,ae Trade legislation. Mr.. Randall Is TRIM
mar b.tween Protection and Free Trade, be
csuse he knows that the mau or the party
which comes out openly in favor of Free ] Iade
will have no chance of success with the people
If the bot-heads of his party had as mucn sa-
oacitv. they would stand aside and let the ke-
publcans pass their Tariff bill now ana get tno
suhicct ont of the way till after 1854. But
sagacity is not their strong point. lheV were
wrecked on tue tariff issue in 1850, and they
are steering under full sail for the same roch
| again.
The leaders who engineered the former ca
tastrophe are at the front again. he fro-
tectionists are in panic" they shout. All
- we need to do is to press Oh and we will have
,hcm on the run presently" Nobody perceves
the s,uoidlty of that cry more clearly than Mr..
| Pond,u and the few other Democratic leaders
who ara able to see beyond the ends OF their
noses. What will 1t profit party to throw the
Protectionists and the friends OF Protection
into n panic7 Can any party succeed whlch
/ antapOnizes the entire Industrial interests Oh
the country9 Do the hOt-heads never stop TO
think what a vast prOpOrtiOn OF the voters OF
the country are interested in Protection ana
in a calm and statesmanlke solution OF us
nroblems7 The question is too great one 10
be decided ofi-hand by green Congress- mace
nm of men who are chiefly anxious to get
ubock at the bloated mOnOpolles" There Is
scarcely n business interest IN the country
which ia not concerned directly In tah1 iegls-
lanon. When the Free Trade shouterS clamor
aSout q panicn therefore, they will DO well "a
h, va a care lest they do not create one oil such
dimensions that it will include an overwhelm-
iny majority of the American people. 1t
would not benefit the Democracy much to
have the mere possibility of Democratic rule
thr,w the whole country into panic Yet
that is precisely the direction in which the
| Free lIaUb DclDOCidIo RAO iN"'''5 N
now.
And speaking of panics we observe that inc
Free Traders are much agItated over the let
ters which the Hon Robert p. Porter is sending
to TIE TRIBUNE from England. They are
unite sure he has been sent over there to plcb
ND information which may be used to bolster
M the waning cause of Protection" His hg'
urts on the comparative wages OF American
and British wOrkingmen seem to he creating
something very like panic IN the Democratic
press. Perhaps a suspicion passes over the
minds of some of the able editors that these
fpnres would not be useful as n Democratic
campaign document in a contest for the Presl-
dency with the Democrats on the Free / Iade
side of the tariff issue. If we remember
rightly, figures similar to these, only less com
plete aud less portentous, were used with con-
siderable effect in OHIO and Indiana in 1850
If there are Democrats who believe that they
can elect a President after driving ali the man
ufacturers and their employees over to the Re
publcans we wish them jOY in their belief and
trust they may persuade their party into ac'
cepting it as its policy. The Republicans are
able to contemplate with serenity the panic
which such policy would inevitably cause