Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1883-04-04
lalraster fntellige1lcer.
wrnNrsDAY EVENING, APRIL 4. 1893
The WatterSOnS.

Henry WatterSon declares that he
wants {" to bid farewell to the Pennsyl-
yanians and to Pennsylvania politics, TO
let Pennsylvania 90 to the devil, and,
thus emancipated from the iron clad
policy of popular oppression, fling the
free flag of revenue reform to the crisp
breezes of the West and the welcoming
winds of the South, where reforms, real
and practical, are at one and the same
time needed and comprehended by the
mass and body of the people," We can
assure Henry that the desire is quite re-
We would like very much to
bid farewell to the Henry Wattersons in
the Democratic army. They have done
us a great deal of harm, being hair
Drained order of creature, gifted with a
good command of brilliant words, and a
great fondness for expelling them, but
unfortunately not endowed with
that common sense which makes
their advice valuable and their prof
fered leadership successful. MIR. Wat
terson is the man who put the tariff for
revenue "only" plank in the Cincinnati
platform, being unluckily entrusted with
the drafting Of that instrument because
of his facility with words. Mr.. Waiter.
son then carried out his idea of letting
Pennsylvania go to the devil, y
and the consequence was that
the Democratic party went along
Many time since has the party wished
that Watterson would "goto the deVil''
alone, and it will hardly iHcline hereaf'
ter to accommodate him in i.ia attraction
hellwards by consenting to accompany
him in his Journey. The ancients used
to declare "facilis discensus est Arerni;;' -
which shows that WattersOns lived in
those days rs we'll as this. They are a
great pest to this country. especially,
where talk is so free and where any fel
low who is troubled with diarrh0ea OF
words can have IA chance to empty them
into the popular ear, and recommend
them by their glitter and jingle, even
though they have no intrinsic weight
Such men lay hold of an idea, as barn
acle clings to a ship, and never abandon
it while there is floating timber left
Such men started the Know Nothing
craze, and the Greenback folly; and
there is not an imaginable politica
heresy that is wild enough to be without
champions to proclaim it with sucl
force of wind and feryOr of feeling rs t(
impress many people with the ideG
that they are apostles Of light
though uitering the purest nonsense
They are men who, in the graphic ex
preston of the people, " talk too much
with their mouths" Henry Wattersor
is shining example of this sort. He
talks wildly, saying great deal that be
does not mean, but meaning great dea
that a sensible lnan could not think
He swears like & GShwife and is humor
some as girl. We had a notable exhi
bition of his nervous character one
day at Block island, couple of summer;
ago, when we happened to have ali ad
joining bathing house. Henry hat
speedily rugged himself for the bath ant
waited outside for his wife. Present.!
he impatiently called out TO her that h'
would wait no longer aud would g
ahead. "Go on, my dear" she cheer
fully replied and We heard her say t.
herself softly as he went away, You'll
be back for me before long, | know
And so he was.
An affectionate husband and fathe
was Henry, and very clever fellow
withal, but as q leader of men
most distinguished failure certainly
The free trade hobby has taken full pos
session of his soul, and he is riding it t.
death. 1t must be confessed. however
that in this adventure he has right re
spectacle company. The New Y York San
for instance, now calls for a tariff fol
revenue only the tariff to b, the only
source of revenue; the internal taxes t.
be abolished ;" and flatterS itself tha
this doctrine will suit everyone since
a revenue tariff will impose IN average
of forty to forty-live per cent. duty upol
all imported goods" and 50 all 81 ma.
be happy together" It. is easily to b
seen that Mr. Dana is away and tha
the mice are having little play in th'
SUMS columns. Mr.. Dana will not b'
one of the happy" when he reads tn,
nonsense his journal is made to talk. 4
tariff for revenue only cannot be pro
tective tariff in the very nature of th'
thing. a tariff for revenue On'.
would require such a rate O
duty to be laid as would st
cure the largest possible importation
while protective tariff ""Iuires th
importation to be the smallest pos ible
In no question is it truer than in tina. O
the tariff that the truth lies between til
two extremes. The country is dali
growing towards free trade us its need
in some things, such as the raw material
of manufacture, it needs free trade now
But it is not yet in condition for
tariff for revenue only, as the most oh
viouS considerations prove. Nor is
ready at any time to let any part . go t
the devil - it would not even let
wayward sister ego in peace MI
Watterson let his passion get the bette
of him when he discharged that profan
and disloyal expression as Mr.. Waiter
son is so apt to do. He did not mean it
of course, any more than he meant to b
impatient with his wife that time bl,