Morning journal and courier., 1884-07-19
MIR. RLAINE,s LETTER.
A StatesmanIike Discussion Of Public
 Questions.


 AUGUSTA, Me, July 15, 1884. The Hon. John B. Henderson and others O the Committee, etc., etc. GENTLEMEN:-In accepting the nomination for the Presidency tendered me by the Re publican National convention, I beg to ex press deep sense of the honor which is con | ferred and of the duty which is imposed venture to accompany the acceptance witt some observations upon the questions in, volved in the contest-questions whose set clement may affect the future of the nation favorably or unfavorably for a long series oi years. In enumerating the issues upon which the Republican party appeals for popular sup. port, the convention has been singularly ex. plicit and feicitous It has properly given the leading position to the industrial inter ests of the country as affected by the tariff on imports. On that question the two polit- lcal parties are radically in conflict. Almost the first act of the Republicans, when they
 came into power in 1861, was the establish ment of the principle of protection to Amer lcan labor and to American capital. This principle the Republican party has ever since steadily maintained, while on the other hand the Democratic party in Congress has for fif- ty years consistently warred upon it. Twice within that period our opponents have de- stroyed tariffs arranged for protection, and since the close of the civil war, whenever they have controlled the House of Represent tat1ves, hostile legislation has been attempt ed-never more eonspicuously than in their principal measure at the late session of Con gress
 THE TARIFF QUESTION.
 Revenue laws are in their very nature sub-
 ject to frequent revision in order that they
 may be adapted to changes and modifcations of trade. The Republican party is not con- tending for the supremacy of any particular
 statute. The issue between the two parties
 does not have reference to a specific law. It is far broader and far deeper It involves a
 principle of wide application and benefcent influence, against theory which we believe
 to be unsound in conception and inevitably hurtful in practice. In the many tariff revi- slons which have been necessary for the past twenty-three years, or which may hereafter
 become necessary, the Republican party has maintained and will maintain the policy of protection to American industry while our opponents insist upon a revision which prac- tically destroys that policy. The issue is thus distinct, well defined and unavoidable. The pending election may determine the fate of protection for a generation. The over throw of the policy means a large and per manent reduction in the wages of the Amer ican laborer, besides involving the loss of vast amounts of American capital invested in manufacturing enterprises The value of the present revenue system to the people of the United States is not matter of theory, and I shall submit no argument to sustain it. only invite attention to certain facts of of fcial record which seem to constitute de- monstration.
 In the census of 1850 an effort was made, for the first time in our history to obtain a valuation of all the property in the United States. The attempt was in a large degree un- successful. Partly from lack of time, partly from prejudice among many who thought 4loi had taxation, the returns were incomplete and unsatisfactory. Little more was done than to consolidate the local valuation used in the States for purposes of assessment, and that, as everyone knows, differs widely from complete exhibit of all the property
 In the census of 1860, however, the work was done with great thoroughness-th dis tinction between assessed" value and ''true'' value being carefully observed The grand result was that the true valuen of all the property in the States and territo- ries (excluding slaves) amounted to four teen thousand millions of dollars ($14O O0O,- COG, ,0OO) This aggregate was the net result of the labor and the savings of all the people within the area of the United States from the time the first British colonist landed in 1907 down to the year 1860. It represent ed the fruit of the toll of two hundred and fifty years: .----.---
 
 tive tariff. At the end of twenty years the total property of the United States as re- turned by the census of 1880, amounted to the enormous aggregate of forty-four thou sand millions of dollars (S44,000, ,000, ,000.) This great result was attained, notwithstand- ing the fact that countless millions had in the interval been wasted in the progress of bloody war. It thus appears that while our population between 1860 and 1880 increased sixty per cent, the aggregate property of the country increased two hundred and fourteen per cent.-showing 8 vastly enhanced wealth per capita among the people. Thirty thou sand millions of dollars (S30, GOO, 900, ,00O had been added during these twenty years to the permanent wealth of the nation.
 These results are regarded by the older na- ions of the world as phenomenal. That our should surmount the peril and the cost of a gigantic war and for an entire peri od of twenty years make an average gain to it's wealth of one hundred and twenty-five million dollars per month surpasses the expe- rience of all other nations, ancient or mod ern. Even the opponents of the present rev snue system do not pretend that in the whole history of civilization any parallel can be found to the material progress of the United States, since the accession of the Republican party to power.
 The period between 1880 and to-day has not been one of material prosperity only At no time in the history of the United States has there been such progress in the moral and philanthropic field. Religious and charitable institutions, schools, seminaries and colleges have been founded and en- dowed far more generously than at any pre- vious time in our history Greater and more varied relief has been extended to human suffering and the entire progress of the coun- try in wealth has been accompanied and dig nifed by broadening and elevation of our national character as people.
 Our opponents find fault that our revenue system produces surplus. But they should not forget that the law has given a specific purpose to which all of the surplus is profit ably and honorably applied-the reduction of the public debt and the consequent relief of the burden of taxation. No dollar has been wasted and the only extravaganza with which the party stands charged is the gene rous pensioning of soldiers, sailors and their families-an extravaganza which embodies the highest form of justice in the recognition and payment of a sacred debt. When re- duction of taxation is to be made, the Re publican party can be trusted to accomplish it in Such form as will most effectively aid the industries of the nation
 OUR FOREIGN COMMERCE
 A frequent accusation by our opponents is that the foreign commerce of the country has steadily decayed under the influence of the protective tariff. In this way they seek to array the importing interest against the party It is a common and yet radical error to confound the commerce of the country with it's carrying trade-an error often committed innocently and sometimes an error so gross that it does not distinguish between the ship and the car go Foreign commerce represents the ex- ports and imports of country regardless of the nationality of the vessel that may carry the commodities of exchange. Our carrying trade has from obvious causes suffered many since 1860, but our foreign commerce has in the same period steadily and increased-increased indeed at , rate and to an amount which absolutely dwarf all previous developmentssof our trade beyond the sea- From 1860 to the present 1 time the foreign commerce of the United l States (divided with approximate equality 1 between exports and imports) reached the | astounding aggregate of twenty-four thou | sand millions of dollars (S24, 1000, ,000, ,000.3 | The balance in this vast commerce inclined | in our favor, but it would have been much | larger if our trade with the countries of f America, elsewhere referred to, had been | more wisely adjusted.
 It is difficult even to appreciate the magni- | Jude of our export trade since 1860; and we | ,an gain a correct conception of it only by | of preceding results in the same