The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1884-07-24
Mr.. Blaine's Acceptance.
ON THE IssUEs.--INDUsTRIAL IS
SUES OF THE COUNTRY.

Mr.. Blaines letter accepting the Republican
nomination for the presidency has been sent
to the chairman of the republican national
The full text of the letter follows
The Ho,s.Johm b. Henderson and others Of the
Committee, &C., Gc..Gentlemen IN accep,ti III
by the republican national convention beg to
express q deep sense of the honor which is con-
ferred and of the duty which Is imposed c,,,.il
some observations upon the questions involved
in the contest-questions whose settlement
may affect the future of the nation favorably
or unfayorably for o long series of years:
In enumerating the issues upon which the
republican party appeals Tor popular ,supporss
1t has properly given me leaoa ...
position to the industrial interests of the coun-
try as affected by the tariff on imports. On
that question the two political parties are rad
icalIy in conflict. Almost the first act OF Inc
Republicans when they came into power
in 1851 was the establishment OF the priaacdp p
lean capital. This principle the Republican
party has ever since steadily maintained, while
on the other hand the Democratic party IN
Congress has for fifty years persistently warred
upon 1t. Twice within that period our oppo-
nents have destroyed tariffs arranged for pro-
lection, and since the close of the civil wal,
Whenever they have controlled the House of
hostile legislation has been
more conspicuously than IN
theirprincpal measure at the late session Oh
THE TARIFF QUESTION
Revenue laws are in their very nature sub
ject to frequent revision in order tnat gney
may be adapted to changes and modlncatlons
of trade. The Republican party is not contend
ing tor the permanency of any particutiia az
does not have reference to specific law. 1t is
far broader and far deeper. 1t Involves prin-
ciple of wide application ana penenc9nG II ~
be unsound in conception and inevitably hurt
full in practice. In the many tariff reyisl4 3Il
which have been necessary for the past S
flNroo yUh
come necessary, the Republican party has
maintained and will maintain the poncy OF
opponents insist upon a revision when pratcti
calAg destroys that policy. The issue is mus
distinct well defined ana unavoloa,ple.s - Tug nS
pending election may determine the fate Of
protection for generation. The overthrow OF
the policy means large and permanent re-
duction in the wages OF theAmerican iaoorer pc e.
American capital invested in manufac turing
enterprises. The value of the present revenue
q matter of theory, and / shall submit 10 argu-
ment to sustain it. / only invite attention TO
certain facts OF official record which seem to
constitute demonstration.
In the census of 1850 an effort was made, Tor
the first time in our history, to obtain valua-
ton OF all the property IN the United states YES,
Partly from lack of time. partly from pre- udlce
among many who thought the inquiries FORE
Swallowed new scheme of taxation the re-
turns were incomplete and unsatisfactory. Lit
tie more was done than to consolidate the
local valuation used in the States for purposes
of assessment, and that, as every one knows,
differs widely from complete exhibit OF all
In the census of 1860, however, the work was
done with great thoroughness-the distinction
between ssassessed" value and true" value
being carefully observed The grand result
the States and Territories Excluding slaves
amounted to fourteen thousand millions of dol
900 OOO9 This aggregate was the net re-
suit of the labor and the savings OF all the people
within the area of the United States from the
time the first British celonist landed in 1907
of the toll of two hundred and fifty years.
After 1860 the business of the country was en- :
couraged and developed by a protective tariff
At the end OF twenty years the total property
of the United States, as returned by the census
of 1880, amounted to the enormous aggregate of
fortyofour thousand millions of dollars (s34 ,OOo
000,O00.) This great result was attained, not
withstanding the fact that countless millions
had in the interval been wasted in the prog
ress of bloody war; 1t thus appears that while
our population between 1869 and 1880 increased
sixty per cent. the aggregate property OF the
country increased two hundred and fourteen
per cent, showing q vastly enhanced wealth
per capita among the people: Thirty thousand
millions of dollars (s36,OoO,O OO,OoO} had been
added during these twenty years to the perma-
nent wealth of the nation.
These results are regarded by the older
nations OF the world as phenomenal. That our
country should surmount the peril and the cost
OF a gigantic war and for an entire period of
twenty years make an average gain to its
wealth of one hundred and twenty five million
all other nations, ancient or modern. Even
the opponents of the present revenue system
do not pretend that in the whole history of civ
ilization any parallel can be found to the ma
terial progress of the United States since the
accession OF the Republican party to power.
The period between 1860 and to day has not
been one of material prosperity only. AT no
time in the history of the United States has
been aeh IN and ahd M
stitutions, schools, seminaries and colleges
have been founded and endowed far more gem
h
tory Greater and more varied relief has been
extended to human suffering, and the entire
progress Of the country IN wealth l,d has been
and elevation of our national character as q
people.
system produces a surplus But they should
not forget that the law has given specific pur-
pose to which all of the surplus is profitably
pssalic debt and the consequent relief of the
burden of taxation. No dollar has been wasted
and the only az with which the party
soldiers, sailors and their families-an eXtrava-
gance which embodies the highest form of jus
tice in the recognition and payment of a sacred
debt. When reduction of taxation is to be
made, the Republican party can be trusted to
accomplish it in such form as will most effect
lively 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
array the importing interest against the Re-
publican party. 1t is a common and yet radi-
cal error to confound the ne, eommerce OF the
committed iunocently and sometimes design
edly-but an error so gross that 1T does not dis
tinguish between the ship and the cargo For
eign commerce represents the exports and i'm
ports of a country regardless of the nationality
of the vessel that may carry the commodities
of exchange. Our carrying trade has from OBJ
viOus causes suffered many ANNOUNCEMENTS
since 1850, but our foreign commerce has in the
same period steadily al ana ppoaigionsly IN
amount which absolutely dwarf all previous de-
velopments of our trade beyond the sea. From
1860 to the present time the foreign commerce
of the United States, divided with approximate
equality between exports and imports,) reached
the aggregate OF e dn 10y THOU
balance in this vast commerce inclined in our
favor, but 1t would have been much larger if our
trade with the countries of America, elsewhere
referred to- had been more wisely adjusted.
1t Is difficult even to appreciate the magni-
tude of our export trade since 1850. and we can
gain correct conception OF 1T only by compar-
ison with preceding results in the same field.
The total exports from the UnitedStates from the
Declaration of Independence in 1776 down to the
day of Lincoln's election in 1860, added to all
that had previously been exported from the
American Colonies from their original settle-
millions Of dollars (s9,U0000J,000. On the other
hand our exports from 1860 to the close of the
Whoe Of It
being the product Of American labor Evil
IDENTIFY protective tariff has not injured our
export trade when, under its influence, we ex-
ported in twenty four years forty per cent.
more than the total amount that had been ex-
ported in the entire previous history OF Amer
lean commerce. All the details, when ana
lyzed, correspond with this gigantic result. The
commercial cities of the Union never had such
growth as they have enjoyed since 1860: Our
dependencies, has within that period doubled
her population and increased her wealth fve-
fold. During the same period the imports and
exports which have entered and left her harbor
are more than double in bulk and value the
whole amount imported and exported between
Island of Manhattan and the outbreak of the
civil war in 1860.
AGRICULTURE AND THE TARIFF.
The agricultural interest is by far the largest
in the nation, and is entitled in every adjust
ment of revenue laws to the first consideration
Any policy hostile to the fullest development
of agriculture in the United States must be
abandoned. Realizing this fact, the opponents
OF the present system of revenue have labored
United States that they are robbed by a protec-
tive tariff and the effort is thus made to con-
solidate their vast influence in favor of free
trade. But happily the farmers of America are
intelligent and cannot be mislead by sOphistry
when conclusive facts are before them They
years. wealth has not been acquired in one
section or by one interest at the expense of
another section or another interest They see
that the agricultural States have made even
more rapid progress than the manufacturing
States. y ''}s ~ ~ .fsls i.lt4 fft-i t'iii
The farmers see that in 1860 Massachusetts,
and Illinois had about the same wealth-be-
tween eight and nine hundred million do liars
each-and that in 1880 Massachusetts had adj
vanced to twenty-six hundred millions, while