The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1884-07-19
The PIumed Knight Accepts-HIs
Views on the situation.

The PIumed Knight Accepts-His
Views on the situation.
AUGUSTA, June is, 1854.
The Hon. John B. Henderson and
others ofths Committee:
Gentzemen-Iu accepting the
nomination for the presidency ten
dered me by the Republican national
convention, beg TO express a deep
sense of the honor which
Is conferred and of the duty
which is imposed. venture
to accompany the acceptance
with some observations uron the
questions involved in the contest I;
questions whose settlement may az
feet the future Of the nation favor"
ably or unfavorably. For long Sc
ries of years in enumeratiDg the is
sues upon which The Republican
party appeal for popular supper,
the convention has been singularly
explicit and felicitous. 1t has prop
erly given the leading position to
the industrial interests of the
country, as affected oy the tariff
on imports. Ga that question the
two political parties are radically in
conflict. Almost the first act of the
Republicans when they came into
power in 1851. was the establish
ment of the principle OF pro.
lection to American labor and
to American capital. This
principle the Republican par
ty has ever sincs steadily NAM
tanned, while on the other hand the
Democratic party in Congress has for
fifty years persistently varied upon
it. Twice in that period our OPP
ponents have destroyed tariffs ar
ranged for protection, and since the
close of the civil war, whenever
they have controlled the House of
Representatives, hostile legislation
has been attempted, never more
conspicUously than in their princi>
pal measure at the late ses
sion Of Congress. The tariff question
and revenue laws, are in their. very
nature subject to frequent revision
in order that they may be adopted
to the changes and notifications OF
trade. The Republican party is not
contendiIg for the permauency of
any particular statute. The issue
between the two parties does not
have reference to specific law. II
is far broader and far deeper; il
involves a principle of willing
application and benefc.ent influence
against a theory We. believe to be
unsound in conception and inevi-
tably hurtful in practice. In the
many tariff levisions which
have been necessary for the past
twenty~three years, or which may
hereafter become necessary, the Re.
publican party has maintained and
will maintain the policy of pro-
lection to American industry, while
oppont nts insist upon a revision
which practically destroys that
policy. The issue is thus dis
tinct, well defined, and unavoidable.
The pending election may deter
mine the fate Of protection for Q
generation. The overthrow of the
policy means large and perman~
emit reduction in the wages Of the
American laborer, besides involving
the loss of vast amounts OF Ameri
can capital invested in manufacture
ing enterprises. The value of the
pres sent revenue system to
the people cf the United
States is not a matter of
theory, and shall submit no argu-
ment to sustain it, only invite at
tention to certain facts OF official
record which seem u coDstitu'e S
demonstration. In the census of
1850, an etfors wa made for the
first time in cur h's;cly 10 cbta n 8
valuation of all the property in the
United States. The attempt was in
large degr e unsuccessful partls
from lack OF time, partly
from prejudice among many
who thought the inquiries fore
Swallowed new scheme
Of taxation. The returns were in
complete and unsatisfactory. Little
more was done than to COZ solidate
the local valuation used in the
States for purposes Of assessment
and that as every one knows, diff
fered widely from a complete ex,
hibit of all the property. In the
census of 1850, however, the work
was done with great thoughtfulness.
The distinction between assessed
value and true value being carefully
observed. The grand result was
that the true value of the property
in the States and Territories, includ.
ing slaves amounted to fourteen
thousand millions OF dollars. This
aggregate was the net result Of the
labor and the savings of all The peo-
pie within the area of the United
States, from the time the first Brit
ish colonist landed in 1907 down TO
the year 1869. 1t repres ented the
fruit of the toll of $50 years. After
1860 the business of the country
was encouraged AID developed by a
protective tariff. AT the end OF
twenty years the total proportion of
the United States, as returned by
the census Of 1880, amounted to the
enormous aggregate OF S44, 0o0, Geo..
900. This great result wassattained
notwithstanding the fact that count
less millions had, in ire interval,
been wasted in the progress o. a
bloody war, 1t thus appears thai