Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1884-07-24
ACCEPTANCE LETTER
Hon. J. G. Blaine Discusses at
Length and Ably the issues
Of the Canvass.
Complete Treatise ont Tariff and
Other Questions Of the Day
M. BIaine, sAetter Of Acceptance

Mr.. BIaine'sLetter Of Acceptance
AUGUSTA, Me, July 18th 1884
The Hon. John B. Henderson and Others of the
Committee, etc, etc.
! GENTLEMEN:-In accepting the nomination for
| the presidency rendered me by the republican
national convection, l 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 upon the
questions involved III the cOnteSt-queStIOnS whose
settlement may affect the future Of the nation ia
vOrably or unfavOrably for long series of years
| In enumerating the issues upon which the re
! convention has been singularly explicit and felic-
itOus. 1t has properly given the leading position
! to the Industrial interests Of the country as af
! fected by the tariff on imports On that question
| the two political parties are radically in conflict
Almost the first act of the republicans, when they
! came into power IN 1861, was the establishment
| OF the principle of protection to American la
| b>r and to American capital. This princi-
! pie 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 il. Twice within that
! period our opponents 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 Accomplishments more cOnSpicuOuSly than
| in their principal measure at the late session Of
| congress-.
THE TARIFF QUESTION.
| Revenue laws are in their very nature Esubiect
! to frequent reVlSIOnS IN order that they may be
| adapted to changes and notifications of trade.
| The republican party is not contending for the
permanency of any particular statute The is
! sue between the two parties does not have refer
! ence to specific law. 1t is far broader and far
deeper. 1t involves a principle of wide applica-
! ton and benefcent influence, against theory
which we believe to be unSOund in conception and
| inevitably hurtful in practice. In the many
tariff revisionS 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 pro-
| lection to American industry, while our
| practically destroys that policy. The
issue is thus distinct we'll defined and unavoida-
| BILE. The pending election may determine the
| fate OF protection for generation. The over
| throw of the policy means large and peTEla-
| nent reduction in the wages of the American
! laborer, besides involving the loss of vast
amounts of American capital invested in manu-
| featuring enterprises. The value of the present
revenue system to the people Of the United States
! is not matter of theory. and [ shall submit no
argument 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. for
the first time in our history, to obtain valuation
of all the property in the United States The at
| tempt was in a large degree unsuccessful. Partly
from lack OF time, partly from prejudice among
many who thought the inquiries foreshadowed a
new scheme of taxation, the returns were incom-
! plete and unsatisfactory. Little more was done
than to consolidate the local valuation used in the
J states for purposes of assessment, and that. as
| everyone knows, differs widely from a complete
| exhibit of all the property.
/ In the Census of 1860 however, the work was
| done with great thorOughneSS-th distinction be-
tween assessed value and g true . value being
| carefully observed. The grand result was that
the true value" of all the property in the
states and territories excluding slaves amounted
to fourteen thousand millions of dollars (S14000,
| U0oO00). 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 cOlOniStS landed in 1907 down to the
year 1870 1t represented the fruit of the toll of
| two hundred and fifty years.
| After 1860 the business of the country was e:s
aO1IJr1 nf1 I'd +-,is
At the end of twenty years the total property of
| the United States, returned by the census of
| 1880, amounted to the enormous aggregate of
| forty-fOur thousand millions of dollars (S44, 0GO
| OOO,OO0) This great result was attained, not
WithStanding the fact that countless millions had
| in the interval been wasted in the progress of
| bloody war. 1t 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 vassly enhanced wealth per capita
| among the people Thirty thousand millions of
dollars $1,000, DOC, 00O) had been added during
| these twenty years to the permanent wealth of
| the nation.
! These results are regarded by the elder ma
| tiOns Of the world as phenomenal. That our
! country should surmOunt the peril and the cost
/ of gigantic war and for an entire pc
Rod of twenty years make an average gain to its
! wealth Of one hundred and twenty-five millions
dollars Per month SurpaSSeS the experience of all
! other nations, ancient or modern. Even the Op-
! ponents of the present revenue system do not
pretend that In the whole history of civilization
y
gress 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 there
been such progress in the moral and phlanthrOpic
field. Religious and charitable institutions.
J schools. Summaries and colleges have been
/ founded add endowed far more generously than
! at any previous time in our history. Greater and
| more varied relief has been extended to human
/ SUFFERING and the entire progress of the country
/ a broadening and elevation of our national char
/ acter as people.
! Our opponents find fault that our revenue sys-
/ tenn produces surplus But they should not for
get that the law has given a specific purpose to
which all Of the surplus is profitably and honor
ably applied-the reduction of the public debt and
! the consequent relief of the burden of taxation.
! No dollar has been wasted, and the only eXtrava-
gance with which the party stands charged is the
generous 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 reduction of
| taxation is to be made, the republican party can
! be trusted to accomplish it in such form as will
most effectively aid the Industries of the nation
OUR FOREIGN COMMERCE.
\ frequent accusation by our opponents is that
i the foreign commerce of the country has steadily
decayed under the influence Of the protective tar
/ if In this way they seek to array the importing
interest against the republican party. 1t is COM
! mon and vet radical error TO cOnfound the com
J merce of the country with its carrying trade-an
/ error often committed 1nnocently and sometimes
dcsignedly-but an error so gross that il does not
distinguish between the ship and the cargo. For
/ eign commerce represents the exports and i'm
ports of a regardless of the nationality of the
vessel that may carry the commodities OF ex-
change. Our carrying trade has from obvious
causes suffered many discouragements since 1860,
but foreign commerce has in the same period
steadily and prodigiously increased-increased
! indeed at rate and TO amount which Gbso-
! lutely dwarfs all previous developments of our
trade beyond the sea From 1860 to the present
time the foreign commerce of the United States