Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1884-09-05
OPENING OF THE CAMPAIGN.
SPEECH OF HON. FRED. j. NELSON

The campaign on the part of the Democ'
racy was opened in this Congressional Dis
trict at Sligo, on Saturday evening last, by
great political mass meeting. The crowd
present was composed of the voters of this
county, large number of ladies, and sew
eral political clubs of Washington city.
The stand was decorated with flags and
brilliantly lighted with Chinese lanterns and
the sheen OF profuse display of fire works.
The Spencerville brass band was present,
and inspired the speakers and the audience
with the fine music it dscoursed. Hon. A.
l.. Greaves presided over the meeting. Mr..
Laird, Of this town, opened the meeting
with brief speech.
Hon. Frederick j. Nelson was then intro
duced, and sounded the keynote of the Con-
gressional campaign in this district. 1t was
chiefly distinguished for its candor and its
calm yet forcible augmentation of the issues
of the campaign. Rightly judging the cause
of the working man as the cause which de-
mands his championship, he clearly enunci-
ated his vigorous ideas upon the subjects of
their interests. He said
"Partly by your kind partially am your
candidate for Congress. AS such you have
a right to command me to speak out, and
l propose to do so freely, tearlessly and
frankly with bitterness toward none, but
with kindness toward all. l address myself
more especially to the working men of all
classes and conditions 1t is the boast of
the Republican party that it is the laboring
| Nat,to a,xl ,.,.n l.o
for you to judge whether make good the
denial. There was time when the Demo.
cratic party was nicknamed the "Great I'M
washed" Nicknames are sometimes very
significant. This name was given to signify
that our party was mainly composed of the
begrimed and dustcevered sons of toll.
This was true then; it is true now. Unfor-
tunately large numbers Of these same sons
of toll have been seduced from their allegi-
ance to their old friend This was not the
class that was present in the convention
which framed the national constitution
when New England, under threat of Sc
cession, fastened the slave trade upon the
country that she might trade her rum for
negroes upon the coast of Africa and then
sell them to her unsuspecting neighbors in
the South. Nor was it the class which
stood by Alexander Hamilton in his efforts
form of government The people, the "Great
Unwashed," the Democracy, of those days
were opposed to those things. They who
did them were the money arislocracy, who
desplsed the people and were afraid to trust
them with power. To affect their subjuga-
ton all manner of schemes were set on foot.
The power of the States was sought TO be
centralized with that of the general govern
ment. To accomplish this funding system
was adopted, by which the legislature was
to be corrupted, the purse strings of the
people manipulated and the alien and sedi-
ton laws passed by which free speech and
free press were to be muzzed Thus money
power had become well nigh supreme when
Thomas jefferson arose, that great bulwark
OF the rights of the people, thrust himself
among them, was put at their head and hurl
ed it from the high places in the govern
ment. Defeated in this, the same object
was sought by indirection. The war of 1912
came and to meet its exigencies the tariff on
imports went up. This was the new weap-
on In the hands of the money power. After
the war the tariff was to he revised and re-
duced to peace basis. Mr.. Nelson then
went on giving an interesting history of the
various revisions, dwelling especially upon
that of 1916, and their effect upon the coun-
try. lie showed the various positions taken
by the old Wing and Federal parties and
contrasted their actions to the power of the
former, of which he declared the Democrat
ic party of to-day to be the legitimate off
spring, as the Republican party Of to-day is
the child Of the Federal party OF yesterday.
lie uncloaked the historic actions Of this
latter party, which, instead of reducing the
tariff as WIS provided by the Act Of 1916,
raised it higher still in 1924, and even again
in ~ lSST- " 'thCii tils5Niie hdtionE d6t was
almost paid and no excuse for a higher tariff
existed. Then II was, he said that the cloak
was thrown Oh and the doctrine of protec-
ton for the sake of protection for the first
time boldly avOwed. He showed It's effect
upon the country in the creation Of an i'm
mense surplus in the treasury of taxes lev
led upon the whole country for the benefit
of a class who had embarked capital in
manufacturing enterprises lie ayowed his
unalterable opposition 10 this doctrine and
alleged that it is contrary to the constitution,
which limits the power of taxation to the
common defense and to the payment of the
public debt.
Passing on to the present he said, this de-
moralizing doctrine is the doctrine of the
Republican party to-day, as. evidenced by
General Logans letter of acceptance, in
which he hints it might be good
thing to build II Chinese wall around the
United States. Outlining his personal views
ON the proper public policy, Mr.. Nelson took
strong stand on u sale middle ground be-
tween protection and free trade Ill said,
as | am oppOsed Ia the doctrine ui prJtcc
ton for the sake OF projection, 81 an 1 OPP
posed Ia the doctrine OF free trade Rcmem.
Der / am not discussing theories; | am en-
deavoring to look nj this tariff question from
practical stand point. 1t has been IA settled
principle of this government from its loun-
dalton that its revenues should be collected
from imposts. The Internal Revenue sys
tenn is most hateful to our people, and
has never been resortcd to except to meet
some pressing emergency. Practically, |
say, the internal revenue system is imp Issi-
bic. 1t is odious to the people; il Ia cum
bersome, inquisitOral and the fruitful moth
er of perjury and population. Under its OPP
Grafton the rich grow richer and the poor
grow poorer. Now adopt Gen. LOgans
theory and build your Chinese wall around
the country. This stops all importation and
nothing is left but the internal revenue sys
TEN. Adopt the theory Of free trade, collect
no duties and again are we remanded TO the
| internal system. SO the extremes meet and
produce one and the same result. The safe
! policy lies between the two theories, and IL
is found in II tariff for revenue only--exclu
/ oifCiJ w phphS puiPOocot WIN wv iISi
| dental protection necessary for the encOur-
agement of such manufactures as really do
deserve protection. The only difficulty in
the way Of this policy is its application and
here il is that opinions so greatly divergc
| Speaking for myself, | say the greatest mum.
Der should receive this incidental protection
If any one is 10 be hurt let it be the few and
not the many. The greatest good To the
| greatest number is my doctrine. We are u
people Of fifty millions; Of these five mil
lions only are dependent upon the highly
protected industries. Forty.live millions are
put under tribute to support the five millions
This Is not right. If any number Is 10 be
protected, let ii be the forty five millions. |
am asked how will do this BY taking the
tax from off the hecessaries Of the many and
putting ii on the Injuries OF the few. |
would so discriminate that if the farmer or
the miner wished to treat his wife or daugh
ter TO q cashmere dress, costing in Europe
$290-representing TO the farmer bushels