The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1884-10-09
A FALSE ISSUE.

The condition OF our country presents for
our consideration economic and political
problems which demand wise and reasOna-
BILE solution at our hands. Some of them are
new, and appeal to forces not hitherto known
in our National politics ] refer to the fact
that we now witness direct appeals by candi-
dates for tho Presidency. and the parties that
support them, to the prejutiices and supposed
interests of classes OF our cOuntrymen whose
interests are alleged 10 be distinct and at
variance with those of other classes. To state
the question simply, 1t is the attempt TO create
and force an issue between the laboring
classes, so-called, and the owners OF capital
This is IN nv Judgment a false un-Ameri.
can and wholly unadmissable issue 10 be
raised. This country undoubtedly was in
tended to be governed in the interests, not of
any class, but of all classes Of our population.
1t was intended that noue should have priv
leges denied to others, which simply meant
that none were TO have separate privileges
and it will be vain to search through any
public paper, in which the welfare of the
whole people, and nothing sess than the whole
people, was declared to be the object of the
American GoVernment. +
1t is clear to me that if this line of argument
Is to be followed, aud issues are to be created
and fostered between the capital and labor of
the country, or between different CLASSES and
enplOymcnts of our citizens, that in such a
struggle victory must ultimately be declared
after long AMI disa strous conflict. in favor of
one or the other; that there is TO be at the
end of such 4 struggle a victor and a van
quishe party. There is nothing in such 3
spectacle that | think justifable to the ifea of
the American Constitution and the man who
contemplate Il may be justly regarded as the
foe To liberty and the American form OF Gov
ernmcnt
A MASTER OF PRETENsIoN.
Now, Mr.. Blaine in his famous letter has
laid down his prctensionS. ard Mr.. Blaine.
you know, Il master of prctenSion. He has
taken care to claim everyth Ing-au- the bless
ings of a free Government, all the ad van
tages Of human invention and industry the
very bounty OF the soil. the unlimited terri
tory. the steamboat and railway, the tele-
phone, The very sun that warns. the breeze
that co D!s the rains that fruc'ify, and even the
natural increase OF Population, not to speak
of the assisted imEligrat on OF labor all that
the toll OF men and women has produced in
the [ n.tel States has been seized by Il is can
didate for public honor and respect, aud
held up by him as due TO Il high protective
tariff.
TIE UNJUST TARIFF SYSTEM.
On the contrary. make hold. in direct OBJ
position to the statements and claims of "
Blaine, 10 aver, and call the reco d of history
as my witness. tlIata sense of injustice ere
ated by an unjust system of laying tariff
taxes has Produced more local Jealousy, more
sectional feeling. more arrangements Le-
tween cur countrymca than any other single
cause; that it has caused labor to organize
in discomfort for lack Of steady employment
ana compensatory wages. hsi@ nlied tue land
with VIOLENCE and threats of Violence, has
strained he rue of law, and promises TO bring
in the military arm OF force as customary
has cmbo.dencd and induced the dem
agogue TO appear i'll our midst. But
for the acceptance of such doctrines
as MIR Blaine advocates and his
party approves in respect to the use of the
taxing power. but for the tone of public
tn ught and feeling gradually generated by
such 4 mercenary spirit and abuse of Il great
pubic trust, DO not he ieve such a spectacle
cou d he witnessed in the United States as IS
now, that candidate who has fattened upon
every abuse that our laws conta H. and vet
ha- frsara ,a1 Of 10
justice should now be running up and dowa
the land Offering himself as the special friend
of the labOring man, whose scant earnings
nave gone largely 10 swell his vast fortune
and the Zoe OF mOnUDolIes which have only
aGde to his wcalth-in cynical disregard of
all that right minded men value and respect:
affecting specially to represent the interests
of labor, and yet seeking to array classes of
society against each other hoping thereby
out Of the general ruin to feed tat MS grudges
against dcccGcy AMI good order at the cost OF
the public peace and welfare.
1t is this system Of taxation which. while
producing a revenue OF more than 500 0J0,-
living upon the American iaborer and upon
the AInerscjln consumer to the extent, at
least, Of five times that amount. in addition
TO tins il has gradually scaled up the products
of manufacturers within the home market.
rendering il impossible for them probably to
increase their 3rOduct, or even. as il would
seem. to maintain lis present voume. much
less TO expand their 50 eS into 70 eign mar
ketS. when OycrprOductlon has Sutted the
home market.
THE SOUTHERN QUESTION.
Think for one moment Of the class and
character Of mon who have been authorized
- represent tine government Of the Union
to the Southern pcDn @. Did they represent
It's benignity,-its honesty or its Justice, on
the contrary, Che rising eenerdtioI of the
Southern SAFES, il they measured their Coy
crnmcnt 10y its agents, would be ObiIcd to
conSidC.' lis functions were to eXtort unnec-
essary taSe5 To harrasS the taYDa"cr, to
alfFar sr.HH
grace upoa republican Institutions
After tfteen- YEARS of public service rs q
memoer o! the Senatc-the confirming body
of al executive aDpointmentS-i profess that
/ have known but few cases. some rare eN-
ceptiOuS. where the men appointed to public
office under the Federal Govern ment in the
Southern States would have possibly been
chosen for the same Office in a Northern
State. When have protested against this.
the answer :: "Wha. can we 10, Such men
-ha Is they arc are the D. st we can get in
the Southern ateS IN the ranks of the he
publican party" Look also a the kind of
men with whom political alliances are
promptly made hy tae Republican party III the
EDutn. ..IN..
Look at the Cash family in South Carolina
red-a .ndra murlerurs and deSrcrddOeS. the
class who have teen painted AZ typical
Southern men-ruiliauS in brOadclOth- vet
young Cash died t. O'her day dcfying the
legal process OF the Stale and its Officers. with
a [ nited States DepuT5- Marihals commission
in lis pocket.
ook at Chalmers in Mississippi. gaaetted
for years b. the Republican press as the muir
derer of -rlOrci troops mt Fort Pillow. Yet he
is taken 10 the bosom of the Republican party
ana paid fees as al attorney t. prOSec Itc ms
political opponents in thecourtS ofthe United
STATES.
Look 1T Virginia. O shade OF Washington,
O sacred tomb at Mount Vernon! Witness
there the sacrifice of State honor-the repu-
datio1 of State obligations, the degradat on
of every function of state government, the
overthrow of every institution of good go--
ernmcnt, to place corrupt jObber and ca
jOler of negro votes in the Senate of the
United States, and in control of the entire
patronage of the Government of that Old
Dominion, the Mother OF States and States
men
A POLICY OF INJUSTICE.
Fellow c0Cntrymen, the war for the SuDreGl-
acy of the Union ended in the complete over
throw of is opponents nearly twenty years
ago. Whatever reasons may once have been
thought 10 exist TO, such Il policy and system
of antagOniStic and diSUrustful legislation
against the white people OF the Southern
States can now b. no Longer alleged. When.
as the price of party adhesion. We see A1er-
man ami heyin the Cabin t. and Iongstreet
and MoSby in foreign missions, and Malone
ana Cash and Chalmers ali ia the close en-
brace OF the Republican leaders we may know
that the Republican party does trust the
South when il thus beStowS Office and poTet.
upon the least trustworthy.
Therefore. tarraign az the isar Of IN honest
and patriotic pa:nic opinion the men an / the
party who haze de USED and continue poli-
cy of injustice and alienation toward nearly
ohe-haif tho States OF this Union. charge
them here, AMI in the ftli View of our conn
try. with proSt duiilg and pefverting the
great public power Of Government for low,
narrow AMI sectional party ends.
The proofs are written on the pages Of his
tory. OErstatute books contain them. The
decisions Of the Suprcme Court denying the
conStitutionality of these laws attest them.
The blue book with It's lists OF incompetent
dishonest and corrupt oihceholders attests
them. The rec rd OF the criminal courts at
test them. Everywhere ami on every hand is
emblaZoned the burning truth that the rage
of party spirit has caused the Republican
party TO forget truth, justice AMI the Consti-
ton in dealing with the people of the South
ern States since the close of the war.
This alone is an issue sufficient for this cam