The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1884-05-03
JOHNSON CITY, TENN, SATURDAY, M


Tariff Reform.
In well-considered article upon
the Tariff Reform movement, the Bal
timore San urges that the present sys
TEN, besides inlpoverishing the farmer
it has rendered our manufacturing ac
tivities spasmodic. Instead Of giving
steady and continuous work, it has
shut mills and blown out furnaces, be-
cause of Cutting the market with
goods, and it has left the workingmen,
for months at time, to struggle with
idleness and poverty. The alterna-
tions consequent upon it have been
either q feyerish industrial excitement
or dead stagnant calm. The reason
for this state Of things is that the
home demand is inadequate to the alb
sorption of the supply, and there is no
other market open to us. Break down
the barriers of the high protective tar
iff and take the duty off or reduce it
on raw materials, and the genius of
our people will enable them to COM
pete with foreign manufactures in the
markets of the world. II the protec-
tive tariff, with its present high rates
of duty, does not protect American in
dustry, but in reality hampers it by
limiting its scope, its heavy pressure
upon all classes of consumers is with
out excuse. 1t is, therefore, a failure,
All the talk of the Republicans con
cerning the purpose Of the Democrats
to bring about free trade is a deluSion
and snare. 1t would be impossible
to inaugurate policy of free trade in
this country so long rs the Govern
ment has such vast expenditures an
nually to meet The line upon which
the majority in Congress is arrayed is
Il moderate and judicious reduction in
the tariff, levied during the period Of
war when heavy taxes were necessity ;
this and nothing more. The issue
should be made plain, and all the rep
resentatives of the party should join
in it and act up to it, and so clear
away the generalities of Democratic
platform utterances as to give the par
ty Il solid, unmistakable creed to fight
for. 1t has been the vague declara-
tons in past Democratic platforms
that have given the Republicans the
means of distorting the Democratic
position. 1t was naturally the policy
of the Republicans to misinterpret
these vague declarations into design
on tho part of the Democrats to intro
duco free trade and they now assum,
that free trade is the issue on which
the campaign is to be fought, in tn,
face OF the direct denial given by fact
l and evidenced by the moderate tarif
' reforms advocated by the majority 0
the Democratic party. They them
selves admit that the reduction in th'
tariff is necessary, aud their purpos'
is, if possible, to run the Democrats OF
: the field by forcing them to adopt tn
= fatal policy Of inaction. If they shoul'
u succeed in doing this, they would thel
themselves take up and reform th
u tariff and so consolidate their power
There is but one thing for the Demo
Gratis to do 1t is their interest an
's their duty to undertake at this session
% of Congress those reforms in the tari
'r which the masses of the people desire
'r The civil war is a thing Of the past
i its asperities are becoming smoothe
+ over by time; its system of taxatio
ID must wear away. With harmony i
or the party, the Democracy can plac
d themselves conspicuously before tn
III country as the true friends OF labC
IS and the true exponents of Republics
G. Government, and can enter upon tt
ls Presidential campaign with more tina
az a reasonable hope--with almost a ce
IR tainty-of success.