The Republican journal., 1886-10-28
Protection VS.. Free Trade.

In one Of lis Pennsylvania speeches }r.
Blaine said: The most prosperous, advanced,
intelligent and powerful frcc-trade country in
the world is Great Britain. The country which
stands most prominent. most powerful. most
intelligent under the protection policy is the
United States. Twenty-SiX wears ago the [ nit
ed States adopted the still existing policy. At
that time the wealth of Great Britain was twice
as great as that of the | nited States. We have
now run the race with free-trade Great Britain
for quarter of a century and the wealth of
that nation is not now estimated as double that
of this country. 1t is not even equal to ours
The wealth Of the United States to-day exceeds
that of Great Britain by Sl0.00000o,00o.
Cheers. If the free trade policy which the
Democratic party under Southern lead had I'M
posed upon the United States, and which was
changed by the election of Abraham Lincoln,
had continued, does any man suppose we
should have oVertaken Great Britain in the
race for development and empire: Take
the rate Of wages paid here for labor of
al kinds, skilled and unskilIed, through
out that quarter of century and com
pare il with that paid in Great Britain and
you will find that it is from - to even 100
per cent: greater. as taking the average
for the whole period. Take Ireland, which be-
Ing part OF and subject to the law. of the
British Empire, is under the domination of
free trade. suppose that by some miraculous
agency that island was placed as near to the
coast of the L nited States ii is now to the
coast of Great Britain, what do YOU suppose
would be the condition of that most fertile
portion of Europe in the course of twenty
| five years? | ask those of this audience who
| We're born on Irish soil. and there are probably
many of them, what would be the condition of
the land of their nativity if it was blessed, rs
their adopted land is blessed, by policy of
protection for its industries and governmental
| establishment to secure it? Gentlemen, take
that right home to your hearts. We present
for your choice American protection and
| British free trade. | regret to see. however,
that some of our felloM-citizens of Irish
! birth still vote for the free trade side. That
! has always seemed to me to be an anomaly
| for in so doing they vote exactly as England de-
| herited antpathy of Irishmen for England.
Let every man who looks to the material pros
perity of this country reflect that his duty is to
ensure the permanently of the doctrine of pro-
! lection. If the Southern States through the
Democratic party should continue to rule this
country for series of years, the protection svs-
| TEN will be destroyed for the Democratic party
with Solid South behind it is in politics like
| the gambler who plays with loaded dice. APP
| plause. Those States of the South are conSoli-
dated against the Republican party by maw-
| full means, by denying to men in color the rights
of humanity and by refusing to six millions of
citizens the rights which the Constitution of the
| Republic has guaranteed to them. These us,lrpa-
tons of the Democratic party we resist We
will resist them solidly and expect our resis-
| lance to grow stronger and stronger and be-
| ieve we shall be led in our struggle as hereto
! fore by the great State of PENNSYLVANIA. TGen-
cral enthusiasm.