The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1886-08-11


These bills, both of them, menaced Ine IL
terests of the people of the State OF .,a, MILE
These bills put the products OF the iaIniIia = =
his hay, his potatoes and everything ae ae
raises, with few exceptions, upon the ,5o diuo
been the greatest blow which the farming
interests of the State of Maine, could nave
received. They proposed to place iuliiO0r ~ o'Sr
upon the free list That was blow az Qua our
forests. They proposed to put fish upon tlie
free list. That was blow at our coast =, anu ~
it was a peculiarly cruel blow: We haa Just
abrogated the treaty of Washington
treaty of which the Canadians, as you can
iudge from their efforts since. were eXceeu-
fngly fond. They desired our markeIs Ior
their fish. Our fishermen caused the Treaty
to be abrogated because they wansfu an,froI Go Of
our markets by the Canadians. FISH VIII
duty upon them means our markets 1oT our
fishermen The Canadians were WILLING,
and they would be willing today, 70 glvs gIts 70
all the fisheries about which the squapDie ,s 10
now going on provided they c9alu naSv n, ous ous
market free; and yet, the committee on Way
and means, organized by Democratlcc
House. proposed to give them our. Market
for nothing! What they were ready 10 pay
for, our Democratic brethren were ready 10
fling to them. But that bill did not pass,
and it did not pass because certain NUMBER
of Democrats voted with the Republican
party Yet those bills now remain on tne
calendar as standing menace against the
industries of this State. 1t is for you to
carefully consider what you think Oh sucn
proceedings and bring in your verdict
We have had trouble about the fisheries,
and much blame has been bestowed upon the
Secretary of State because he has not fnlsh--
ed up those questions. But consider what
condition he is in. We have no navy, no Ior-
tifcations. You cannot assume very hrm
tone against a nation that has both. lt
~. lafr dur
of Congress- to provide, if not for the present,
at least that in the future we should not be
in that condition. Now, the common ans
wer that has been given on the MOOR OF Con-
gress is, "Why, you Republicans had con
troll of this country, you aldna ahdfn aefnisa Hn
are to blame" That answer forgets history.
In 1866 we came out of the war, and we
came out of it in as fine condition as to
navy with guns as large and powerful as
existed in the world. All along the coast
we had planned and begun fortifications,
and you will now find near Portland the be-
ginnings of Notifications which would have
defended that city at the time they were en-
tered upon. But in the year 1874, the House
of Representatives was carried by the Dem
they have had every House since All pro,
positions for appropriations IN the general
appropriation bills; all propositions for ap-
preparations for the navy and all appropri-
ations for Notifications must come from the
House, because the House is the lmmedIate
representative of the American people. But
during that time there has been but one
thought reigning in the Democratic party,
and that thought was to produce the appear
ance of economy in the expenditures. NOW,
am not here to deny that, after the close OF
the war. it became necessary to economlze
in our expenditures, and l think that the
Democratic party in the House did the coun-
try some good service in that dlrectl0n. But
long after the war, long after the limit was
reached they still insisted upon lowering or
cutting down expenditures or rather the
figures of expenditures. True economy every
man is in favor of, but what is true
economy? Is it to lower figures on the
appropriation bills, or is it the honest expen-
diture of the public money for public pur-
poses? With an overflowing treasury, ought
the United States to be defenceless on the
sea and on the coast.
The very first Republican House. and the
only one, since 1874, began the work of Gre
ating navy. You must.recollect that navles
like everything else in this world, wear out,
and our navy had been not only worn out,
but it had become obsolete. wooden Shlps
in other countries had passed away, and iron
ships had taken their places. Under Secre-
tary Chandler the first effort was made to
give US some iron ships, and remember now
fierce the fight was before we were able 10
get the bill through, for in that Congress we
Democrats have in this House. What has
this Congress done inregard to fortifcationsp
What has it done in regard to the navy?
Mr.. Randall reported a bill for SIX hundred
and twenty thousand dollars to keep IN re-
pair the old Notifications which are of no
use, and half million which was included
in the six hundred and twenty thousand, for
guns for torpedoeS and munitions of war.
Think of i'll six hundred thousand dollars.
Why, it would not fortify the town OF Al
fred. Laughter 1t takes two years to
make gun. You cannot nowadays pour
metal into mould and have gun. A gun
is as complicated, almost, as a steam engine,
and it has got to belbuilt up, first tube, and
then rings around it, and Jacket and then
another covering, and still another. for you
cannot east steel in large masses and have 1t
solid. 1t takes two years at least to build
great gun. We have got, perhaps, half
dozen guns, the largest of which is an eight
inch. The largest gun which they make
abroad is a sixteen inch. Abroad they mount
twelve inch guns on vessels. we nave got
haps, in number; but we have no fortlfca-
tions to put them upon. Laughter. we
have not even gun carriages to mount them.
We have had investigating committees;
we have had commissions; Of one OF which
Mr.. Randall was at the head, to investigate
this question whether we could build ord
nance at all in the United States, and we
discovered that if we gave sufficient order
we could build guns here; and haVlng as
covered that we concluded not to give the
order. Naughterl; When that bill went i,ilgp up
it by ten, and they did not add half enough;
They proposed to appropriate Sc, 100000, and
Mr. Randall let the whole bill fail. SO we
have not single cent appropriated 10r the
building of guns: We have not even begun
ton in which this country. ought to be
if there be war with Great Britain? What
do YOU suppose Mr.. Randall said about 1t?
''Why," said he, I'VE will invade Canada;
that is what we will do. The last time we
deal by it, but have no doubt we could do
better now; yet, in the meantime, half q doz-
en- English iron-clads could lay every city on
our coast under tribute, and while we were
marching ON Canada they would be hrlng
plan to march on Canada, but after all l
Should prefer that they should not have New
York while we were doing it. Guns have
reached such perfection that they can now
be stationed seven or eight miles away. ana
throw enormous shells y, with l,,d precision ION
there is not single city that has any de-
fence. The English iron-clad could lie off
our coast in perfect security and absolute
safety, and lombard our cities. Is that the
right condition of things? And yet that has
been the judgment of the Democratic Houses
since 1874. 1 am bound to say to you that
Samuel j. Tilden advised most earnestly,
most strenuously and repeatedly, that we
should fortify and build guns, but even the
influence of that great sage OF Democracy
had no effect upon their desire to have small
er appropriation bills.
Have l stated anything about this that is
not fact? And if these things are facts, are
they not startling condemnatiOns? What
have we done about the navy? The naval IVA
ZOO o0o and tbe Democratic leaders told the
chairman of the committee and ne acknoWi.
edged it upon the floor OF the House-tnae
they never would permit him to pass Olll OF
that size, and they made him cut it In Two,
then made him reduce it to the sum of $3,-
100000, and that in a country where there Is
S80. .OOO. 900 of surplus in the treasury today,
We promised every Republican vote m and
gave every Republican vote for the $6,5OO,-
600, and yet he voted with the leaders to cut
it down to $3,5000o0, and they told our sen, .,
ate that if they raised the sum the whole phi
would be lost, and we had to take the 80, ,5oO,-
600 Well, there is one excuse for them. Two
wears ago we appropriated money enough TO
build two iron ships, and the Democratic sec
retary of the Navy has not yet advertised the
nIansl I suppose they thought if we did ap-
propriate the money this administrator
would never expend it, But we believe the
money ought to be expended, and were ready
to vote it and then let the responsibility resi-
where the people of this country would put, IL IL
Was that a wise action? That is one OF the
things upon which you must render YOU, yer
dict. During the last campaign you VIII re-
member that the Democratic orator, IN pro
portion to his size, figured the enormous sum sun
that was boarded up in the treasury. that MT