Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1888-12-06

the health of our entire body polite. 1t
STILES, in those for whose benefit it is
permitted. all patriotic love OF country.
and substitutes in its place selfish greed
and grasping ayarice. Devotion to
American citizenship for its own sake
and what it should accomplish as mo-
tive TO our nations advancement and
the happiness Of all our people. is dis
placed by the assumption that the Gov
ernment, instead of being the embodi-
ment of equality, is but an instrmentality
through which especial and individual
advantages are to be gained. The ar
rogance of this assumption is uncOnceal
ed. 1t appears in the sordid disregard of
all but personal interests, in the refusal
to abate for the benefit of others one iota
of selfish advantage, and in combina-
! tiOns to perpetuate such advantages
through efforts to control legislation
and improperly influence the suffrages
/ of the people.
Our farmers, long suffering, and pa
tient, struggling in the race of life
with the hardest and most unIemitting
toll will not fail to see, in spite of mis-
representations and misleading fallacieS
that they are obliged to accept such
| prices for their products as are fixed in
| foreign markets where they compete
with the farmers of the world: that their
lands are declining in value while their
debts increase; and that without com
pensating favor they are forced by the
action of the Government to pay for the
benefit of others. such enhanced prices
for the things they need, that the scanty
returns of their labor fail to furnish
their support or leave no margin for ac-
cumulatiOn.
Our workingmen, enfranchised from
all delusions and no longer frightened
by the cry that their wages are endan-
gered by just revision of our tariff
laws, will reasonably demand through
such revision steadier employment,
cheaper means of living in their homes,
freedom for themselves and their chill
dren from the doom of perpetual servi-
tude, and an open door to their advance
ment beyond the limits of laboring
class. Others of our citizens whose
comfort and expenditures are measured
by moderate salaries and fixed incomes,
will insist upon the justice and fairness
of cheapening the cost of the necessa-
rieS for themselves and their families.
When to the selfShness of the beneficial
ries of unjust determinations under our
| laws there shall be added the discomfort
of those who suffer from such dlScrIml-
nation, we will realize the fact that the
beneticient purposes of our Government,
dependent upon the patriotism and con-
tentment of our people are endangered.
Communism is hateful thing, and a
menace to peace and organized govern
ment. But the communism Of combined
wealth and capital, the outgrowth of
over weening cupidity and selfish mo-
tives which insidiousiy undermineS the
justice and integrity of free institutions,
is not less dangerous than the cOmmun-
ism of oppressed poverty and toll, which,
eXasperated by injustice and discomfort,
attacks with wild disorder the citadel of
rule. He mocks the people who propos-
eS that the Government shall protect the
rich, and that they, in turn, will care for
the labOring poor. Any intermediary
between the people and their govern
ment, or the least delegation of the care
and protection the Government owes to
the humblest citizen in the land, makes
the boast of free institutions glittering
delusion and the pretended boon OF
American citizenship a shameless i'm
position.
A Just and sensible revision of our
tariff laws should be made for the relief
Of y.-hn
under the present conditions. Such
revision should receive the support of
all who love that justice and equality
due to American citizenship, of all who
realize that in that justice and equality
our government finds its strength and
its power to protect the citizen and his
property, of all who believe that the
contented competence and comfort of
many accord better with the spirit of
our institutions than colossal fortunes
unfairly gathered in the hands of the
few, of all who appreciate that the for
bearance and fraternity among our peo-
! pie which recognize the value of every
! American interest are the sure guaranty
of our national progress, and of all who
desire to see the products of American
skill and ingenuity in every market of
the world, with resulting restoration
! of American commerce.
! The necessity for the reduction of our
revenue is so apparent as to be generally
conceded. But the means by which
this end shall be accomplished and the
sum of direct benefit which shall result
to our citizens, present a controversy Of
the utmost Importance. There should
! be no scheme accepted as satisfactory
by which the burdens of the people are
only apparently removed. Extravagant
appropriations of public money, with all
their demoralizing consequences, should
not be tolerated, either as a means of re-
lieving the Treasury of its present sur
plus, or as furnishing pretexts for resist
ing proper reduction in tariff rates.
Existing evils aud injustice should be
honestly recognized, boldly met, and eff
! fectively remedied. There should be no
cessation of the struggle until plan is
perfected, fair and conservative toward
| existing industries, but which will re-
duce the cost to consumers of the neces-
saries of life, while it provides for our
manufacturers the advantage of freer
raw material and permits no injury to
the interests of American labor. The
cause for which the battle is waged is
comprised within lines clearly and dis
tinctly defined. 1t should never be COM
promised. 1t is the peoples cause. The
Government is not charitable inStitu-
ton.
1t cannot be denied that the selfish
and private interests which are SO per-
sistently heard when efforts are made to
deal in a Just and comprehensive man
ner with our tariff laws are related to, if
they are not responsible for, the senti-
ment largely prevailing among the peO-
pie that the general government is the
fountain of individual and private aid;
that it may be expected to relieve with
paternal care the distress of citizens and
communities, and that from the fullneSS