The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1888-03-03
TARIFF REFORM Va, TRUSTS.

injustice and outrage Of the Morrill, war
tariff showed themselves 30 conspicueusly
as to cause general outburst, a tendency
manifested itself among the Republican
leaders to consent TO general oyerhauling
and reform Of the tariff. The root idea
was that numerous industries had been SO
fostered and built up by protection that
they could stand alone without any further
government support. General Garfield
expressed the prevalent idea when he said
al am for that kind of protection which
leads to ultimate free trade; am for free
trade which can only be achieved through
reasonable protection"
These "voices In the air" led to the
creation by the Republican congress of the
famous "Tariff commission" This body,
headed by able men and some acknowl-
edged experts, after devotiDg nearly two
years to thorough investigation of the
subject, reported d bill to congress covering
number of radical changes and reforms,
which, had they then and there been
adopted, would probably have settled the
tariff question for many years to come
But the generally wise and statesmaDlike
recommendations of the commission en-.
countered an opposition that had not been
counted upon. The Morrill, war tariff had
built up a number of huge wealthy
monopolies to whose greed the wholesome
reforms proposed by the commission
threatened to prove a serious check. A
legion of smaller concerns imagined their
interests In like manner jeopardised, and
the outcome was that the whole tariff.fed
brood coalesced and materialized into that
octopus, or devil fish, which,
from that day to this, by Its huge lobby in
congress and corrupting control of leading
newspapers, has been able to
defeat every honest and well-lntended
reform of the many 30 widely felt and
admitted abuses and outrages of
our present tariff system.
Having defeated the wise and healthy
reforms proposed by the commission. In
spite Of their general approval by the
Of course the octopus found no
difficulty in strangling every subsequent
attempt in congress at tariff reform, such as
The Morrison bill, really based on the
of the tariff commission,
hough falling considerably short of their
lar reaching interests The Republican
party, succumbing to the power OF the
octopus, lost all Its earlier healthy leanings !
towards tariff reform and became
thoroughly resctionary on the question,
demanding protection solely for the sake of
not 10 foster and build up
young and weak industries only, but to |
hold the entire ocean at perpetual high |
de. This is the Blaine and Sherman
is what the Inter OCEAN and
he whole tariff mongeriug brood of the
press are bowling for, and is
he sole inspiration Of the hideously |
octopean yell against the
Democrats Of free trade, free trade!"
The system is exactly the opposite Of |
hat contemplated by Garfield, by the
.arif commission, and 80 ably portrayed in /
the Presidents message. The idea of
these latter was and is, that when any
particular class of manufacturing industries
~ act hi oh W. acto ya haav on h,fl< ,,v> ,,
protection that, through competition among
they can manufacture 80
cheaply as no longer to need protection, It
should be rsmOved,-thst is, we should
have Garfeld's "free trade achieved |
through reasonable protection" This Is
what the country In return for the high |
tariff taxes II has paid is entitled to and
ought to have.
But the Blaine Sherman Republican
saystem says, No. What that aims at Is
what Bismsrck's iron.clad protection |
system introduced into Germany soon after
the Franco Prussian war has brought about |
1t has led to the sudden building up Of
number of enormous manufacturing
establishments, which, however, In few
years resulted IN such over. production.
tIdt MI WClC thlCutCbtu WIFI Iulu Ny
among themselves. The
remedy" was exactly what We are rapidly
coming TO In this country. The German
manufacturing lords organized themselves
into number Of huge trusts" there
called conventions" but the object being
the same, to limit production, keep upl
prices at their highest notch, and squeeze
down labor TO the lowest peint This Is
the system prev ailing now in Germany,
and what the Republican perpetual high
tide system aims at and will surely give us
here. Already we have the steel rail
trust, the gun trust, the nail trust, the
standard oil trust, the monstrous sugar
trust, and 30 on, and so on. Republication,
in word, means running into universal
system of monopolies, combinations,
extortionary conventions-in a word
trusts; while Democracy means al
wholesome tariff reform, real protection to
labor, fair, open and honest competition,
and freedom for the people from the
tentacles Of the behemothian octopus
unified under the name of tariff and
trusts.
SO the Chicago Journal has Joined the
"bloated bondholders" in the cry that Col
Plumbs amazing discovery of crookedness