Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1888-09-06

crs,. by writer's and through the public
press. 1t is not necessary for me before I
proceed to that subject to speak of the
President of the United States and his ad-
m;nistration more than very few words
defy any man who has any regard for the
truth to say that Grover Cleveland has not
made a good President Of the United
States ECheers:l "A brave intelligent
-evel-headed, noble man. he has had
a clean, an upright and successful
Admin istration. Loud cheers.l Four
years ago he was elected. In the canvass
that preceded his election his opponents
predicted all manner of evils in case he
should succeed. He did succeed, and pray
what has become of their prcdictionsa
LAUGHTER and applause.] Where is the ruin
that was to follow the election Of Grover
Cleveland? Where is the disgrace that
was to follow his election! On the con-
trary, the country has been more quiet
moro peaccabIe, moro prosperous than it
has been for many years that have gone by.
Now, know the man, know him well, and
/ tell you, my w-citizens. that moro
upright and wise man do not believe
dwclls within the limits of tho United
States-Tloud cheers land he has noble
band of councillors around him, and not
the least among them is the distinguished
citizen of your own State, Mr.. Dickinson.
IApplausc] Cleveland knows not only
constitution, but he Knows full we'll how to
choose good constitutional advisors.
ICheers.l Having said this much about the
Administration, let me proceed to that
question to which I alluded in opening,
which is commonly called the tariff qucs-
ton. ..
presume there is not person within
the sound of my voice who does not know
what is meant by the tariff, and yet it may
aid US to-day if give a clear and precise
defin tion of what tariff is. A tariff. my
friends, is nothing in the world but a tax
a tax levied by the general Government
upon every article Of commerce that comes
into the United States and that is intended
for sale within our borders, which instant
ly raises the price of the articles. and
therefore becomes q tax Or burden upon
the people for every article of domestic
manufacture of the like nature with those
which pay the tariff tax. Now, we have
at this moment, according to the last adj
vices l have seen. about Sis, OO0 600 in the
NationalTreasury, called surplus revenue
that is, taxes collected from the people be-
yond the necessities Of the Government:
Those $4,000, 900 are lying partly idle in
the vaults of the Treasury of the United
States, of no service to any human being,
drawing no interest, earning no profit, but
taken from the pockets of the people,
where they properly belong, and where, if
they were now found, thousands and ten
of thousands nd hundreds OF thousands of
the people of the United States would
put them to good use and improve their
condition and prosperity. [Applause1 Tho
Democratic party says that this is a
wrong condition of affairs-that that money
ought not to be, like the talent of the men we
are tod of in the Scripture. buried in the
ground; that that is q very poor use to
make Of the money of the people; and,
therefore, the Democratic party say that
the main by this tariff tax, ought to be re-
duced; that the tax should be reduced so
that tho surplus will not continue to accu-
mulate. Our opponents, the other
hand, say it is better to let the surplus &C
cumulate; it is better to take the money
from the pockets Of our people; it Is better
to pile it up in the vaults of the
Treasury Department, although it does
no good whatever, but rather does
great harm; it is better to do
that than to touch the tariff laws OF the
country We say, on the contrary, that the
way to relieve the overtaxed people is to
reduce the tax; that the way to treat a
people honestly. fairly and wisely is to
take no more taxes out of their pockets
than the Government actually needs for
expenditure (Cries of ''Good, That's
right" and applause.l The issue. then,
is clearly made up between US. 1t is be-
tween high taxation on the one hand and
reasonable taxation on the other. 1t is be-
tween taking the money of the people OF
their own control, out Of their own peck,
ets, and bur~ing it in the cellars Of the
Treasury Department, or leaving it where
it belongs-in the pockets OF the people, to
be used as their wants, their require
eeEts, their intelligence and interest Oil
rect. Now, my friends, il the long pollti-
cal life have led I have heard a great
many false pretenses preached to the PEG
pie, q great many statements made that
were intended to deceive aud delude them,
but in all my life I have neve witnessed