Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1888-05-03

bers being such, and looLs 10 $50" ''' sup
port her. And l go furih- "H SIT. l
believe that if Peter sheuiJ und "F' the
Of the Republican as a
whole. with the intention OF sn ting
them to slip through the pearly and
associate with the PERKS beyond, would
have big job on his hands. Il shterl
l want to talk as plain, practical an, in
a plain, practical fashion, to plain prac-
teal people: al f l went into detail on
question of tarI, tonight would pass,
dawn would break and day come and 90,
and night once more would be here, and |
would not be halfway through. Laugh
ter No; / don't think I'll talk to you to
to any great extent on the tariff question
to night. Laughter But | have few
words to say about protection. If protec-
ton is a good thing for the laboring man,
then the laboring man ought to be the hap
piest man on this earth, for els better pro-
tected than any other person in the world.
Laughter.
IS the abOring man protected III tins
country? If he is I'll take my oath it Is not
in the food he eats nor the clothing he wears.
The Republicans assert that he is protected
in Ais labor say he is not ! If you give
the American laborer twenty percent. more
wages than they do in England, Germany
or France. they have taxed him torty-slX
per cent. more than any other country IN
the world on what he eats and wears. And
if the poor oyerburdened fellow strikes,
panper labor is brought in duty free to COM
pete with the American labor they swear
they are protecting. Laughter
From infancy to old age, from cradle to
coffin, YOU are taxed and there is nothing
under the blue vault of heaven between
paradise and perdition that is free from the
clutch of this damnable tariff, and the only
thing poor fellow has to do to avoid it is
to go off aud die, and then that monster
dips its long, lean, lank, Shiny fingers down
deep into your grave after you have gone
back to that earth from which you sprang,
reaching after the twenty-eght per cent.
that the coffin owes the tariff. Roars of
laughter.
''The only thing that the Republicans
don't tax is water Laughter. Now
whether it is because as a party, they don't
like it, or because they don't want to, | can
not assume to say Air is another thing
they don't tax, and let me tell you the only
reason they don't is because they have not
vet discovered a microscope strong enough
to fad Il point upon which they can stick a
stamp. Prolonged laughter. There is
one thing else that they have left untouch-
ed that is Gods blessed sunlight, but l
hear that they have discovered natural gas
over in Pennsylvania, and, if before ten
years have gone by some Pennsylvania Con
gresham don't frame bin asking for tar
hupon it, because it is an unwarranted in
trusion Of the Lord upon their rights as
discoveries of natural gas, | shall be very
much surprised
For the next few moments the audience
laughed and shouted themselves hoarse, af
ter which, upon resuming, Mr.. Blackburn
referred to the condition of the laboring
man twenty-five years age, and contrasted
it with that of to-day He stated that the
Republican administrations policy had
bred millionaires in one section OF the
country and strikes and tramps in another,
and asked if six men worth S450,OOO,OOO
argued a healthy condition of politics.
He then referred to the surplus and the
causes of its accumulation; stated there were
10000 people drawing pensions and $780,
GOO more who wanted to draw them, all of
them survivors of the late war. Last year
some of the veterans Of the Mexican war
were placed upon the roll, but not until last
year. There were no Mexican war soldiers
drawing pensions previous to that Why =?
Because the soldiers of the Mexican war
aH Erei South. Laughter. He was not
opposed to pensions; he wanted every Fed
eral soldier to get pension, and it gratifed
him that there were so many Of them, be-
cause it proved what excellent fighters the
Contedcrates were.
lie referred to the land grab Of the Paci-
iic railroad, and then to the Republican adj
ministrations of the past saying Il charge
that from the day the Republican party
came into power they never passed single
law that benefited the laboring man and
never failed to pass a bill that helped CAPT
tai"
His sweeping denunciation Of the bank
ing system of the country opened the eyes
of the many who did not quite understand
the question, and summed up with saying
that they had mo more right to the money
given them by that law than the devil had
to the real estate which he tried to barter
oil 10 Christ from that mountain top in
years gone by"
He then referred to the condition of the
South at the close of the war and what the
people were obliged to undergo. His ar
raignment, in conclusion, of the Republi-
cans, their methods, etc, was in substance
as follows "They have made millionaires,
trouble and tramps. They never assumed
an obligation but to disregard it. Never
made promise but 10 break it. and never