Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-05-21


Of that was the immediate necessity and the
purpose Of the bill before the house. A sur
| plus was always dangerous whom there was
no proper means of expanding it, and that
| was the case now lie then said:
| | believe that SO long as actually have a sur
| plus lis application to the eXtinguishment OF
the public debt is the very best use that can he
ton tn nj il is either wise just to pursue fiscal
policy that taxes the people merely for the pur
pose of raising revenue to lie used in the purchase,
at a premium. of the Immaturcd bonds of the
government except so far as may be necessary to
comply with the requirements of he sinking fund
law.
Proceeding he read the figures of bond
purchases made recently, showing that for
4 per cent. bonds the treasury had paid 26l !
per cent premium and for as per cent
premium, costing in the aggregate $i,5OOO0O
more than the par value of the bonds and ac
Crued interest, and continued;
This is a situation Into which the government
has been forced by the failure of congress in the
past to take proper provisions for the reduction
OF the revenue. Millions Of dollars are taken 10y
the law from the hands of the people who earn
their money by their labor and by their skill in
the prosecution of their business to be paid over
to the bnndholder in excess of the legal obliga-
tions of the bonds If congress adiourns without
applying ia" remedy this unjust process must go
ON indefinitely, In the presence of such n situa-
ton we cant afford To quarrel over details A
duCtiun of the revenue, not by increasing taxa
ton, as some propose, but by reducing taxation
in such measure to afford the largest measure
Of relief to the people and their industries,
should he the great and controlling object to
which everything else should be subordinated.
do not mean that any industry, however small and
apparently insignificant should not b. carefully
considered in "A friendly spirit. But do mean
that the general interests of the many should not
be suhordinoted to the special interest of the few,
There Is fundamental and irreconCiabe diff
ference Of opinion between those who believe that
the power of taxation should be exercised only for
public PURPOSES and that the burdens of taxation
should hc distributed equally among all the PEG.
ple according to their ability..tO bear them, and
those who believe 1t is the right and duty of the
government to encourage private interests by the
imposition Of higher rates than the needs of the
government require.
Whenever propose to reduce the burdens of
taxation of the people, whenever we propose to
secure to each individual citizen the full fruits of
his own toll, subject only to the Tequirem ents Of
the government, whenever We propose to remove
restrictions 50 that there may he treer production
and freer exchange, the alarm Is sounded and all
the cohorts of monopoly assembled TO hear
the heraIds proclaim the immediate aud irretreva
bic ruin of the country We have heard it. over
and over again during this debate 1t has been
repeated over and over again in this hall aud gen
tlemen from New England especially seem
alarmed to the fate that will befall their in,
Gentlemen from New England predicted in 1916
that the duties fixed by the law of that date would
ruin their textile industries In 1850 all OF the
New England members voted for still further re-
duction of 20 per cent from what they had called
the ruinouSly low tariff of 1876. In the
free trade period, as the Republicans called the
decade from 1850 to 1860 the wool manufactured
product inCceased 4! per cent. and labor 3, per
cent [Applause.l The increased product in
New England was 81 per cent In hosiery the
nprr In he
product in New England increased 81 per cent.
In boots aud Shoes upon which the duty had been
reduced IL per cent, the increase in New Eng
land was SO per cent. the product in 1860 in New
England was more than the entire product of the
union in 1850 This what the Republicans
from New England had seen under low tariff.
Within eleven years after the passage of this bill
the members from New England would vote for a
still further reduction ii they did not the people
would send somebody here who would. lap
pause This was what they had seen They |
had seen their manufacturing industries growing |
and prospecting as never before. They saw the |
number Of hands constantly increasing, and the |
rte aof wages constantly rising. They saw the |
great manufacturing and agricultural interests |
flourish as never before.
But there was something they did not see They |
did not great monopoes and trusts created to
control the production and prices of the neces- |
sarieS of life They did not see colossal fortunes
realized by few individuals in a short period of /
time while the great masses of the people were |
hard to live comfortably and pay their |
taxes. They did not thousands of honest |
laborng men out Of employment parading the |
streets of city, or tramping to and fro on the |
public highways demanding work or bread. With |
these things under high tariff and class iegisla
ton we have become familiar.
Carlisle then declared that the panic of
1857, about which SO much had been said in
debate, mere bagatelle to that of 1873
which occurred under the protective system,
a nlaaI
by John Sherman to show that the senator
had advocated a greater reduction than was
by the Mills bill. He antagonized
he "home market" idea, and said the farm
,rs of the country could not dispose of their
produce in the home market, but must meet
prices fixed by the pauper labor of Russia and
India when they had to dispose of their
urplus, and the markets of the world were
Ilso needed to dispose Of the other products
# this country. We raised much more cot
on than our looms could dispose of, and the
,rice of that surplus was fixed abroad, and
he producer should have the compensation of
purchasing what he wanted at prices not arti-
icially increased to fill the pockets of the
Carlisle was far from well and he sat down
fter speaking an hour and quarter, saying
hat he would like to reply more in detail to
he arguments advanced by the other side,
nut his strength was not equal to it.
just before the tariff debate began the
hartman said that the floor would temporar
" be given to the member from Illinois
Bakerl who wished to ue heard on a cues |
ion of personal privilege. Baker said that
friday, at moment when he was out of the
all, words were spoken by the gentleman ,
rom Kentucky [Breckinridgel rejecting ON
is honor, rejecting upon the honor of his :
-
nd had read the remarks of Breckenridge re
Getting upon the manner in which the de
eat Of w. h. Morrisau, in the Eighteenth II
nois district, had been accomplished. Mr.
hartman, here is direct and outrageous 1
tack upon my honor, and the honor ,
my district said Baker Il | ,
url the words back into the face and teeth of
le gentleman as being grossly untrue" He =
aid be had encountered perfect catarast of !
efamation and falsehood since be defeated
Iorrison. These damnahe, atrocious false
Gods have continued TO flow in the putrid +
ir of partisan malignity, and the gentleman
-om Kentucky stands their sponsor in this
ouse- Lightning from heaven would con- n
line me, God would take my name from the il
Ook of life if l did not rise up in self-con- d
lined Indignation to repel the imputation. {
tell the gentleman the imputaton is wholly s,
Use. / challenge, challenge, challenge an C
vestigationi Lay on, MacDuff, and damned 81
be who first cries, hold, enoughrn
In the course of his remarks Baker said
at when Breckenridge started to join the
bel army his father, a sturdy old Unionist. u
id: "If could have foreseen this when y
lptised you and dedicated you to the serv- Il
e of Almighty God, would have strangled "
u then" e.
V