Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1888-02-22

because it impSrts valuable information
aud good suggestions. The point he
makes regarding the school fund is one
deserving especial attention. His idea,
too, in regard to q State geographical sur
vey is excellent. We hope Mr.. WILSON
Will fnd time to he present and impress
his views more fully upon the large body
of representative citizens who are certain
10 be here from all over the State.
WHO Is RIGHT AND WHO WRONGf
Truth Is an all important part in any
newspaper discussion OF argument. 1t is
what the reader is eagerly seeking. Soph-
istry, false premises and wrong ~cOnclu-
siOns may obscure his mental faculties,
and otherwise deceive and mislead him for
a while, but as surely rs The sparks fly
upward, or that night follows day, will
he learn on which side Is the truth and
award his mead Of praise, confidence and
reliance to the side that argUes the case
honestly and treats the reader rs having
proper intelligence and reason. His dis
gust and contempt will pasi over in
like ratio to the sOphistand misrepresenter.
This is an age of enlightenment and
Investigation. The public is rot going to
be led astray. 1t is bent on reading, learn
ing, observing and knowing for itself The
truth then is the thing, and the article it
self should have the convincing qualities
in *. Such an article is the following,
taken from that able and independent
newspaper, the Boston Herald. 1t should
be read carefully, and we warrant the
words it contains will carry conviction
with them:
Does it ever occur to the more ardent
advocates OF excessive protection under the
tariff that they themselves are the extreme
men of our present politics, aud that they
are in danger'of meeting the fate at the
hands Of the people which they are swift
to invoke for Others? 1t is instructive 10
inquire which is the moderate and which
the unreasonable position in this matter.
The protectionists 10 whom we refer
think they have settled the question when
they have called their opponents free
traders. Blu this name has been used so
often that it Is in danger o flOsing all effect.
Most certainly it cannot stand against the
enlightenment Of the coming debates in
Congress, and the discussion coineident
with and to succeed them before the peo-
pie. No party in America wants free
tnade. Noparty is advocating free trade
as a part OF its politics. Ii is simply i'm
possible, therefore, that q charge utterly
false on its face can be kept up after the
attention Of the people is called to it. The
people Of America are intelligent; they like
fairness IN public action. They will not
sanction action 50 manifestly unfair as that
OF charging men with being free traders
who do not favor free trade, and who repu-
date the name az applied 70 themselves.
This l5 the first extreme act which is
likely to attract the peoples notice, and il
Is the act of the protectionists. When the
people come to look into the term free
trade, aud see how it is applied in this in
stance, they will see that it is applied only
to a difference in the rate o fduties. There
Is a tariff OF 10 per cent. average, we will
say, existing. Certain men say that AZ
per cent. is too high a taxation upon the
people. They do not make this charge in q
hassy temper or In a reckless spirit. They
do IL only after cool examination, or per
haps We should rather say ample exper-
Ienee. They are ready enough to give q
reason for their attitude. They point 10
the fact that this IS per cent. rate brings
into the national treasury 500, GOO, 900 per
annum more than is necessary for the in
come OF government as conclusive on the
point.
They simply propose that the government
should 4 I'D per cent. from the rate OF
duties, leaving il 30 rer cent, instead OF
40 per cent Is not this eminently fair
and reasonable? But the politicians to
whom we refer insist that it is free trade.
Could anything be more preposterous? A
duty Of As per cent. ia protection; a duty
Of 80 per cent. is free trade! We may be
told that special interests will suffer.
Well, the cases Of special interests will
be considered in adjusting a bill. Bat the
fact is that the country has lived under a
much lower tariff than is noS proposed,
and has prospered. The most extreme
men, in Congress or ont, do not ask that
the rates Of duty De pnt back to where
they were before the var tariff was made.
They ask only a moderate reduction to re-
heve the people Of an unnecessary taxa :
tion which the accommodating surplus has
shown plainly TO exist. ,
This is neither free trade cor is il ex- (
treme policy with regard to the tariff s
The people will not rsYtrd that az the ex- Z
trene party OF the country that takes such 9
a position. lt is an insult to the intelli- i
genee OF the people, indeed, to say to them
tnat a party whi2h proposes to relieve
them Of SlND, on, G0O Of unnecessary taxa
alton By the rsductIna Of tariff duties from ,
III To 20 per " Is taking Anything Int r G
conservative step in their interest. The :
unreasonable party IL the party that con- :
nnues taxes, not the party that lifts them, I
and the people know it. l
We have shown that the tariff r~eforners Z
not commit the error OF adopting a rad !
lcal position. Bat even If they should err, =
they wOuld err in a right direction. Their r.
movement Is movement in the path of
progress. Ii assumes national growth, pa n
strength, national self-relianee.
Inc real extremists in our present poll. =
tics are IN another direction. They
are men who insist that our
country shall not progress. They
ADOPT an extreme conservatism.
when the proposition is made to them for
moderate reduction Of the tariff they say
10 effect: Not a dollar. Take the tax
iTom tobacco, make whisky free, but keep !
the nigh duties under the tariff sacred; or, q
u they must be touched, remove them Ii
rom the fewest possible articles that enter W
INTO the consumption Of the people" ia
We respectfully submit the case to the .
peoples candid Judgment. On the one "a
slde Is a thoughtful, q cOnsiderate, a rea- -
scnable proposition TO lessen the taxes of
the people by a moderate reduction of the 2
taIin. 1t proposes no change that has not =
tested by experience, that has not
received the sanction OF leading men of :
the nation OF all parties. It's end and aim Pi
Is TO relieve the nation from unnecessary II
tsxstion, as well as TO promote its material or
progress among the nations of the world. -