The Portland daily press., 1888-08-29
PRICE THREE CENTS.

OF unguarded expressions which reveal their
real intentions.
Mr.. Bynum Of Indiana. who seemed a.
anxious on the last day Of the fve-minute de-
bate TO show that his bill was really protec-
ZIONIST, allowed himself TO say In the earlier
days OF the first debate. ITO show how Am
eriean labor has been pillaged and plundered
by this masked robber Of protection l have
obtained" certain statistics
Mr.. breckenridge, Of Arkansas who twice
refused invitations and opportunities In the
nye- minute debate to declare himself against
''free trade" asseryated in his speech In the
general debate, This is the kind Of protec-
ton we have today. This. Mr..
Chairman. is not only foolish but Il is
wicked policy Of protection that it behoOyes
a people to prevent or escape from"
Mr.. Wilson, Of West Virginia, another
member Of the Ways and Means, roundly
talks In quite contemptu0us fashion Of "sueh
an antiquated and medieval device as pro-
teetlve tariff"
Thus have spoken some of the lights OF
the Presidents party, Of whom some are
greater and others lesser lights; some were
militia and some were regulars; but they
side.
1t Is worth while now to see how some OF
tne neld marshals and officers Of high rank
stands, as also the commander-in-chief and
tne second In range, who was selected be-
cause ne mad seen Rome and was about to die
Ihe leader selected for the operations Of
tatlyes was Mr.. Mills, Of Texas. He was se-
leeted with his antecedents fully known aud
aIter much and painful deliberation. The
country staggered under the surplus for
many weeks while II awaited the choice Of
Mr.. Mills. We are. therefore, justified In re-
gardlng Mr.. Mills as the exponent Of the
Presidents party. So universal Is the senti-
ment that he represents the party that Mr..
Henry George, bold and outspOken Free
trader, and consequently a bold and out
spoken supporter Of the President and his
measures, seems to have come to Washington
on purpose to examine with his own eyes and
other organs Of sense the leader In the House
OF his party. After full and fair examination
Mr.. George returned to New York, and over
his own signature pronounced Mr.. Mills "a
treetrader from base" But fortunately Mr.
MIL s position does not rest upon the opinion
Of even so competent an observer as Mr.,
George. Four years ago Mr.. Mills, having
perhaps at that time more freedom Of utter
anee than he has now, made a speech, on the
10Th day OF April, 1884, which can be found
position then:
"We must remove both by legislation and dlplo-
macy every hindering cause which prevents tine
free exchange OF the products Of our labor In all
arm and let every muscle strike for the highest
remuneration for Its toll. We must let wealth,
the creation Of labor, grow up in all the homes oi
our people. Then every industry will spring for
ward At bound, and wealth. prosperity and pow
er VIII bless the land that Is dedicated 70 FREE
The capitals are not mine, but those Of
Henry George, who makes the quotation
with due emphasis, so that the faithful may
wink incredulously one unto the other when
an inaccurate newspaper makes Mr.. Mills
deny the faith.
In order that he might have room to declare
his repentance, II he had repented, the pas
sage was read TO him in open House on the
9Th day of June, 1888, and he made no reply.
In order that Mr.. Mil might not fail to re-
4harf hat lf lrs.as gl..k do
Is when he saw 1t, Mr.. Burrows, Of Michigan
read to him an extract from another speech
Of his as follows
"Our policy should be 70 take the smallest
amount Of taxes we can by customs, and we should
gradually decrease the amount until our customs
taxes come alone from nOn-cOmpeting articles en-
tering our custom houses"
To this he also made no reply except to
demand vote. Really that was the only re-
ply he could make. He was looking then and
there into the eyes Of too many men who
knew what his real sentiments were.
Yet only few days before this unrepent-
ant silence Mr.. Mills had been TO New York,
York Times" said "No Democrat desires
free-trade." OF course no one believes that
he said ii. Ii only shows how newspapers
mlsrepresent public men.
But why should we spend 50 much time
upon details as TO individuals. when one
scene in the House lights up the entire group2
Mr.. McC0mas, the able young member from
Maryland, on the I'd Of May put TO the Presi-
DENTS friends the point blank question:
,,,,I why y IN this debate has every friend q the
TEN, which only leyies duties upon articles not
produced at home?
"Has any friend Of this bin In this debate uttered
one sentence In favor Of the American tariff sys
TEN, which diserminates In favor OF the home
producer and labOrerf
"I will pauseand yield a haltmlnute to any
member on the Democratic side 20 name the SEN
tence or the members name who uttered It,"
This challenge, broad as it was, could be
answered In only one way, and accordingly
Mr.. Hooker Dem.), Of Mississippi, responded
with a frankness and fulness which some Of
his shivering Northern colleagues must have
envied: mo, there was no one; and you
won't hear any Democrat utter one"
A curious little letter from the gentleman
on the Presidents ticket whose Roman firm
ness the proposed next Administration Is ex-
pected to need-in all things perhaps except
Civil Service Reform-reveals the sentiments
OF the one who Is to be second In command.
1t seems that Mr.. Thurman, habituated, as
he was to the customs Of theRomanRepublie.
had a scruple which the President, himself a
man Of sernples, did not share, against "as-
slstlng even 6y so much as letter at
meeting called to ratify his own nomination.
The Tammany braves, not understanding
the customs OF ancient Rome and fully SYM
pathlzlng with those Of modern Buffalo, were
angry because Thurman did not write a let
ter. Thereupon the noble Roman wrote an
epistle to Mr.. Cox to explain his feelings.
Now Mr.. Cox hasmade a speech fuller Of
tree-trade than an egg Is Of meat, Mr. Cox
IS believer in Bastiat and would no more
think Of denying free trade In New York
trade In the House Of Representatives. IL
you want to know what the country would
have to expect Of Mr.. Thurman II ever pro
NOTED, listen to his enthusiasm over Mr. COx's
speech; Il have not thanked you" wrote
he Of July q, "for your magnificent speech
on the tariff which ought TO immortalize
you" Surely this Is recognition Of free
trade cordial enough to satisfy the stanchest
/ friend OF Great Britain.
AS to the views Of the President himself
we must have recourse to the great fact that
the substance Is what sensible people are after
not the name. IL his views are utterly, abso-
lutely and demOnstrable free trade doesit
make any difference II he denies the title?
The close Of the message-the One-tOpic mes
sage-remindS me Of the caricature which Car
lyle describes against the French Revolution.
The cook went out into the sbarnyard and
said to the fowls; How would you like 70
want to be cooked at ALL" Said the cook
severely: "You are lodging the question IL
Is a condition which confrOnts you, not a
theory. Free-trade Is entirely Irrelevant.
After whole message not one sentence Of
which sounds in protection 1t always did
seem to me that the declaration that free
trade was not involved in the discussion was
an exhibition Of monumental nerve. 1t Is as
II WNuuCil uilllRo udu CAOoC0 UuO VI hAo
wonderful attacks upon slavery with de-
claration that the question Of the abolition
Of slavery was entirely irreyelant, or as II
Robert IngersOll had finished one OF his
assaults upon the Bible by declaring that
Christianity had not been alluded TO. What
is the essence of free-trade? Ii Is the belief
that all import duties are added to the price
at which Imports could be bought II no tariff
law existed, and that all protected domestic
productions are enhanced In price by the
amount Of the duty on like imported articles.
But the President states this Fundamental
belief more strongly than even the Free-trade
| Club would dare TO state 1t. Whoever be-
| lieves that statement Is either in favor OF
| abOlishing the duties or In favor Of perpetu-
ating visible wrong, Is either a Free-trader
| or palters with his conscience, and the horns
| Of the dilemma areiso close together that
| there is no room.for grown man between
| them.
Why should all the English newspapers,
who have no motive 20 conceal their real
| opinions, recognize with one voice theiI new
| found friends? Why do all the free-trade
| clubs push themselves to the front, unless
| they know that they are welcome ana at
| home?
| When Mr.. Garrison Of Massachusetts ad-
i dresses himselftO a Democratic audience at
/ Hyannis on July 21 what more fitting words
| could he used than to say?-
II am myself thorough believer in absolute
free-trade look forward 10 the day when Gus
| tom houses will be regarded as the emblem on
| barbarism--an anachrOnsm In true republic