The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-06-10
WATTERSON ON HIS WORK
A SPEECH TO A LOUISVILLE
DEMOCRATIC CLUB.

He Went to st. Louis Bent on Having
the Tariff Battle Drawn on the Line
OF the Presidents Message Nothing
Extreme or Destructive Proposed.
LOUISVILLE, KY, June 9.-The Waiter
son democratic club, headed by a band of
music, and followed by a oonoourse of citi-
Gems, serenaded Henry Watterson at his
home in this city this evening on his return
from ST. Louis. He spoke reviewing the
work Of the convention, the platform, the
ticket, etc. The following are the notable
passages in his remarks about the
tariff and the platform: az
went to the st. Louis convention
with the single purpose to urge that the
line of battle should be drawn on the
message of the President and the position
of our friends in congress. l met there a
formidable array in favor Of limiting our
plan Of campaign to a simple reafiirmation
of the platform of 1884 and general in
dorsement of the administration. There
was from first to last no other issue.
THE PLATFORM OF S4.
sit is true that l helped 10 make the plat
form of 1884. Ii is true that spoke for it
IA tIC ndllOuuI C~iNcAbIOA VI blldt cur, IL
is true that for four years have put upon
it the construction which / thought to be
justified by the plain tenor OF its meaning,
but 1t is also true that the country accepted
it as straddle, and that this Interpretation
has stereotyped itself upon the pubic mind.
Merely to reIterate it, therefore, was to lose
all that we have since gained, to traverse
a policy which, in congress at least
has brought us union where there were only
Iii 70 lar frNy, gNl, al
ton and to fly the field in the face of the
enemy. l could not consent TO this. But it
is not true that | proposed any advance.
On the contrary, | agreed TO take the plat
form submitted by Congressman Scott and
Senator German, word fJr word, If they
would agree to strike out the first clause,
which, without any qualification whatever,
reafflrms the platform Of 1884
NO OTHER DIFFERENCE.
There was no other difference between us,
none at all, and whilst they made their
argument with extraordinary earnestness,
plausibility and poWec, am bound to say
they disclosed nu spirit That was not that of
honest democrats seeking the good of the
country and the party, anu when we
finally reached the conclusion
embodied in the platform as perfected
we stood as one man and not
as three men. But, fellow citizens. to res
cue them from the perils that befen the
party, and the ascription SO dangerous in
their part Of the country, as it would seem
of being caught in my company, let Inc
hasten 10 suggest that they maSa a mistake
about my opinions aud purposes. | have
certainly done all l could to fix the atten-
ton OF the people upon the rIinous exac-
tions of the tariff, the most unscientifically
laid in the world.
WHAT HE HAS SOUGHT.
81 have sought to force upon the authors
of that tariff redemption of the pledges
they made when they enacted 1t that 1t
should not oulast the exlgencies that called
it into being, and it may be that, in the
course Of the agitation, | have not always
been very squeamlsh ABOUT the terms used
to describe what the supreme
court OF the United States itself
has described as 'legaiiz3d robbery But
nowhere have proposed anything extreme
or destructive. | am builder by prefer
ence, conservative by nature, and no more
than the President no moe than Carlisle,
no more than my friends German and
Scott, would | proceed in the work of re-
form with any rash precipitation
THE FRIEND OF INDUSTRY.
~ am the friend, not the enemy, of man
ufacturing, of mining and the industrial
development OF labor in the sonSe of honest
Work TOT nOnesU wages, ana IL Uno demo-
Gratis of New York, New Jersey and Con-
necticut would take what think from my
own lips and not second hand from lips
puckered to lie for consideration,
they would hear nothing to brighten or TO
injure them. l want to reduce the war
taxes and my objective point is ii revenue
tariff, but in the nature OF the case we are
bound t. go slow. Rome was not built in a
day. The protective system cannot be got
rid of for years to come.
THE MILLS BILL.
THE Mills bill, which | support, is pro-
lection, not free trade measure. AS for
free trade it is not at stake and never will
be realized until the manufacturers put
themselves ut the head OF the movement
and put it through. The menace, like the
chimera Of the rebel brigadie.s, is a Pigment
of sectional and partisan malevolence,
gotten up by the republicans for campaign
Durposes 4"