The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-07-06
MR.. oLEvELAND's FRBB.rRADE LETTER.

The Presidents letter to the Tammany So
ciety was partisan plea for free trade and an
attempt to fortify the arguments of his mes
sage and mold public opinion in favor of the
policy to which he and his party are welded
We thus have the spectacle of President of
the United States, whose duties under the
Constitution are purely executive, making
himself the open champion of policy in
volving an entire change of our governmental
practice and complete overthrow of our
present commercial system. Properly speak
ing, the President of the United States has no
right to have policy beyond seeing that the
laws are faithfully and honestly enforced and
performing such other duties as the Corstitu-
ton devolves upon him. Mr.. Cleveland is
the first President who has ever assumed to
be the popular champion of particular
economic policy, and used the vast power and
influence of his Office to force his views on
Congress and the people. His course in this
regard is little short Of malfeasance in Office.
Other Presidents have confined themselves to
the exercise of the constitutional prerogative
and duty Of recommending to Congress such
legislation as they may have judged necessary
and expedier., and they have never done this
in q spirit of antagonism and coercion, much
less coming before the people as the advocate
of pet policy, and virtually characterizing
those who differed with them as either fools
or knaves, unpatriotic or dishonest. Mr..
Cleveland's ignorance of the science Of gov
eminent and of the constitutional restrictions
and proprieties or his position is only equaled
by the indecent zsal with which he champions
free trade and the coarse partisanship with
which he impugns the honesty or the intelli-
gence of those who differ with him.
His Tammany letter is on the same line
and in the same spirit with his free trade mes
sage Of last December, the only difference be-
ing that one was addressed to the Democratic
majority in Congress, while the other is ad-
dressed to the most bitterly partisan and no.
toriously corrupt political organization in the
country. As the st. Louis convention said,
the Presidents message was an Interpretation
of the platform of 1884, so it may be said the
Tammany letter is an Interpretation of the
message. Construed together they reveal
very clearly the attitude of the Democracy
on the tariff question. In his free-trade mes
sage the President characterized Our present
tariff system as ''the vicious, inequitable and
illogical source of unnecessary taxation" He
said every duty laid for the protection of
American industry raised the price Of such
articles to consumers by precisely the amount
of the duty, the plain inference being that all
protective duties should be repealed. He rec
commended and urged the Immediate repeal of
the duty on wool. The Mills bill does repeal
that duty, and its supporters cling to this as
the most important feature of the bill.
In his Tammany letter the President
refers to the protection of American industry
as "a system that benefits certain classes OF
our citizens at the expense Of every house
holder in the land and again as ''extortion
on the part of the government" and "a sys-
TEN which breeds discomfort" 1t will be OBJ
served that his attack is against the principle
and the system of protection; not against
moderate protection, but against any protec-
tion- Therefore We say the Tammany letter
interprets and elucidates his message. and
makes clearer than ever the posation aud pol