Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1888-01-11
SHERMAN ON THE TARIFF.
The Ohio Statesman Makes q Strong
Speech in the Senate-Cleveiand's Ar
guments Shattered-The President
Extraordinary Message Dissected
from End to End.

Tor the distribution OF the TToSlueuC
annual message, and was addressed By
Senator Sherman. The Ohio statesman's
tariff argument is accepted here as the
platform on which his presidential
boom stands. The announcement that
Mr.. Sherman was to speak attracted
large audience to the Senate galleries.
The Senator's speech was long, but was
listened to with deep interest.
The President of the United States, he
said, departing from the practice of his
illustrious predecessors, dropped from
his annual message all reference to the
foreign relations of the country and to
the interesting questions IN national
affairs, even emitting the usual recogni-
ton of the Supreme Ruler of the uni
verse, and postponing all things, celestial
or terrestrial, until the surplus revenue
be got rid of This extraordinary
message he (Mr. Sherman) felt, called
upon to consider; to inquire whether
the dangers spoken OF IN it were ex-
aggerated or not; and to examine the
remedies proposed. The existence of
a surplus revenue had been a constant
occurrence before and since the close
of the war. Instead of its being
danger, it was an indication of the con-
tinuous increase of the domestic pro-
auctions of the country and its foreign
and domestic commerce and of the
steady improvement of its financial
condition. When. in 1906, President
Jefferson had the good fortune of a
surplus revenue, he asked lin his
message to Congress) to what purpose
the surplus should be applied, and eX-
pressed his belief that the patriotism of
the people would prefer the continu-
ance of the imports and the application
of the money ito the great purposes of
the public education, roads, rivers, and
canals" Gen. Jackson, when he had the
like good fortune, had recommended
the distribution of the surplus among
the states, and bill for that purpose
had been introduced by Mr.. Calhoun,
had passed both houses by large MAJOR
tiles, and had been signed by President
Jackson.
Larger SURPRISES had frequently been
dealt with wisely by Republican admin
istrations, being either applied by the
executive authorities to the payment OF
the public debt or its accumulation
having been prevented by Congress
from time to time, by the reduction or
repeal Ol JdA6S. 1HCSG
had been applied in the administration
of each OF Mr.. Cleveland's predecessors
(since the close of the wary without
other matters being neglected or
a cry OF alarm being raised. All
such reductions of taxes had been made
by the Republican party. The Demo-
cratic party had now had control OF the
House of Representative since the sue
cess of 1.-The Mississippi plan" Except
for two years. and had not in that time
originated or proposed a reduction OF
taxes. The only Republican congress III
ten years had by the act of March, 1883,
largely reduced both internal taxes and
custom duties to meet the very diff
fculty which now so alarmed the Pres
ident Why had not the President fol-
lowed the example of his predecessors
by using the powers conferred upon the
secretary of the treasury and applying
the surplus to the reduction of the pub
lie debt? Instead of that, and though
outstanding bonds were redeemable at
pleasure, his administration had
changed the form of the debt statement
so as to conceal nearly thirty millions Of
money as unavailable assets, and
had swelled the surplus for near
" year until friend and
foe alike cried out against it. If the
President regarded this growing surplus
as danger. why had he not, as soon as
possible, brought his influence to bear
upon Congress to provide for reduc-
Congress applied the remedy?
DEMOCRATIC oBsTRUCTIoNIsTs.
The Forty-ninth Congress had lived
its two years and died. Mr.. Cleveland
was then President of the United States.
The House of Representatives contained
large majorit of his political friends.
They alone had the initiatlve--the con-
stitutional power to introduce a bill to
reduce taxes Why had not that been
done? The only answer was that a
controlling majority of the Democratic
party would not allow a bill to be re-
ported unless it contained provisions
which Tin the opinion of a majority o
the members OF the House), would
greatly injure or destroy domestic pro-
duction. creating real distress, and re-
duce wages. If it had been the desire
to reduce taxes without reducing
American production, the task was
easy; but the enormous powers of the
speaker Of the House of Representa-
tives were used to prevent even the
presentation Of such bill; and in this
the speaker had, it was understood, the
hearty sympathy and support of the
president and secretary of the treasury
He (Mr. Sherman) had called the at
tention of the Senate, on the 18th of
July, 1886, to the precise difficulty and
danger of the. situation and to the readi-
ness Of the majority of the Senate to
provide for reduction of taxes and the
application of the surplus; and, if it had
not been for tue action of the President
and bis administration including the
Democratic majority in the House of
Representatives the taxes would then
have been reduced without endangering
domestic industries. Even without a
reduction of taxation the surplus reve-
nue. might have been applied for great
national objects but for the veto OF the
President, for the failure Of the Secre-
tary of the Treasury to exercise plain
discretionary powers conferred upon
him by law, and for the failure OF the
Democratic House of Representatives to
make appropriations for some of the
highest national objects demanded by
the people. The President had, on
mbaf he (Ar Gbo7 Yoo,,A ,.a0or1aJ n