St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-05-12
AMERICAN INDUSTRY.
Congressman Scott's Plea in Its
Behalf.


WASHINGTON, May 11.-Mr. Scott, of
Pennsylvania, in his speech on the tariff
to-day said: Shall the United States,
with their mighty bound of nature and
giant industries, shrink from the Strug-
gle for possession of the worlds mar
kets? Shall we, the teeming republic
of the great West, G0,000,000 strong,
with inventive genius keener, labor
more skilled, than any other people on
the globe. decline to compete for SUI
premacy in the marts of mankind and
continue forever to trade among our
selves, under the insane delusion that
we are. growing rich by the process?
The bill is framed in the interest of the
people-of the whole people. We in
tended, in the first instance, to stay the
mounting surplus in the treasury,
threatening overwhelming and possibly
immediate disaster even now viSibly inn
pending, and second, to relieve, as far
as prudence would permit at this time,
the overburdened industries of the
country from excessive taxation, the
proceeds of which do not pass into the
treasury, but go directly to the sup
port of
GRASPING MONOPOLIES
which are for the most part combined
in utterly indefensible and atrociouSly
oppressive trusts. "A bill has been in
troduced (the Randall bilD by a men,
Der of this house and referred to the COM
mittee which provides large reduction
of internal taxes and deals very curl
Ously indeed with customs duties. TAX
ing it, item by item, we find this as
founding result: That for every dollar
of reduction of duties in the iron sched-
10 In1 70 In lN1,rI Of
public, already too OnorOuS to be borne.
An examination of the changes discloseS
the startling fact that the aggregate re-
auctions amount to but 1858, 600, while
the increase of duties on iron. ETC., pro-
posed by the bill aggregates over 50, 000,-
600. In short, this bill benefits nobody
and Injuries everybody. 1t finds the du-
ties on iron and steel an average of 40
per cent. and it raises them by so per
cent, or to nearly 60 per cent ad va
loren. From whatever point you look
at it, it is misbegotten, ill-shapen pOr-
tentous, unjustifiable monster, with no
excuse for existence and no purpose i'll
its life but to obstruct the Democratic
party and to delay the justice which
THE COUNTRY DEMANDS.
In conclusion he said: "We are here,
sir-we, the majority of the ways and
means committee, and of this house-in
defense of American industry. We
alone offer it projections; we seek alone
the independence and ACKNOWLEDGMENT
of domestic labor by liberating it from
unnatural restraints and allowing it the
undisIurbed possession and the COM
plete enjoyment of its own earnings.
The other side offer it-what? A mon
opoliZed market i'll which to buy the
necessaries of life on the one hand, and
on the other labor market subject to
the caprice of trusts. VIII laboring men
accept that generous tender and vote
with the monopoly party under coercion
of the employer? If they do the hideous
disaster f0reseen by Jefferson as the
natural result of the restrictive and
subsidy policy will rush down upon us,
and the government of the Union will
pass into the hands of those who openly
propose to pervert its powers and en-
ploy them to plumber the people for
their own enrichment. [ do not believe,
sir, that American liberty is destined to
be eXtinguished in this ignominious
fashion. Surviving, as it has, armed
assault, and every form of intrigue, it
will not perish of the base corruption of
subsidy, it will not be throttled by mere
greeds OF smothered by vile monopoly"