The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1888-09-22

- 54iScf IN sr--stNnen your Com
'A''iee visited me On the 4th Of July
i'' and presented the official an
a9upcemen. sDf my nomination for
'4e Presidency ofthe United States
of the Rebuhlican Convention /
p~nlsed as soon as practicable to
esNmunicate 70 you more formal
awDiance Of the fnndnation.. Since
sMttime the work, Of receiving and
aqaressing, almost dairy. large deles-
s4ipns Of my fellow-citizens has not
oW occupied all OF my time. BUT
Mlnsome measure rendered it me-
eesary for me to use this letter as a
n'NIum of communicating to the
ppiie my views on the questions in
Z, I'd In the campaign. appre-
sA&6 very fngtffy the cod1dence and
reslect manifested by the Conven-
ton, tnG accept the nomination with
feelbg of gratitude and a full sense
of the'espOnsibiitie5 which accom-
pany il
1t is amatter of congratulation that
the declarations of the Chicago Con.
ventionlpOn the questions that now
attract tie interest of our people are
so clear and emphatic. There is
further case of congratulation in the
fact that the Convention utterances
of the Democratic party, if in any
degree uncertain or contradictory.
can now h judged and interpreted
by Execute acts and messages, and
by definite propositions in legisla-
ton, This S especially true of what
is popularIyknown as the tariff ques-
tion, The issue cannot now be OBJ,
scured. 1t isnot a contest between
schedules, bat between wide apart
principles, The foreign competitors
for our market have, with quick in
stinct, seen how one issue of this
contest may bring them advantage,
and our own people are not so dull
as to miss or neglect the grave in
terests that are involved for them.
The assault upon our Protective sys.
tenn is open and defiant. Protection
is aSsailed as unconstitutional in law.
or as vicious in principle, and those
who hold such views sincerely can
not stop short of an absolute elimi-
nation from our tariff laws of the
Principle of Protection. The Mills
1 bill is only step. but it is toward an
06t.e It that the leaders of Democratic
A'ss'uzht and legislation have clearly
in mind.
The important question is not so
much the length of the step as the
direction of it. Judged by the ex-
ecutive message of December last,
by the Mills by, by the debates in
Congress and by the st. Louis plat
form, the Democratic party will, if
supported by the country, place the
tariff laws upon a purely revenue
basis. This is practical free trade
free trade in the English sense. The
legend upon the banner may not be
"free trade" it may be the more OBJ
scure motto Tariff Reform" but
neither the banner nor the inscrip-
ton is conclusive, or, indeed, very
important. The assault itself is the
important fact.
Those who teach that the imports
duty upon foreign goods sold in our
market is paid by the consumer. and
that the price of the domestic COM
peting article is enhanced to the
amount of The duty on the imported
article-that every million of dollars
collected for customs duties repre-
sents many millions more which do
not reach the Treasury, but are paid
by our citizens as the increased cost
of domestic productions resulting
from the tariff laws Y not intend
to discredit in the IS of others
our system of Ievyin ties on COM
peting foreign products, but it is
clearly already discredited in their
own. We cannot doubt, without i'm
pugning their integrity. that if free
Trade to act upon their convictions
they would so revise our laws as to
lay the burden of the customs reVe-
nue. upon articles that are not pro-
duced in his country and to place
upon the free list all competing for
eign products. | do not stop to re.
fute this theory as to the effect of our
tariff duties. Those who advance it
are students of maXims and not of
the markets. They may be safely
allowed to call their project "TaritI
Reform" if the people understand
that in the end the argument COM
pels free trade in all competing pro-
ducts. This end may not be reached
abruptly and its approach may be
accompanied with some expressions
OF sympathy for our protected indus
tries and our working people, but it