Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-10-29


made four years ago. Grover
Cleveland had made one OF the
best Chief Magistrates this country had
ever had. Honest himself, he had by
the energy and purity of his character,
given practical vitality in every depart
ment of government to the golden
maxim he himself had solemnly uttered
at the beginning, that "public Office is a
public trust" He, moreover, was a
man of undaunted courage, and had in
ties, rooted convictions which he had the
courage to announce and enforce. Had
he been a weak or time-serving man, he
would nave hesitated to force the great
tariff issue upon the country at time
when nine men out OF ten thought 1t
would cost him his denomination. He
bravely sank all personal considerations
and placed that great issue conspicuously
before the country in his message to
Congress last December. That issue is
now the subject of contention between
the two great parties. The Republicans,
however, feeling the weakness of their
cause, are striving to raise side issues so
as to distract their followers from the
main question, and by miserable coup
de-mdin to bring detection into portion
of the ranks of their adversary. The
Murchison. letter and the reply of Lord
Sackville is their latest invention and
its fruit. The speaker then went on
to show that if there was any British
party in this country it was the Republi-
can, for its policy of high protective
tariff was virtual abandonment of the
neutral markets of the world to English
manufacturers. The Democratic policy
would enable our own manufacturers to
compete with them in those markets,
and at the same time furnish employ
ment to American laborers and opera
tives all the year round instead of as
now for only half or three-quarters time.
We propose to admit all raw materials
that enter into our manufactures free,
and thus place our industries on an
equal footing in that respect with Eng
lish manufacturers. To the Republican
claim that we can only compete even
then by reducing the wages of our opera
tives, we reply that Blaine himself Off
cially reported to Congress when he was
Secretary Of State that after searching
investigation he had found that whilst
the rate of wages in protected in
dustries in the United States were
nominally tri1e higher here than
in Great Britain, yet our superiority in
machinery, and the results of the work
of each operative in produced manufac-
lures, made the wages here lower to the
employer than they were in England.
This settles the question of competition,
and shows that under the Democratic
policy we shall at future day reverse
the fact that Great Britain exports
annually 81 ,060, 100000 of manufactured
goods to $105, 100000 exported by the
United States. We shall accomplish two
things by our policy-we will return the
surplus into the pockets of the people
where it belongs and where it will do the
most good, and we will insure steady
employment to the workers and an un-
limited market to their employers. For
the mass of the people, we will relieve
them from the blood-sucking trusts and
give them what they wear and consume
at less than monopolistic rates. We
shall, through that same policy, restore
our merchant marine, which the Repub.
licans have swept from the ocean, to the
empire of the seas, and make our whole
people prosperous instead of pampering
a small class into enormous wealth at
IlO GA pOAoO Vi Ilic IcSU vi tu0 people.
The speaker quoted from official
statistics and the textbooks of leading
political economists to show that his
arguments were based upon recognized
facts and their logical deductions. He
| showed that every advance in the tariff
from the time of the adoption of the
Constitution to the present had been fol-
lowed by decrease of wages, and that
every time the ta:if was lowered so as to
affect importations that wages went up.
He cited the years 1924, 1928 and 1912
as years when the tariff was advanced
with this result, and said that when the
last tariff had reached its full effect in
1S45, wages had run down as low as
they had been during the Tariff of
Abominations. From 1876 to 1860, a
period of tariff for revenue, wages
steadily increased until in 1862 they again
declined under the war tariff, but were
Immediately stimulated by the enormous
demands for labor to feed and clothe the
immense armies in the field. In 1866.
the high tariff still marching up, wages
were nominaliy high, but the pay being
in an irredeemable money Was only worth
fifty cents on the dollar, measured by the
price of gold. Wages have continued to
decline since that time, and whilst work
has been spasmodic the men, especially
in the protected industries, have been
ground down to the lowest pittance, so
that encouragement and strikes have
been the order of the day and an armv of
tramps have been turned out to wander
over the country as consequence of the
Republican policy of making the rich
richer and the poor poorer.
The speaker then discussed the Chi
nese question, and said that the people
on this coast owed debt of
gratitude to Mr.. Cleveland for
the prompt manner in which
he came to their substantial relief as
soon as the opportunity presented itself;
whilst his opponent, Harrison, had re,
fused to come to their assistance when it
was in his power to render them effective
aid. Not only did he refuse to aid them,
but as United States Senator he had
voted every time against even the most
moderate restriction of immigration of
the Objectionable race.
In closing the speaker said: "The
action Of the good Samaritan has come
down the ages fragrant with the aroma
OF sweet odors, whilst that of the Levite,
who passed away on the other side of the
suffering man, was the synonym for all
that is heartless and cruel in human
nature. You were lying wounded and
bleeding on the wayside and calling
loudly for help. Harrison, the Levite
was going down to Jericho, and although
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