The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1888-07-12


fortunes Is none the less robbery because II ID
done under the forms OF the law and ID
called taxation" Since the organizatf on of the
National Government no tarn hill has been
passed by Congress which has not been justi-
Ned either by the alleged expcdiency Of foster.
ing our Infant industries until they should
be strong enough TO stand alone or by the ne
cessities OF the public defense. The high-duty
tariff under which we live was enacted upon
the latter plea; but its impositions were con-
fessedly SO enormous and laid such burdens
upon the patriotism OF the people that IFS
anthors-not then dreaming Of establish
ing fixed system on any such basis
promised that its axactiOns should not
outlast the emergency which had called
them into being. Yet, nearly quarter
Of q century after the close OF the war, and in
the face Of all these facts both OF history and
Law, the Republican party has the dishonest
and desperate hardihood-I measure my words
Ito declare. I'VE are uncompromsingly in
favor OF the American system OF protec-
tion. We protest against its destruc-
tiOn. The protection must be
maintained" and in order that there
may be no mistaking its meaning and purpose
u goes on to specify that, il intrusted with
power, 1t will az TO the revision OF the tariff, use
Il to ''check imports. and II this does not suf-
fee to reduce the surplus 1t will favor ''the en-
tire rereal Of internal revenue taxes rather
than the surrender or any part OF that pro-
tective system" which it promised, when or
da,ning II to remove as soon as the needs OF
war should cease.
The issue thus made up and forced upon us
Is not one Of protection versus free trade. Let
no protectionist SO delude himself or lay any
such fatterng JUNCTION to his soul. II there be
q man, however, who seeks to precipitate free.
trade, literally to burn down the factories and
blow up the custom houses, he should support
this platform and bid Godspeed to its prompt
application and rigid enforcement, because IL
its terms could be carried out in good faith it
would culminate in such . glut Of an already
oversupplied home market and such consequent
loss OF employment to the American operative
as would surely bring the whole cdifce down
upon its authors, achieving BY command OF the
mob that which this party Of demagogues-liv-
ing from hand to mouth-refuses BY its policy
OF obstruction TO commit to the custody OF
statesmen.
know those who nave proclaimed i too well to
believe them capable OF thinking they can
carry 1t out or OF intending to try to carry it
out 1t 10 but trick issue trumped up for
present purpose They have exhausted yes
terday, and are reduced to the confidence
game Of making forged drafts on tomorrow.
They think by this daring flight OF the gam
blcr's imagination, this NapoleoEic disregard OF
all that has gone before and all that may come
after, to take the country by surprise
and to capture 1t unawares. They are
likelier to find in il their Waterloo,
for there is nothing. nothing what
ever back OF il except broken pledges, false
vows and sordid ambitions. 1t is simply .
reckless appeal to the cupdity of the capital
list and ashameless reliance upon the igno.
rance OF the masses, and particularly OF those
who are technically described as wagc-earncrs.
II this were the time and place II could be
shown that wages have no relation to tariffs,
being referahle in all countries TO supply and
demand. But II is not the time or place. My
immediate purpose Is to deal with the general
situation. not to enter upon an economic dis
cussion. want to expose the heartless insin-
cerity OF the party leaders. who-lcarning
nothing and forgetting every thing, and there
by showing themselves worse than the
Bourbons. who did remember something-have
disgu sed themselves as the friends Of indus
try and labor in order that they may, for their
own exclusive benefit, lease the country little
longer-since they have no power to sell 1t out
right-to the very combinations and trusts
they affect to denounce. This, stripped OF all
surplusage, is the real issue Of the Presidential
campaign.
Resistance to the reduction OF war taxes. and
ic and unjust, took lor q long time the shape OF
q simple plea for delay. We had, first OF all, a
deal OF talk about y tariff commission. Then
we had the commission. Though composed ex-
clusvely OF fprotcctionists. tn 5 commission, con.
ccdng the inequalities and expressions OF the
tariff, agreed to lower IT, and proposed a general
cut OF 21 per cent. Three years we're squan-
dered In fru tlcss Investigations and discus
si0ns, had not without scandals, and meant by
The authors OF the movement to be obstructive
Finally. the tarin commission. its report, and
its bill, were thrown out, and the whole
business had to be begun anew. Four ad-
ditional years were gained to the bene.
nciarioS n guhSidy ~ fart and hair
splitting opposit on to tie consideration Of
any plan affording popular relief by Congress.
All this while nobody pretended that the pro-
tective system was permanent system.
Everybody agreed that II was legacy OF the
war, which must be modified, and would, soon
| or late, be reduced to peace footing. II was
not until the construction Of this ,ron-clad Re-
publican platform that the leaders OF the Re-
publican party felt themselves strong enough
| to defy the record and to fout the intelligence
Of the time by the declaration that we shall
have no relief; that instead of lowering the
| taxes We shall increase them, and that II the
policy designed to check imports does not cur
| tail the surplus it shall be supplemented by
| the repeal Of the internal taxes, substituting
| free whisky for cheap clothing. and Offering
every man q premium TO become his own bar
| tender.
THE MASK THROWN OFF.
To this complexion has IL come at last. The
L
will serve no longer. So q new disguise must be
invented, and this new one Is the pretense
that protection, as they call 1t, Is not policy
| but y principle. and that the war taxes which
were not to survive the necessities OF war,
are here to stay. II the political charlatans
who have contrivcd this notified and audacious
sham can, through it, secure yet another delay
| and with it another lease OF power, SO much
/ is clear gain and they will take their chances
| OF evading the plan IT embraces when they gel
| into power; for, as said, they have no idea o.
/ attempting to carry it out, knowing as well ..
do that to do SO would be to precipitate al
i irresistible free-trade uprising among the be
/ trayed, starving and infurated wage-earners
| to whom they are now appealing with all tht
wanton wileS and wicked falSehOods ad
i dressed by the hump-backed Duke of GlOuccs
i ter to the widow of his murdered kins
| man. Irepeati il. proclaim II, il there be ar
| impatient ee-trader anywhere let him give
his days OF toll and his nights Of prayer to tn,
fulhllment OF the promise OF this Republican
platform. Like the original ordinances OF Sc
cession, which laid the axe OF revolution at thu
| very root OF the tree of slavery. though mean
to save it, 1t is the first step yet taken in thu
| United States toward the complete overthrow
| OF the customs system. can explain it onl,
| on the theory that monopoly, like slavery, ha
| gone crazy; contributing another illustration
| OF the saying that whom the gods mean TO de
| strOy they drst make mad. Is there conserva
tism enough on the side Of capital, are there in
dependence and enlightenment enough OF
| the side Of labor TO interpose between thcs
| mercennry fanatics and the ruin they invoke
| to secure the business OF the country withou
disturbing its order or values; to light the high
| way which leads us from scale OF excessive
| war taxes to the lower peace scale Of revenu
taxes with the mild glare OF open furnace
doors. maintained by moderate profits
yielding steady work and fair wages, o
must VIC be plunged by the cruel and needles
rapacity Of horde OF robber barons first int
the blaze OF y brief interval OF fictitious pros
perity, to be quickly followed by the impene
| trable darkness OF an endless lock tout, strikes
starvation and chaoss This is the logic OF tn
issue presented both capital and labor by th
casemated Republican platform, which, trans
lated into plain English, prescribes for poverty
taxes: for greater poverty, more taxes; and
for all other maladies, public and private, moth
| ing but taxation. Fellow-democrats, speal
feelingly because am the friend, not the enc
MY of manufactures and manufacturers, an,
would save them from run and the workpeopl'
from the despair, which are menaced by thos
who have sold themselves to the devil Of mon
ey, whom they mistakenly believe to be in pos
session OF the country.
There can he, fellow Democrats, no mistak
ing this Republican plan OF campaign. Th
platform and ticket are in perfect agreement