Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1888-07-13

eigner you must pay a fine of AZ per
cent. of the value of your purchase.
! So that when revised so as to conform
to truth and to the facts of the case
Mr.. Mckinley's prescription viii read
Reasonable restraint upon the trading
| liberties of those within our own Dor
ders is the dictate of enlightened pa
triotism and the doctrine of the repub-
lican party"-and that is the exact
position of the party to-day. If no
one in this country wishes to buy the
foreign product the foreign producer
cannot sell-and there is nothing to
restrain. If some one in this country
wishes to buy he is restrained by the
knowledge that if he buy he will be
fined for SO doing. The government
restraints an American citizen in his
desire and right to buy where he
pleases, and this is submitted by Mr.
! Mckinley as "patriotic and righteous"
He declares that it is "patriotic and
righteous for congress to enable the
American manufacturer to say to his
fellow citizen /" the laws restrain you
from buying where you please, you
must buy of me and pay my price"
And he could add in Mr.. McKinley's
own words, found on the 18th page of
his speech land if you do not like it
you know what you can do" that is
emigrate, go without, or pay the fine
imposed by the government on every
one who dares resist the exactions of
the manufacturer. This is republi-
can doctrine, pure and simple,
when Invested of its patriotic accesso-
ries of Sheridap's Ride and Marching
Through Georgia. But it is answered,
the country as a whole has wonder
| fully prospered under this restraining
| system. 1t is true the country has
prospered as it could not help pros
pering under any system of govern
ment or of taxation not Egyptian or
Turkish in its rapacity. But where
are the mighty fortunes Of this country
to be found? In whose hands is the
bulk of the country's wealth to-day?
Is anything like a fair proportion of
it found in the hands of the many in
this town, in this county or in this
state? In discussing the effects of the
tariff we are too indefinite, too dis |
tant, too vague. There are no con-
ditiOnS in some remote sections which |
should decide the question for this |
section. If a fair share of the wealth |
of the country is not found in the |
hands of the many it is not because
wealth has not been produced here. |
Ask old settlers of the wealth pro-
duced in southwestern Wisconsin in
the last quarter of a century. And |
when you have their answer make a |
search for the millions upon millions |
which their answers tell Of If you
find satisfactory share still remain
ing in the hands of those who pro-
duced this great wealth, then the ar
gument is closed, and in McKinlev's |
favor. - His restraint of the peo-
pie is both "patriotic and righteous"
But if you are not satisfied with the
share which you find in the hands of
the farmers and miners who produced
it you are morally responsible for your
part in creating an arbitrary, unfair
and unjust system of distribution of
wealth. Your vote has been cast in
favor of that system of distribution
which places the earnings of labor at
the mercy of few. Under the dis
tribution established by our tariff laws
the wealth of our country is absorbed
as with sponge. The roots of our
country's prosperity are in every town,
county and state in the union, but the
visible development of it is concen-
trated at great centers where its flow
ers and fruits are gathered by IA
vOred few. Its roots are found in our
| fields and our mines, where in the heat
of the sun and in the dampness and
| darkness of the mine men toll and
suffer and literally give their lives in
support Of that which excites the
wonder and amazement of the world
the fuDgus-like growth of our great
cities; the ostentatious display of
luxury, wealth and magnifcence which
they present. Most of them are not
yet century old, and vet their
power and wealth make the ancient
| grandeur of Nineveh and Babylon
seem almost mean and provincial
Within their gates you will End the
same cruel inequality in the distribu-
ton of the rewards of labor, because
the same system extends over all.
Under the very shadow of their mag
nifeence you Will see privations so
painful as to destroy your appetite and
disturb your prayers.
! But it is not there that we can most
clearly see the unrighteous results of
our tariff laws. Ask the men who
toll in our fields from the rising to the
setting of this mid summer sun, and
ask the miners as they emerge from
their days work in the darkness of the
mine, what is left to them beyond that
which enables them to continue their
labors and you viii find food for refiec-
ton. You viii see the fearful progress
we have made toward the industrial
enslavement of the people But it is
urged that labor in this country is bet