San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1888-08-30
The "Old ROman' on the ROstrum.

Judge Thurman hos taken the
stump. At Port Huron Mich, he made
an elaborate and unanswerable speech
on the tariff. At Toledo, Ohio, he made
a briefer speech on the same subject,
which we take pleasure in laying be-
fore our readers:
"Mr. Chairman and fellow citizens:
1t has been my privilege to speak in
this goodly city of Toledo a number
of times in my life and never came
here to speak that I was not received
with the kindest attention and regard
by all your people, to whatever party
they might belong, and by your de-
mocracy with q warmth and hearth
ness that never shall be able to
forget. [Applause. I am, therefore,
here tonight gratifed, highly and
greatly gratitied, that / have once
more the privilege of saying o few
words to you. Renewed Applause.
I say "a few words, my friends, for l
have spoken already nine times to-
day. Short talks, it is true, rather
than speeches, but yet talks that try
ones voice and sometimes weary ones
brain. I shall, therefore, be very
brief in what have to say tonight
"Now the few remarks that I shall
make to you will be confined to sin
gle topic. Not that there is but one
thing that might attract your atten-
ton during this campaign, or that
might not be we'll spoken OF, but
there is one transcendant theme about
which so much is said, 30 much writ
ten, so much printed, that the people
are eager to learn exactly what is the
truth. 1 refer to the tariff question,
as it is commonly called, Now l
presume that there is not q man in
this vast audience who does not know
what is meant by the word tariff or
the term tariff law, and yet it can
do us no harm and may lead to pre-
cision of speech and to comprehen-
sion Of what ! have to say if l begin
by a definition of what tariff is.
TARIFF IS A TAX.
"a tariff my friends is nothing in
this world but o tax levyied by the
general governmentupon importation
brought into the United States for
sale, the effect of which is to raise the
price of every commodity thus i'm
ported, and also the price of all do
mestic commodities Of the same ma.
ture made within the United States.
This tax is paid by the consumer OF
the article. When your state tax is
levied it is levied on property, it is
paid by property. The man of much
property pays much more than the
man of little property, and the man
of no property pays none at oil. But
a tariff is o tax that is paid by the
consumer of the so-called protected
articles. He pays it, not to the tax.
gatherer, not TO any officer of the
government, but he pays it in the
price which he gives for every pro
tected article that he buys, Let me
suppose for instance, by way of IL
lustration, that an importer purchas.
ed in England $1,000 worth-no,
won't take so much as that, 1 will say
enough cloth TO make suit Of clothes
for a man. He pays for il then. say
SO. He brings it TO the United
States. Before be can even get il
out Of the custom house at the place
where be lands he must pay on that
a tar called q tariff, and the proba-
bility is, among the enormous rates
IN The schedule on wooden goods. that
be will pay a tax Of not less than GO
cents on the dollar. That Is, he vii
nay Sc on the SO worth Of clott
that he has bought Then it haI
cost SIC, that cloth has. Now if the
man who imports that cloth sells j
70 a wholesale merchant be must o.
course, put the tar that he pays Ontc
A IN the rYrice. Otherwise be wOulC