Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-10-22
HERE, BOSS, STAND UP.
A Few More Sug gestiOns About
Your Chestnuts.
You Have Gotten Yourself Into an
Unpleasant Corner, Haven't Won s---
Pointed Letter from Chairman q I.
w. Vintsn.
Editor ARGUS:

Editor ARGUS:
Rock Island, Oct. 22.-The redouota,
bic chairman of the repu blican county
committee seems rather sick of this
mouldy chestnut about furnishing audi>
ences for democratic speakers, and has at
last been smoked out of his hole by his
last reply to the challenge to the Tariff
Reform League. He says the league fell
with dull thud; if so, he makes des-
perate effort to cheer his party from its
fall. Had he, instead of hiding his head
in the sand, come out and read the demo-
cratic papers or read their speeches, he
would have learned ere this that the dem
ocratic party has not backed water or
taken in sail on the tariff reform question
since the presidents message of Dec.
1887. If that was free trade message.
then every president since johnson has
been free trader. We would ask him or
his party to point out any symptoms of
hedging on the tariff question in the let.
tiers of acceptance of either Cleveland or
Thurman, both given to the people within
the last month. The Mills bill does re-
duce the amount of duties less than per
cent on articles upon which any duty re-
mains. To make the reduction Mr.. Mills
must count the duty on all articles like
wool, lumber and salt, which are placed
upon the free last, and not on whis-
ky and tobacco. He challenges the
statement of the league in regard to
comparative payment of labor in Eng
land and the United States. Mr.. Blaine,
as secretary of stated in pursuance of his Of
fetal duties, made the statement referred
to by the league. 1t may be that Mr.
| Blsine's statements made on the stump
in 1888 are more trustworthy than his
official report as secretary of state IL
1881 in which he says:
The hours of labor in the Lancashire
mills are tifty>six. in the Massachusetts
sixty per week. The hours of labor il
the mills in the other New England states
where the wages are generally less thai
in Massachusetts, are usually sixty-six t
sixty nine per week. Undoubtedly tn
inequality of the wages of English AM
American operatives are more than equal
ICED By the greater efficiency Of the latte
and their longer hours Of labor. If thi
should prove TO be fact in practice. a
it seems to be proven from official stats
tics, it would be very important ele
meut in the establishment of our abilit
TO compete with England for our share o
cotton goods trade of the world"
But it will be difficult to convince in
telligent voters that this is fact
Has Mr.. Wells and his party not We
learned that Germany has the highes
protective tariff of any civilized conntr
IN Europe except Russia, AMI pays th
lowest wages of any except Russia.
The voters of the great manufactnrin
city of Newark, n. J., where the demo
Gratis at their charter election few day
since made net gain of from 1900
5000 from four years ago, showed wins
they thought about the fallacy that a
excessive protective tariff raises wages
Wells asks why northern productions Al
put on the free list while southern Pre-
auctions are protected. There is vastl
more lumber in the south, which has Ju.
begun to come upon the market, than
the north Mr.. Mills own state of Tex
contains more sheep within its border
than any northern state. Does not tn
Mills bill materially reduce the duties O
sugar and rice, established by republ
can administration, law passed by re
publican senate and house and signed b
republican president in 1888.
The intelligent voter can readily under
stand why party whose whole stock
trade consists in persistently and wilful
misstatng the questions which they al
invited to discus8. should refuse to entt
into public discussion of the principle
in controversy with the Tariff Refor
League. Respectfully,
GEO. W VINToN,
Chairman Dem Co. Committee.