The Portland daily press., 1888-10-11
THE PRESIDENTS LETTER.
a Futile Attempt to Disguise the Real
Democratic Intent.
Arguments which Saow the Presi-
dent Is for Free Trade.
And which His Phrases DO not suc-
cessfulIy Obscure.

And which His Phrases DO not suc-
cessfulIy Obscure.
[Hon. I. B. Reed In the North American Review
The Presidents letter of acceptance $50
long delayed that 1t was in danger of being
fOrg0tten) has tinge of melancholy. a shade
Of sombre sadness. Ii illustrates most plain
ly one of the results of that second candi-
dacy, which Mr.. Cleveland In full finish If
youthful virtue, when he had not been cor
rupted by the pomp and pride of power.
Thought SO dangerous to the Republic. 1t
lacks lngennousness and directness. 1t
shows Willingness. to obscure by phrases
raise. ~
But, fortunately for the country. Mr.,
Cleyeland's beliefs are so strong and his con-
yictlons so deeply rooted that he cannot
h M disguise them. 1t is misfortune to
ms own lame that he has made the attempt.
10 be SO unacquainted with the feeling of
MS country men as to undertake crusade for
Tree trade when there was no occasion there
LOT; 70 be so unskillful as to disrupt the
party ne belonged to and to which alone he
owed the distinguished place he occupies
among men, might have been misfortune,
Dus 1t need not have been discredit.
10 be free trader, open and avowed, is
guided, small and select. 10 be a protec.
ZIONIST Is to have the SUPPORT and company
Of nearly al the great statesmen and nations
of the earth.
To be suspended between the two doc
trines, between earth and heaven. is to re-
semble the corpse in Mahomet's coffin. with.
out either Its sanctity or its hope of resur-
recti0n.
The American people might have felt 1t
their duty to overturn brave man mis-
guided, put they would have done it with
regret and reluctance. In dealing with a
man who Ielterates all the doctrines of free
trade and then loses himself in vague
asseveratlons TO the contrary, they will feel
n nesnef ioc nor regret put calm and
plain that we may see the coming day. Ore
gon, on the Pacific coast, with her varied
industries all threatened by what the Presi-
a zen, calls :, the extreme moderation" of Mr.
MISS bill, has given her opinion with
candor and an emphasis which has delighted
our friends and silenced our enemies. Yer
mont, the majorities of which seemed al
ready SO great that they could not be in
creased without bereaving the State of a
que quota OF Democratic federal officials, has
given her views of free raw material in
ngures that cannot be disputed Maine flor
whose election the very letter we are disens
sing was specially reserved replied in such
i las tnat AZ the explanatory ingenuity of
the democratic press proper, and of the
independent press, called so because that is
not its name, has wasted itself thereon so
valnly that the explanations after the cleo
tion are as unconyincing as the money spent
The President thinks that his nurnosas
and objects have been misrepresented and
evidently fears lest the people should be
mlsied. lie need give himself no uneasiness
upon these points He Is going to be COM
pesIe any 6s and the purposes Of him
The eyes OF sixty million people see ali that
| can be seen In their day and generation. and
the wisdom OF the many will always be
found sufficient. for a crisis like this in
oruer 70 assist In this understanding and
comprehension, we must anaiyze little this
new declaration of the Presidents faith.
| After suitable and reyerential recognition of
ms own feelings as President, which is a con
aensalion Oh tnat spontaneous and mutitu-
dinons tribute TO the personal pronoun OF the
first person IN all its forms which he orally
addressed to the Hon. Patrick Collins. at the
White House, when the news of his nomina.
tlon nrst reached him. he proceeds to develop
Ihe principles, the name of which he takes
SO much pains afterward to deny. These
principles are universally recognized by
every one but their distinguished author as
tne principles on which Great Britain has
desired since loao to conduct the business of
the outside world They are not positive in
tnelr form, but negative. They do not de-
clare on one side. but negative the other
Iney SO state tariff taxation and its effects
as 70 renqer protection impossible for any
one who honestly believes them. Free trade
| so far as 1t concerns our people. is an oninion
not phrase. 1t is a doctrine. not a name
1t is method of doing business, not a catch
word Ii the President were as eager to
escnew tne doctrine as he is to avoid the
name, ne might have spared us one whole
message and more than three-quarters of his
| letter OF acceptance.
Let any man ask himself: What is the
seyerest accusation which any political
S Mha3 mas brought against protection?
| what sums up all the supposed disadyan-
tages OF That system? There can be nothing
| stronger than the declaration that the con-
sumner pays the tariff tax precisely. and that
tne purchaser OF domestic protected goods
pays, price. for such goods enhanced by
nearly or quite the like sum. No free Trader
can De brought forward who can make any
stronger statement of his case. and vet this
Is exactly the statement which the President
niakes IN MS Message, and re- echoes some-
WHAT less polntedly in his letter. That this
may not rest on my assertion, let the Presi-
9ents own words speak for him. In the
Message he says. speaking of tariff laws:
These laws, as their primary and plain effect.
natd he Price 70 consumers OF all articles i'm
paid for such duties" f'' ''e oui'i
| and later:
| a., those VINO buy imports pay the duty charged
lnere9n INTO the public treasury, but the great
majority OF our citizens, who buy domestic p arfi
cles of the same class pay sum Al least annrox
marcy mateiy equal to this duty to the home manufac.
| ~ Tue ielter ne spreads it out more thinlv
as follows: o.o sn'n'y'
| :, II suppose 1t is needless to explain that all
these duties and assessments are added To th the
price OF the articles upon which they are levied.
anu lhus US, become tax upon all those who buy
| ueso arIcles IOf use ana consumption. sup
pose, too: II is well understood that the effect az
TINS tariif taxation is not limited to the consum
ers OF imported articles, but that The duties I'M
posed upon such articles permit a corresDOnding
lncrease IA prices TO be laid upon domestic pro-
anctl , OF the same kind, which increase, bald
| ~ all our people and consumers of home produc-
lions, and entering every American home. consti
ast t form Of taxation as certain and Inevitable
hand OF the tax-gatherer.n wy
Now what do these assertions thus reiter-
| ated mean? What is the practical imnort of
them, and what Is and must be the effect of
.nem on the business of the country if thew
| pe truer us not needful for me to answer
these questions, for Judge Thurman has
replied to them under the Inspiration of the
canadian air waited over the border at PORT
huron with lar more vigor than he exhib-
ited 1artner east. Judge Thurman declares
onas' unuel pfotectlon, for every dollar that
goes into the treasury of the United States
nve dollars go into the pockets of the bloated
manufacturers, and, broadening his calcula-
IONS. inrther declares that one thousand
IN hv he VI ao,iars every year are garnered
the candidate for the Presidency believes
what the candidate for the Vice-Presidencv
says. and Mr.. Cleveland's principles buttress
| Gnu ouppUit Juugo Inurman'S words. WHY
does Mr.. Cleveland claim he has been mis-
represented? Ii protection, for every dollar
II puts into the Treasury takes five other
unnecessary dollars out of the pockets of the
people, and If the whole sum taken uselessIv
out OF all the people is one thousand millions
Of dollars every year. what excuse has Mr..
Cleveland to offer for not being against pro-
lection? III he believes in the prIncinles he
enunclates now can he justify himself in not
entering upon crusade of free trader"
!. When MIR. Cleveland gets himself into that
quiet calm which follows complete and
solemn self-consecration by the peoples
chosen President of every faculty and en-
deayor to the service of a confding and gem
erous nation of freemen,' and finds nv
Judge Thurmans speech that that sconfd-
Ing and generous nation of freemen'' are
yearly robbed of one thousand millions OF
dollars, and finds that Judge Thurman
speech has the sanction of his own message,
VIII he not rouse himself even from that
blissful calm" and try to rescue this
nation of freemen" thus generous and
'confiding" from a system SO balefnl
Surely 1T cannot be that the President,
whose moral tone is so high ON Civil Service
Reform that even after performance has
Jailed to follow proclamation he still COM
mands the fealty of Mr.. George William
Quits, can be refusing to fling to the breeze
ms true colors because they are unpopular
Alas 1t is TO be feared that the fine gold has
been dmmed Of that President who at the
outset OF his swinging march toward ''reform''
| would not cucumber himself with avan fha