Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1888-12-06
THE MESSAGE.
GROWERS FAREWELL
NOT A SURPRISING PAPER.
He ReiteFateS His Views that the Tariff
Is a Tax.
He AFFaignS Capital and Appeals TO Class
Prejudice.
THE RED SPECTRE OF ANARCHY.
THE RED SPECTRE OF ANARCHY
A Few of the $4,000 Words.

CleVelanQS message TO congress was
read in both houses to-day. 1t read as
follows:
To tie Congress cfthe United States:
As you assembled for the discharge of
the duties you have assumed as the rep
reSentatives of a free and generous peo-
pie, your meeting is marked by an inter
esting and impressive incident. With
the expiration of the present session of
Congress, the first century of our conSti-
tutional existence as a nation will be
completed.
Our survival for one hundred years is
not sufficient to assure us that we no
longer have dangers to fear in the main
tenance, with all its promised blessings,
of a government founded upon the free
dom of the people. The time rather
admOnisheS US to Soberly inquire wheth-
er in the past we have always closely
kept in the course of safety, and wheth-
er we have before us way plain and
clear which leads to happiness and per
petuity. When the experiment of our
government was undertaken, the chart
adopted for our guidance was the Con-
stitution. Departure from the lines
there laid down is failure. 1t is only by
strict adherence to the direction they
indicate and by restraint within the lin
itatiOns they fix, that we can furnish
proof to the world of the fitness of the
American people for self-government.
The equal and exact justice of which we
boast as the underlying principle of our
institutions, should not be confined to
the relations of our citizens to each 9TH
er. The government itself is under
bond to the American people, that in
the exercise of its functions and power,
it will deal with the body of our citizens
in a manner scrupulOusly honest and
fair and absolutely just. 1t has agreed
that American citizenship shall be the
only credential necessary to Justify the
claim of equality before the law, and
that no condition in life shall give rise
to discrimination in the treatment of the
people by their government.
The citizen of our Republic in its ear
ly days rigidly insisted upon full compli-
ance with the letter of the bond, and
saw stretched out before him a clear
field for individual endeavor, His trib-
ute to the support of his government
was measured by the cost of its econom-
ical maintenance, and he was secure in
the enjoyment of the remaining recon-
pense of his steady and contented ad-
herence to it. In those days the frugal
ity of the people was stamped upon the
government, and was enforced by the
free, thoughtful, and intelligent suffrage
of the citizen. Combinations, monopo-
lies and aggregation of capital were
either avoided or sternly regulated and
restrained. The pomp and glitter of
governments less free offered no temp
tation and presented no delusion to the
plain people, who, side by side, in friend
ly competition wrought for the ennoble-
ment and dignity of man, for the solu-
ton of the problem of free government,
and for the achievement of the grand
destiny awaiting the land which God
had given them. A century has passed.
Our cities are the abiding places of
yield fortunes never dreamed of by the
fathers of the Republic; our business
men are madly striving in the race for
riches, and immense aggregatiOns of
capital .outrun the imagination in the
magnitude of their undertakings. We
view with pride and satisfaction this
bright picture of our country's growth
and prosperity, while only a closer scru-
tiny develops a sombre shading. Upon
more careful inspection we find the
wealth and luxury of our cities mingled
with poverty and wretchedness and un-
remuneratIve toll. 4 crowded and con-
stantly increasing urban population
suggests the mpOveriShment of rural
sections, and discomfort with agricul-
tural pursuits. The farmers son not
satisfied with his fathers simple and Ia
borious life joins the eager chase for cas-
lily acquired wealth.
We discover that the fortunes leal-
lied by our manufacturers are no longer
solely the reward of sturdy industry and
enlightened foresight, but that they re-
suit from the discriminating favor of the
Government, and are largely built upon
undue exactionS from the masses of our
people. The gulf between the employ
erS and the employed is constantly wild
ening, and classes are rapidly forming,
one comprising the very rich and power
full, while in another are found the toll
ing poor. As we show the achieve
ments of aggregated capital, we discover
the existence of trusts, combinations,
and monopolies, while the citizen is
struggling far in the rear or is trampled
to death beneath an iron heel. Corpor-
ations, which should be the carefully
restrained creatures of the law and the
servants of the people are fast becoming
the peoples masters. Still, cOngratu-
lating ourselves upon the wealth and
prosperity of our country, and compla-
Gently contemplating every incident of
change inSeparable from these condi-
tions, it is our duty as patriotic citizens
to inquire, at the present stage of our
progress, how the bond of the govern
ment made with the people has been
kept and performed.
Instead of limiting the tribute drawn
from our citizens to the necessities of
its economical administration, the gov
HUH GuS
substance of the people millions which,
unapplied and useless, lie dormant in
its treasury. This fragrant injustice and
this breach of faith and obligation add
to extortion the danger attending the
diversion of the currency of the country
from the legitimate channels of bust
ness.
Under the same laws by which these
results are produced, the Government
permits many millions more to be added
to the cost of the living of our people,
and be taken from our consumers,
which unreasonably swell the profits of
small but powerful minority. The
people must still be taxed for the sup
port of the government under the oper-
alton of tariff laws. But to the extent
that the mass of our citizens are inordi-
nately burdened beyond any useful pub
lie purpose, and for the benefit of fav-
Dred few, the Government, under pretext