Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-10-21

cratic and Republican, met in Chicago,
adopted platforms of principles and
nominated candidates. As every read
ing man knows, upon that great vital
question which to-day confronts YOU
there was no difference between the
platforms Of the two parties. Both
pledged themselves to reduce the war
tax and to do away with the surplus.
Before that time they had held the
Presidency for six successive terms.
They stole it once in 1876, but we won't
cry about that now, though it seemed
pretty hard then. During all that time
they had held control of the govern
ment, not by anything they did, no.
even by the many promises which they
kept breaking, but by never-ending ap-
peal to sectional prejudices, by arousing
the worst passions that a5man can exer-
cise-those of jealousy and mistrust
OF his neighbors. We were told that if
the Democratic party, which was in
league with the Confederacy, should
succeed that the country would lose all
that it had gained by the war !;
that the Rebel War Department would be
paid, the Confederate bonds redeemed.
and that all who had taken up arms
against their country would have their
names on the same pension list as those
who had fought in its defense. A few
days before election they even worked
that stale old device of selling few Con-
federate bonds in London, so that they
might be given a commercial rating to
frighten voters. Yet the good sense Of the
people prevailed and
GROVER CLEVELAND
Has now for more than three years been
serving as Chief Magistrate OF this Ma
tion. Have any OF these dreadful things
happened? None of them, and on the
other hand we have nj,yed the cleanest
and mostbusiness like administration that
the Nation has had in three decades.
Have you heard of any Secretary
of War resigning to escape
impeachment as Belknap did,
or any Minister to England swindling the
poor Britishers with American mining
schemes. Why, instead of having any
thing to come up, we can heartily invite
scrutiny to all his appointees and their
conduct while in office. He did some
thing for us in the appointment of John
s. Hager as Collector of the Port of San
Francisco, who did his best to keep out
the Coolies, but all of whose efforts were
nullified by the Republican Judges Saw
yer and Sabin. 1t was the acts of these
men and the fact that the Exclusion bill
did not exclude that led the President to
urge the adoption of the new measure,
which recently passed both houses and
received his signature.
I como pOU fo tho - ~ r.
campaign-the question of the tariff.
Up to the month of Decem-
Der, 1887, Grover Cleveland had
so conducted himself in Office, had
given such complete satisfaction to both
parties that his reelection was accepted
as matter beyond doubt or conjecture.
1t was believed by his friends and op-
ponents alike that no one could make a
stand against him. Even Truthful
James, who was then wintering in Paris.
withdrew from the fight and declined a
nomination before it was offered to him.
But in December, when Congress con.
vened, the President sent to him a mes
sage in accordance with the established
custom, the purpose OF which was to give
an account of his stewardship and to sug-
gest such legislation as may seem neces-
sary. Have you all read that message?
II not, do so. Don't take nybody's word
for it, least of all a Republican news
paper editors word for it. 1t
will be found to call the
attention Of Congress to the fact that
here in time of profound peace we are
still under the same taxes as in war DAYS
and the result isan enormous surplus of
$l30, 900, 900, continuing it's increase at
the rate of $6,000,000 a month. He
called attention to the fact that the exist
ing arrangement was radically wrong in
many particulars and called for its
IMMEDIATE REFORM.
Now as regards this tax, your leading
paper here, the Times, 1 notice declares
that it is not tax but an import duty
for the benefit of American
laborers. 1t doesn't matter what
kind Of high sounding name
you give it, as far as the man who
pays it is concerned it is tax. Guiteau
called it removing Garfield" but it was
none the less a murder. Besides, in
their platform Of 'S4 the Republicans
come out fat-footed and cali it tax !;
they arraign the Democrats in Congress
for having failed to relieve the people of
the burdensome tax.
From 1846 to 1862 this country ran
along on tariff for revenue only, and
according to indisputable facts of history
it prospered as it never did before or
since. Mr.. Barnes of the Republican
Central Committee, who is a pretty
talker, says that the business of the
country went to pieces at that
time, but Blaine, in his "Twenty Years
in Congress-" says that people we're
we'll satisfied with the style Of things.
At that time, it is true, we had no Jay
Gould and Vanderbilt, but the word
tramp was also unknown. The tariff
system was adopted not because the peo-
pie called for it, but because the country
was involved in terrible war. 1t was
in the midst OF the dreadful struggle that
Morrill,, of Vermont, proposed the bill
which raised the tariff from 1S per cent.
to an average of 35. He stated at the
time that he proposed this as tempor-
ary measure to serve in the exigency of
the time and to be repealed as soon as
the revenue was no longer needed. In
addition to the tariff system of internal
revenue was inaugurated, and the same
pledge OF repeal was made from
this. And this latter pledge was
kept faithfully by the Re-
publican party, the reason being
that the taxes levied upon bank checks,
incomes and so forth affected the rich
and not the poor. AS to
THE TARIFF,