Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1888-10-31
BARBER COUNTY INDEX
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 81. 1858.



three minutes was talking tariff In his in
tcrcstlng fashion and was hurting cpigrain
and criticism Ia "a rafting, telling fire. He
drew no end Of applause and was at once on
the best OF terms with his hearers by his
colloquial way of treating his subject, ana
not word was lost by any one Of the thou
sands present lie said:
"EELfOw-DEMOCHATs AND FELLOW CIrT-
zENs: Next after being taxed 10 death the
most distrcssful and lingering thing which
can bCfall "a people Is 30 be talked 20 death.
Laughter Yet this seems 10 be Just
about what II TO happen 70 you, and II you
were not the most amiablc and tho most en-
during people on the face OF the globe, IL
might constitute n reason why you should
be tempted 90 dismiss both Of the two great
parties conteuding for your favor and get
one on which you could rely 20 do neither.
But yct, gentlemen, parties arc not ike
wearing apparel TO be put on and OF
at pleasure. They are rather like tho
crutches on which tho individual man, un-
able under our system OF suffrage 20 count
for much standing alone, must lean for sup
port And ne shall find that, no matter
how often he changes these crutches, ho
shall not increase his speed or mend his
strength because an our country, as a mat
ter Of fact, the thing we call politics rarely
he really, actually wants-but ~ a kind OF
second best or, as we say on the Kentucky
racc-c0ursc, a chance for place. Laugh
ter He is lucky II he gets place.
SOW A. TO THE MILLS BILL.
II Say this In no discouraging mood or cap
tious spirit, but should be less truthful
than should be-, lcss candid than always
intend 30 be, IL contcnded that Ia tho
Mills bill the country Is getting any thing
like what IL ought 70 have. Applause
Yes, gentlemen, any thing like what IL ought
10 have In revision of the revenue laws
and the reduction Of the war taxes.
lChccrs. The Mills bill is not merely an
eminent protective measure, but it en-
braces concessions 20 what / believe the
unjust demands OF certain class interests,
which as original propositions l never
would consent 90. Applause If IL con-
tains any free trade at all / haven't been
able 10 find 10, though have gone over its
provisions fore and aft with a spy-glass.
laughter aud applause. Objections 70 II
from frCc-tradc standpoint readily occur
20 me, but what the Protectionists can find
20 be the matter with II am wholly unable
90 define. lApplauscl I suspect that as a
matter OF fact 10 ~ not 30 much the bill IL
self as what arc thought to be the tendon
cics Of the bill, and what are charged 10 be
who stand back ~ a. In answer TO apprc-
tensions OF this kind, might summon the
Scriptures 20 my aid, and say 20 the over
frightened and ovcrprotcCtcd manufact-
urcr Sufficient unto the day Is the evil
thereof 10 viii be fun time 10 consider the
crossing Of the river when we get 10 IT.
ILaughterl
run WORST TARIFF WE EVER HAD.
II am going 20 try tonight 10 put the plat
forms OF the two parties on the stand, and
let them say how they stand upon this
great National issue. The tariff. as you all
know, Is simply tax levied by tho Govern
mcnt upon articles 81 foreign importation
90 raise money enough for its own support.
We have had high tariffs and low tariffs;
VIC have had peace tariffs and war tariffs.
The present tariff unites oil the bad features
Of AL the bad tariffs that have preceded IL
lapplausel because II Isl peace tariff on n
war footing that Is TO say, though recon-
structcd In times Of peace, n augments and
multipues all the tariffs put upon the coun-
try la time Of war. lApplausc.l Those
burdens were confcsscdly "a great imposi-
ton upon the people They were made
solely In response 20 the public exigency.
Those who made them declared that they
should not outlast that eSigcncy Yet here,
twcuty-thrce years after the war, tho only
NNNANlNM NNNN NhNN Nui ttii' tAtAN AAlAuu NWus
at the hands Of the Rcpublicans-not only
failed 10 decrease them, but 1t actually in
creased them, so that today they are
greater than they were az the moment
when called into being In response TO a
military necessity.
uE GoEs FOR TnE REPUBLICAN PLATFORM
''And this bring me TO that fantastic ebul-
ltion and misinformation, that curious ro-
ceptaclc Of dry bones aud dead Ian
gunges 1laughterl, that Anticipated comic
almanac and last chapter In the gospel Of
Mammon, the National Republican plat
form. Cheers and laughterl
"Gentemen, | have had In my time q lit
tie experience m platform making laugh
teri and know something Of what IL is 10
be accused Of being too honest and Of seeing
too far ahead for the uses Of this world
llaughterl, but II were Republican and
had constructed tins platform OF my friend
Mckinley, l would not be here tonight; 1
woald not be living to-day to tell the tale as
ne L.. laughter II Is the most astonish-
ing piece of irrelevant and tedious jocosity
paughterl. the most curious whimsical go
ing back into the dark ages IN quest Of some
thing and not finding IL laughteri yet pro
duced IN the party annals Of the country,
DR.. BurchRrd's famous Grafton 20 Brother
Blaine alone excepted. lLaughter.l
"ln pcrusing this platform l constantly
ask myself how II H. possible that any. man
could have been so funny and so blind
llaughtcrl, because rs a rule humOr is
sensible OF the queer side. IL Is funny In its
errors, funny ina its blunders, funny in its
very falschoods. A clever rascal set 10 con-
struct such platform would M least have
avoided the auachronism Of framing an I'M
dictment against the Administration OF
r.I ..FF
indictment against the Democratic Admin
istration, every count Of which is an
arrairument ~ Rntcccdcnt Republican
policies lChcCrs.l but that Is what this
platform does from first % last, ard before
get 90 the main question, aud by way Of
illustration, let me point out few Of them.
will take them nj random"
ruE PROTECTION SYSTEM sConfD.
Mr.. wattcrsou then rapidly reviewed the
Republican platform iu his sarcastic way
until he came ~ the question OF tariff re-
form, when hc saidt
"Lct us seriously consider The Republic
an platform upon the great issue wha.h has
become the leading, the only issue In the
campaign. II sets out after a few inconsc-
qucntial remarks, by sayiog.
1--WE arc uncomprumisingly In favor Of
,thc American system of protection.
"'Thc American system OF protection
and then all Of a sudden, rather doubling
whether IL was or not, q reiterates, the
American system OF protection must be
maintained
sNOw. fcllow.ciiizcns, that means nothing
az an. nothing whatever. This system oi
protection which exists In this country is
no more an American system than Russian
system or a German system or French
systcm. for protection exists In all Of these
countrica tifty years before free trade
wus seriously thought Of in England 70 ca,
iatcd here In Enthusiastically existed.
Fifty years before Golden and Peel carried
their measure OF free trade In England the
Government Of tho United States, with
Washington a. President and Hamilton az
li..,rofafv az fhts Tronaurv offered 10 In