Sacramento daily record-union., 1888-10-13
p. t. BARSUM ON THE TARIFF
Cleveland Uses the Same Arguments a,
The Cobden Free Traders

Cleveland Uses the Same Arguments as
The Golden Free Traders.
p. t. Barnum made a political speech,
for the first time in many years, at Bridge
port, last week. In the course Of his re-
marks he said;
We are not discussing politics, but bust
ness; nor are we to discuss the Mills tariff
bill, for that, bad as it is, is Only an enter
ing wedge for Cleyeland's doctrine of free
trade, pure and simple Cleveland in his
message at the opening of Congress, used
the exact arguments of the Golden free
traders, as | have heard them from their
own lips in Manchester, England, a hun
dred times. They say, America must
feed us, and we must clothe Americans,
and do all the manufacturing for them,
and pass their custom houses free of duty.
There is but small number of manufact-
urers in the United States, and they must
be wiped out for the benefit of the large
number of inhabitants who can be sup
piled by us at half price, because our op-
eratives receive less than half the wages
paid in the United States" Cleveland
says the same thing, and he means the
same thing. So does the Democratic party.
Watterson says: 1t means free trade,
and if any Democrats don't like il they
must go somewhere else"
The English manufacturers and news
papers recognize the Democratic party rs
a party of free traders, and stand ready to
smother us with their manufactured goods
at moments notice. But Mills and most
of his party are sarced by the uprising of
the whole country against permitting the
starvation labor of Great Britain, Germany,
France and other countries to compete
even-handed with the men who fill our
factories and live like men, independent
and happy, so they fix up the bogus Mills
bill for make-shift till they can get CON
troll of the United State Senate, when they
will rush through Just such a free trade
bill as Cleveland asked for in his message
| and as the Mills bill was when reported by
the Democratic committee of the House of
Representatives Meanwhile these free
traders are trying to throw dust in our
eyes by talking about moderate free
rade"
Where will Bridgeport be when its
manufactures are stopped by free trade
and the cheap labor of the pauperized
operatives of Europe? An English man
ufacturer who was my guest recently ex-
claimed, when he saw the healthy-looking,
well-dressed mechanics emerging from
Wheeler q Wilson's factory at dinner
time, "Are these people all contractors T'
NO." replied, ''They are the masses,
who earn three times as much per day as
yours do, and they live accordingly"
''The Masses" he replied, "They lool,
more like employers than the masses, but
we divide these two words differently
used in England-we make them read
them asses'"
Now, if our mechanics and workingmen,
American, Irish, Germans and others, will
be fools enough to vote for free trade, |
shall blame nobody for giving them this
English title. A Bridgeport manufacturer,
who employs 1000 men, told me that ii
free trade came, or free trade in the articles
he made, he should discharge his workmen
here, manufacture IN Europe and bring his
goods here, as he could make them over
there so much cheaper than here, and
must do so to compete with foreign goods
which pay no duty to the home MARKET
Ner York Tribune