Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1888-05-31
THE DEBATE CLOSED.
The Long Discussion OF the Tariff
Question Ended.
syno 1ses OF the Closing Speeches Delivered
Before the House OF Representatives
by PR. Reed. of Maine. and
Speaker Carlisle.

WASHINGTON, May 19-In the House to-
day the debate on the Mills Tariff bill was
closed. the final speeches being made by
Ar. Reed (AIe-l and Speaker Carlisle, Of
which the following are synopSes.
MIR. Reed. on taking tn fioor. said:
I purpose TO discuss to-day some OF the
general principles which, in my opiEioa, under
Ale the two modes of National action which are
confesSedly in dispute in Congress and in the
country. II it be true that by having their
goods manufactured abroad the people of the
United States. as = whole. VIII become richer
and more prosperous and better fitted to be
citizens or republic already great and des-
tined 10 be mighty beyond all former
dreams OF empire, then by all means
let US sink National prejudice and with
one accord adopt not merely the present bill,
hut such Legislation as will surely treble the
sp ndIes OF Europe and destroy own; such
measures rs will put out our furnaces and illu-
mine those beyond the sea. The reVenue-re-
form argument is either false pretense or it
covers the whole ground. Protect on is either
in its essence n benefit a You can
not dilute n curse and make ii q blessing. Rats
bane and water no more food than rats shane
pure. Incidental protect on is a sham. The
President Is the lender OF the Democracy. One
paragraph in his message covers the whole
ground OF protection and free trade and points
out the plain duty OF the Dem cracy. There
is but one free trade and the President is its
Prophet. Whoever falls in battle in the
service of this new Allah and its prophet, for
him shall open the shining gates OF the heaven
of foreign missions and Federal ofices. These
laws, he said-and he is speaking of tariff laws
THESE laws raise the prices to consumers of
all articles imported and subject to duty by pre-
cisely the sum paid tor such duties" "Pre-
cisely'' is the word he uses, and it is a word of
tremendous significance. But the corollary
which he draws from the whole sentence is OF
still more tremendous significance. If the con-
sumner pays precisely the duty in excess OF
the price OF the imported article, then the
President Is also right when he
says that on all domestic pro-
tected articles the consumer pays NEARLY
or quite the same enhanced price" That is
''the whole counsel OF the Lord" on the subject.
In 1889 the chairman of the committee on
military affairs, the member from Illinois,
proclaimed the astounding fact that during the
last nineteen years these ungodly manufact-
urers had swindled the people out OF $4,000
oOO,0D. Great heavens! These amazing plum
derers had in their pockets $50 ,n00. 90 in
1882; have had eight hundred millions year
since-in all. $40, 800. OO0,UO or three thousand
millions more than this whole country is listed
for taxation, and the Mills bill, the representa-
tive of the concentrated wisdom OF the
Democracy, proposes 10 give them more
Instead OF forty-seven dollars for every
hundred, you propose 10 give forty dollars
OF the peoples money and throw into the
trade the markets of the world. Why do men
with such beliefs so plain and so distinct hest
tate to do their duty: II Is because every
wind that blows, every sight that strikes their
eyes, every sound in their ears, shows the folly
OF their theories the absurdity of their logic.
Thus far / have employed familiar method
of augmentation which is called in plain Eng
lish confronting the PRINCIPLES u man lays
down with the facts OF the universe, and show
ing the dreadful absurdityof which he has been
guilty. The principles the Presidents,
the facts from his own familiar friends
Which do you believer Whoever believes them
has but one honest course to pursue. He must
demand direct taxation. Now let US turn TO the
other side. do not propose TO defend protec-
ton. 1t was born with the Republic. 10 is the
instinct OF humanity against the assumptions
of the bookmen. II is the wisdom OF the race
against the wisdom of the few.
Mr.. Reed went TO explain the primo pies
on which protection was founded He then
said: 1 assert that protection does not raise
prices You tell US. they say, that protect
ion is for the purpose OF enhancing prices
to enable high wages to be paid. and yet
you say that prote ton lowers prices. This is
fat contradiction" So it is you state it.
But your statement, like all revenue-reform
statements, hourishes only by assumption. In
order to make yourself clear you have utterly
omitted the element OF time. You assume
that We say that both our statements OF higher
pr ces for higher wages and lower prices for
consumers for the same instant of time.
Not so. When you begin, there are higher
prices for higher wages but when you establish
your factories, at once the universal law OF
competition begins to work. The manufactur-
ers abroad, urged thereto by the lower prices
which the tariff forces them to offer in order to
compete with us, cause every element of
economy in manufacture TO be set in motion.
AT home the same causes at work,
and with redoubled energy, because on account
of higher wages there are greater inducements
to substitute labor-saving devices for costly
labor. And this colossal struggle between two
great empires of industry, the foreign and the
domestic, results everywhere in the cheapening
OF commodities, until to-day the citizens of the
United States the poorest citizens, have for
ecfff Of 70 ff1a N1rfa
of the sovereigns of old days. That lower
prices will come at once, we have never said
that they will come and grow lower and lower,
SO that in the series OF years which make up a
mans life all he needs will cost him less than
under revenue reform, we asseverate and main
tam, and all history is behind our aSsevera-
tons.
In conclusion Mr.. Reed said: The whole case
can be put succinctly in few words. II the
principles you announce are true, " must
have direct taxation. II the dollar you pay the
custom house on the import is followed by q
dollar to the manufacturer for every like guam
t:ty of domestic goods which your tar1h Incl
dentally ENCOURAGES then that manufacture is
8 misfortune. II takes collars out of the farmer
or lawyer without return. The forefathers OF
the Democrats saw this, and, like the honest
men they were, clamored for direct taxation,
They right. Why do you not act like
them! Why not be bold? Why do you hesitate:
1t is because twenty-seven years of knowledge
divide you from them In your heart OF hearts
you suspect your own logic and you dare not
You may well hesitate. Whoever takes down
the map of 1850 and the map OF 1888, will look
upon the most Wondrous growth upon which
the sun ever shone It is a marvellous spec
tacle It is not alone the piled-up millions un-
der which the great National debt has melted
like an iceberg under tropical sun II is not
alone the rejuvenated South turning its face to
its great future. Nay, it is not all Of these
combined. 1t is the facts, foun1 by the most
cultured Engl1shman of our day. that all this
wealth and prosperity has been so shaped that
it seeks the comfort, not OF the rich; not OF the
lounRing owner OF fixed incomes: not of the
pampered minion of governmental power, but
of the plain people whom Abraham Lincoln
loved and who are the chief glory of this re-