Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1888-05-24
S. S. Cox on the Tariff.

During Mr.. Cox's remarks upon the Mills
bill he said:
We would be willing to reduce taxation in
almost any way. He would do almost any
thing to get rid of the surplus which menaced
and paralyzed the industries of the country.
In 1861 he had gone to the custom houses in
Boston and New York and found there the
cost of some articles imported there. After
making computations and allowing for the
premium on gold he had found that i'll order
to get $50, 100000 into the treasury the coun-
try had to pay the enormous sum of $780,
600, 900 that never saw the treasury. Deduct
ing the GO per cent. for deprecated paper
money it would be found that in order to get
$50000,000 into the treasury the country now
paid at least $300,000,000. He would not call
this protection system robbery or burglary;
he would use some euphemistic word, like the
gentleman from Ohio (Butterworth) who said
that customs duties were not tax but trade
regulation. Laughter. He remembered
reading about a Catholic priest who met with
brigand, who had not knife or pistol in
his hand, but who said to the priest: "Ven-
cradle elder brother, it is cold in the noun
tains, lend me your coat. Venerable elder
brother, am tired of walking, lend me your
horse" That was trade regulation.
Laughter.
Gentlemen on the other side said that the
Mills bill was radical measure. He did not
see that reduction of seven per cent. was
much of a free trade reduction. He wonder
ed that gentlemen on the other side did not
follow the example of the tallow chandler of
France, who petitioned for the suppression of
all as-producing machines, and wanted all
windows, openings, chinks and clefts closed
so that the sun could not enter and so that
the tallow chambers might have all the advan-
tages which would follow the closing out of
the sun as foreign cheap labor producer.
Laughter.
and especially to that gentleman peroration
where, like Silas Wegg, he dropped into
poetry The gentleman after in eloquent
language picturing the advancement and pro
gress of the new south had quoted "Hail its
coming, tongue and pen"-quoting Charles
Mackey's corn law rhyme for the incoming
of absolute free trade. Loud laughter and
applause He quoted the verse at the demo-
cratic caucus held at that time of the dead
lock and he did not know how the gentleman
had got hold of it, unless it was that Mr.. Per-
kins, of Kansas, who had inadvertently wan
dered into the caucus, had heard him quoting
it and giving it to the gentleman. He would
like to have tuning fork here so that all
might sing:
"Hail its coming, tongue and pen;
Aid it, hopes of honest men;
Aid IL paper, aid it type;
And our earnest should not slacken into play.
Men Of thought and men Of action. lead the way.
But he could not get tuning fork because
the tariff was too high.
In conclusion, Mr.. Cox said that the coun-
try had grown from sea to sea and from gulf
to lake, expanding it's progress. Why should
we not expand our liberty also? We had lib
erty to eat and sleep and worship according
to the dictates of our conscience. We had
soul-liberty, why not commercial liberty
also? Why not give men the right to the
earnings of their own labor? Why take from
one class to give to another? Why make q
slave of labor? Why put the shackles on any
man? Why not stand for freedom every
wherep Let us, he said, be true to the prin-
ciples of our constitution; true to our free
dom, for "what avails the pillow or soil or land
or life if freedom fail" [Applause.