Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1888-05-04
A Great Speech by the Jefferson
Statesman.
THE HILLS BILL THE THEME
Lodge and BOutslls Bob Up to be Slaugh.
tered
BY THE ELOQUENT WEST YIRGIEIAN
The IniquitisS Of 3 Robbsr Tariff Denounced
by a Master Of OratOry-One Of the
Strongest Speeches Of the
Tariff Debate.


WASHINGTON, May 3.-The tedium Of
the tariff debate was relieved to-day by 8
brilliant speech made by Representative
Wilson, of West Virginia, and g member
Of the Ways and Means Committee. The
that he would speak brought
out q good many of the members who have
been shirking during the pending debate
there was q larger membership present
than since the opening day of the discus
sion. Senators Kenns and Faulkner came
over from tho other end Of the capitol and
occupied seats on the floor of the House
during the time Representative Wilson hsd
the floor. He spoke off-hand, having only
q book or two from which be occasionally
quoted some statistics. In the main his
address was a mastsrly effort, showing how
labor bad suffered under the so-called
protective" tariff and for the purposes OF
illustration, he cited statistics to show the
condition of the industrial classes in New
England. As might have been expected
he at once drew the fire of the protection
ists from that section. This was his object,
and he hurled
A STREAM OF IRREFUTABLE STATISTICS
at them that left them helpless in the ar
gument. It was q contest of wits, and
Henry Cabot Lodge, of Massachusetts,, in
dlscreetly put in his oar. Without mo-
ment's hesitation Mr.. Wilson flashed ont q
CODY of Lodges book on Jefferson aud
Hamilton and flOored him with quota
tion from his own work. The members on
both sides enjoyed the fun and were gener-
Gus with applause. Before the debate had
proceeded much farther the irrepressible
Boutelle, of Maine, took exception to Mr..
Wilson's inquiry why Maine man in the
deld of labor was only worth two-thirds
as much as the similar operative in Mass
aehusetts. Boutelle, in q confused way,
tried TO turn a point on the wages paid
farm hands in West Virginia. Wilson's
rspartee was that the farmer who had lost,
and the burden Of the protective tariff
could psy moro under revised tariff, and
then answered his own question amid the
of the House, by saying that the
gentleman (Boutelle) was sufficient ex-
ample why q Maine man was only two
thirds as much as a man elsewhere. The
discussion bristled with this sort of
repartee. and at the expiration of the hour
during which he was entitled to speak,
Mr.. Wilson was given dditional time by
consent He concluded in
A MAsTERLY REVIEW
of the industrial condition in this country
aud throughout the speech was the most
eloquent and entertaining that has been
delivered upon the tariff this session.
At the close Mr.. Wilson was heartily
by nearly every member on
his side of the House. Quite number OF
Republicans, including CoDgresmen Nc
Kinley, declared in private conversation
that Mr.. Wilson had delivered one of the
ablsst speeches that has BEEN made on the
Democratic side. v
Mr.. Wilson said that the opponents of
the bill represented the issue to be be-
tween free trade and protection. 1t was
rather an effort Of the people to recover
the right 10 tax themselves. The time
was when the test of loyalty to the coun-
try was devotion to the Union in the
struggle for its preservation. Lately,
however, the country had been told that
even Mcclellan and Hancock must be
ranked as allies Of the Coniedsrscy be-
cause of their disloyalty to a particular
party, but in this debate new test had
been set up, and we have heard the name
of a citizen who stands before the world
AZ the foremost living representative OF
American hterature, with long and hon
orable record of public service behind
him; a poet whose words in days past,
like Luther's words, had been battles for
freedom, connected with that Of Benedict
Arnold because he would not bow down to
THE FErIsCH OF PROTECTION.
He repelled Mr.. Burrows criticisms of
the manner IN which this bill was pre-
pared By those who stood for the defence
of the existing law which he said was pre-
nared in secret conference, and hurried
through Congress without being sifted or
read.
Mr. Kelly had called his Democratic
colleagues Bourbons, and then almost i'm
medistely said he would deal with the sur.
plus after the principles OF Colbert and
his great pupil, the Emperor Napoleon. But
Cnlbert was the last minister of the Bour-
hons, and neither Colbert nor Napoleon
were teachers to whom the citizen OF a
free republic could turn for Id
,truction as to leyying or expend-
mo the taxes. 1t was Colbert
Who built up his masters navy by chain
nv to the eslIeys thousands OF innocent
,itizens. lust rs protection had built upl
nonoeoly by claiming millions Of farmers
md laboring msu 10 its service. 10 was
yolbe,t who defined the art of taxation to
,onsist in 'so plucking the goose ss to get
hs greatest possible amount Of feathers
NTH the least possible amount OF squsll-
mo-" There never had been more art
n complete definition of protective tariff.
THE WAGE EARNKRs.
In discussing the question Of rates OF
yases. Mr.. Wilson referred to the remark
4 Mr. Allen, Of Massachusetts,, as to the
,rosperity of the wsgs sSrners Of lowell.
Je wanted to compare, he said, the cendi- |
ion of the Lowell operatives under the
walker tariff and their condition under
he present tariff. To show their condition
,nder the revenue tariff, he quoted from
Dickens, American Notes." an extract
,;ghIy complimentary Of the prosperity
nj intelIigence Of the workipgmen and
Touaen of Lowell, and to show the reverse
4 the picture he quoted an extract from
o;veon's sod World Questions, and Ner
Worlds Aasscers," In which the condition
& Lowell operatives is drawn In dark
MT. Allen, of Massachusstt, said he
vonld like TO have o few moments to |
i've the gentleman some information in |
e0ard to the city where he spent his |
Shole life, to refute the statements OF an
English treetrader.
Mr Lodge of Massschusetts-Did / un-
larstand the gentleman to say that the
= - =. Ne .nofad from Dicken,e 'sAmeri-