The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1888-06-02


BY Mr.. Clay is entirely dissipated to-
day. Mr.. Clay spoke to a country |
without railroads, without telegraphs. |
There were no steamships traversing
the ocean, no cables under the ocean.
He e'spoke to country whose farmers,
with the exception Of those adjacent to |
its Eastern rivers and seaboard, sought |
market for their produce in the
nearest town, to which they hauled it |
in their own wagons; when the value
of bushel Of wheat was exhausted by |
haul Of 500 miles, and that of IA bushel |
of corn by a haul of leo miles. 1t |
was a day when "manufaetureT meant
something very different from what it |
means to-day, As late as eight years |
afterwards Mr.. Webster described |
American manufactures as "a little |
capital mixed with manual labor |
AT that time the neighbornig village |
or town, with its woollen mill, its hat |
factory, its shoemakers, its varied in
dustries, was flesh and blood to con-
sumo the farmers products and wear
the clothing made from his wool and
cotton.
The world has been created anew
since Mr.. Clay made that speech. To-
day we have a railroad system of l5O,-
900 miles, extending into every corner
of this country where population or
product invites it, To-day we have
instantaneous communication with
every section of the country, with every
portion of the world. You can order
a cargo of tea from China and ii will
be loaded on the ship before night.
An order for wheat from Liverpool to
San Francisco viii outstrip the lag
ging sun and get there hours before
HIM. You can transfer millions ofdol-
lars in the twinkling of an eye from the
money market Of Calcutta to that Of
London or New York. Tho whole
world, with the construction of rail-
roads, with the building of steamships,
with the lay ing of cables, has been
drawn into one family. The price of
the farmers products is no longer de-
cided in the market of the neighboring
village, but in the great market of the
world.
MECHANICAL INVENTION.
During all that time the progress OF
invention has been displacing human
labor by machinery. To-day one mar
in factory, and frequently child
tending some great mechanical inven
ton, produce what in Henry Clay'l
day would have taken the labor of ten
or even twenty men. The mechanical
industries of the United States carried
on by steam and water represent th,
labor of 2l,000,000 men. On our rail
roads to-day 100000 men DO the worl
which, when Mr.. Clay spoke, woult
have required 100000 men and "a,
100000 horses. "To do the work nov
done by power and power machiner,
in our mechanical industries and upol
our railroads would require men rep
resenting population of 175,000,00'
in addition to the present population
: Of 55,000,000.n
And IL is just in the protected indus
tries of the country, employing alto
gether, according to the estimate o
the late Secretary Manning, not NOR,
: than per cent. of the labor of tn
country, that the chief displacement o
human labor by machinery has oc
+ Cured; and yet, Mr.. Chairman, we al
know that while Mr.. Clay was willing
to compromise on a tariff Of 20 pc
cent. to protect flesh and blood, the dc
mand to-day is for AZ per cent, to pro
tect machinery Applause.
To-day American manufactures n,
longer mean, as they did to Danic
Webster, manual labor mixed with |,
little capital. They mean great capita
mixed with little manual labor More
over, as our transportation system hal
been perfected we have witnessed thu
gradual disappearance of local manu-
facturos and their massing in immense
industrial establishments or particular
points. They are to-day sufficient ant
more than sufficient to supply all III,
demands of our home consumption
and yet the farmer has to look abroad
for purchasers of his surplus products
Sir, | acknowledge the courtesy oI
the House in extending my time and
listening so patiently to my somewhat
disconnected remarks. This Is mo.
mentous question. None could be more
so unless it involved the existence OF
the nation. 1t does not take many
weeks service for even the humblesi
member of the Committee on Ways
and Means like myself to get new and
SOLDERING ideas as to the greatness Of
this conflict. When the eyes of the
prophets servant were unsealed he
saw camped around the prophet mighty
hosts and chariots of fire, invisible to
other eyes. SO when the servant of the
people comes to deal with the tariff
question he sees, with n clearness OF
vision not granted to others, those
mighty hosts, the powers of wealth and
combination, of monopoly in all its
odious and defiant forms, great corpo.
rations and monster trusts, all formed
in linked phalanx around the protcc.
tive system. Applause on the Demo
cratic side.] If he is awed by the great.
ness of the struggle, he is also neryed
by the greatness of the stake. Sir, this
fight will go on. There will be no in
dustrial peace in this country until oul
tax laws are fixed upon basis that i;
Just to all. [Applause.l We will keel
the country rocking from ocean tt
ocean until we have secured just and
equal rights before the law for all 1T
citizens.
, You may strike down that tribune
of the people at the other end of TIN
avenue, who, putting behind him al
counsels of prudence, spoke out tina
: ringing summons that rallied the peo
pie as nothing else ever did. You ma,
: strike down the leaders in this fight a