Mexico weekly ledger., 1888-09-27
Senator Vests Letter to the
st. Louis Club.
Hurriedlv Written, But Only to be
Misconstrued for Partisan
Reasons.

beHOCTdIiC CluD III Sb. LOUIS, III
which that Senator writes as fol-
lows:
Mr.. Cleveland, by his message,
for which / sincerely honor him,
has challenged the protected indus
tries of the country to fight of ex-
termination. The fight is to the
death.
I read that to show that the Sem
ator from Missouri did not contem-
plate the Mills bill as a simple
slight reduction of the tariff, but as
a destruction of the industries of
the country.
Mr.. Vest. Mr.. President
Mr.. Hiscock. Will the Senator
from Ohio tell us the date of the
letter 2
Mr.. Sherman. The letter is
published in the New York Tribune
of August 81.
Mr.. Vest. Will the Senator
from New York permit me to say
a word?
Mr.. Hiscock. Certainly.
Mr.. Vest. There happens to be,
fortunately or unfortunately, club
in the city of St. Louis
Mr.. Chace. We cannot hear the
Senator from Missouri.
The President pro tempore. The
Chair has repeatedly requested the
Senate to be in order. Business
will be suspended until Senators
and others are seated and CONVEX
sation ceases.
Mr.. Vest. I am obliged to the
Senator from Ohio for having had
that statement read. l have re-
ceived several letters in regard to
it, but / did not think that my per-
sonal opinions were of enough i'm
portance to intrude them upon the
Senate even in explanation of a
misstatement. There is a club in
St. Louis which, fortunately or
unfortunately, bears my name
the "Vest Democratic Club. "
Sometime since wrote to an init
mate friend, Mr.. Charles N. Nap
ton, who happened to be the secre-
tary of that club, not especial ION
any political matter, but in regard
to some matter of business about
which he wrote me, in which letter
he asked me generally about the
campaign, as the constituents of
Senators generally do. I wrote
HIM letter-is was written hur-
riedly, without any idea that it
would ever be published, or that
it would ever be subjected to any
public criticism-but' I wrote it as
one confidential friend would write
to another.
fused that expression that the
President in discussing..the issues of
the campaign had challenged the
protected industries to a war of ex-
termination, or words to that ef-
feet; but if the Senator from Ohio
had felt enough interest in the
cause of justice, or in me personal
ly, to have read the context of that
letter, he would have seen that in
the next sentence / made evident
my meaning by stating that the
protected manufacturers, who were
accumulating their immense for
tunes under the present system,
would not surrender their large
profits without desperate strug-
gle. AS matter of course / can
say frankly that I am not an idiot,
and that the Democratic party
would not, in the teeth of its plat
form and of the public and private
expressions of all it's members, at
tack the industries of this country;
l had no such meaning. Although
the letter was addressed to Mr..
Napton from the Senate, he took
the liberty of tearing off the heading
and read the letter in the club, and
it has been a matter of public COM
ment from that day to this.
If I had thought that the matter
would be made public I should
have written more carefully; but /
wrote it here in the Senate, in the
midst of debate, and my meaning
is perfectly clear to any one who
does not wish to take partisan ad-
vantage by misconstruing.
1.-THE letter is printed be-
low. From it can be seen what the
Senator referred to when he said
"if the Senator from Ohio had felt
enough interest in the cause oi
Justice to have read the context oi
that letter, he would have seen
that in the next sentence 1 made
evident my meaning. ED. LED
GER.
THE LETTER.
WASHINGTON, June 23.-GEsTLE.
MEN AND FELLow-DEMocRATs.-
/ sincerely hope that your club
may be made permanent and that
Its membership may be largely in.
creased. Whilst there is no prob
ability that Missouri will fail tc
give her electoral vote for Cleve
land and Thurman, it is import
ant. both fer campaign purposes
and as an educational instrument
ality, that the organization should
be continued.
We are entering upon a mos
fearful presidential contest, tn,
most important since that of 1860
Mr.. Cleveland, by his message, fol
(which I sincerely honor him, ha'