The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1889-11-28

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Hon, /, II, SHERWOOD, Canton Ohio,
DEAR SlRi hear from q prominent
Democrat Of your locality, that an at'
tempt IL TO be made this winter 10 30
ogarrymapdeF" Ohio Congressional dis
trIets as TO leave out that ahIping light
of Protection, William Mckinley Jre
aud that the representatives OF stark
county are expected TO urge on the
matter with yigor,
Now, the desire TO overthrow an 0p'
ponent, and particularly nm opponent
of ability and reputation, ia always q
very natural desire, The doctrines Of
the Republicans aTe hateful TO ua and
the better they Nre preached tho more
repumance they excite, lneyer heard
a Democrat express strong feeling
about tho protection apeeeheaa OF tho
Innocent Mr. RomeIe, who used 10 rep
resent this dlslrIuti while We have all
of ua been indignant NJ the apeolOua
| and sometimes, as II seemed 10 us,
hyp0olltIca aOphistrles Of Blaine, sher'
man and Mckinley
But u great mistake will be made II
we allow thla feeling 10 govern tho
party's action, | am not now speaking
Of the effect which u "gerrymander"
generally exoItoa upon people OF easy
political convictions, who vote one way
or tho other largely under the influence
Of such matters, though experience has
proved this 10 be q factor worth con
slderlng, which we should bear in mind.
The Democratic party, II lts poaltlOn
upon the principal topic of the day Ia
right, oan nsk no better stroke OF luck
than that its opponents shall stick TO
the policy Of absolute protection, the
policy OF the Chinese wall, Of
deai clothes and cheap whigkey,
set forth In tho platform Of 1888,
written by William Mckinley, The
American people aTe probably
the most absolutely conservative In the
world; and nothing, In the long run, Ia
moro certain 10 excite their opposition
than q doctrine especially false doe
trine- carried 70 an extreme. No one
can say how long slavery would have
existed on this continent had not the
pr1.slayery party proceeded TO violent
extremes, endesyOrlng 10 ietter the lib
erty OF the press Of public speaking,
aud enactIng laws abaurdly severe for
perons who assisted IN the escape OF
slaves, even by saving them from stary'
ing,
The only thing that arouGes the pub
llc IS something that "hitS 'em hard"
II the Protectonat used their vantage
ground to maintain moderately pro
tecliye tanif-if this would only leave
the farmer u pig, after taking the hog,
the chances are that we would try In
vain for many years TO dlslodge them
from power,
"rhiugs must get worse before they
can get better" II we give the Repub'
licans all the rope they want--if we lot
them make the taril stu more unjust
than II now is, and more severe upon
the farming classes--they viii surely
hang themselves, Starvation 10 what
carried free trade In England, and II Is
the one argument TO which there Is no
reply. The harder the tariff presses
upon the people the more certain we
are TO win u great aud decisive Victory
In '02, and TO gain by n single election,
the control Of every branch Of the gov
ernment,
Our party chiefs, then, should use
every effort to assist our opponents In
destroying themselves by sticking to
the absurd doctrines Of the last Nation
al Republican platform, They can
not hold Iowa again Oh that
platform, could not do " this year, and
by 99 may very likely fail iu Nebraska
and Minnesota, What we have TO fear
10 that the Republicans, seeing the drift
Of popular sentiment will endeayor to
stop II by enaoting some moderate
measure Of tariff reform, about Ike the
Mills bill. This, with that class Of
moderate people who compose the con
trolling element Of our people, and who
never 80 very far In any direction, or
adopt with absolute conviction any
party doctrine, would be very effective,
and would destroy q good deal Of our
thunder, We might indeed claim that
such q proceeding was inconsistent,
that IL was q concession Of the correct
ness Of the Democratic position; but
the American people care nothing
about inconsistency and would be Of
opinion, probably, that they had gone
"far enough for the present. The
danger is that MIR Blaine and Mr., Sher.
man will add one moro TO the hundreds
of llops they have already made, and
that the Republicans, under their lead,
will have In our next contest the great
advantage of a moderate position.
The way to prevent this, as far as In
us lies, is too see that men like Mcltln.
10y are permitted foreman in Congress,
Mckinley is a doctrlnaire, sincere
believer In high protection, and he has
committed himself beyond redemption
on this point Ills election expenses
have been paid for years from Pitts
burg; bis position In his party has been
due to manufacturers' influence.
Through them he win probably be made
Speaker Of the House, and through
them he nearly became the last Iiepub.
lican candidate for President. He is
A..