Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1889-03-07
TARIFF CONVENTION.
Proceedings OF the Reform Con-
ference In Chicago.


ference In Chicago.
Tariff Reformers Mect to Discuss the Ro
duction of NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. by Men
Prominently Identified with the
Movement-ResOlutiOns Adopted. a.-a.
The recent conference Of the American
Tariff Reform League at Chicago was wei
attended ]. Sterling Mortons ex-Governo
of Nebraska, was elected permanent chair
man. Mr.. Morton, in taking the chair, spOk'
Of the honor of presiding over meeting
called, not to name a man for an Office, bu
to proclaim "a true principle of human
government, the essence of liberty itself.
They were there as abolitionists to MAXI
commerce as free as America had made
thought, speech and the free press
Among the letters OF encouragement wa
Land, which was read and received will
great enthusiasm. After indorsing the pur
pose of the league as set forth In its circular
he says: -
The danger which we have to guard against
Is the misleading OF our countrymen By spe
ctous theories, cunningly contrived and falsely
Offering TO the people relief from personal
burdens and the legitimate expenses necessary
to secure the benefits OF benefcent rule under
the sanction of free institutions.
be attained until all those instructed In the
economic question which is now pressed upon
their attention are freed from all sophtstFies and
clouding fallaces and until the subject OF tariff
reform is presented to them as q topic involving
the relief OF the plain people In their homes
from useless and unjust ex penses
The following well known gentlemen
were elected officers Of the conference:
V.ce-Presidents-Charles w. Deer. nR ILL.,
nois: Horace White, New York: Henry A. Rob
inson, Mich gan; Enoch Harpole, Kansas; e.
w. Judd, Massachusetts,: S. w. Williams. In
diana; Jesse Metcalf. Rhode Island; r. b
X rkland, Wisconsin,; Governor Simon b.
Buckner, Kent ucky; X. G. Harger. Iowa; E.
n. Wilson, Minnesota; James d. Hancock,
PenDsyivania; j. Lawrence Durham. Con
nectlcut; Harbert Boggs. New Jersey. aud J.
o. Smith, Ohio.
Observation-Disclosures w. Thomas, Texas;
Walter H. Page Massachusetts,; J. Lawrence
Durham, Connectic and John 2. White and
". e. Thome Illinois. i,v
A large number of resolutions were pre-
scented and referred. C. G. McDougal, of
Handforth, Ill, representing the farmers Of
the convention, offered q resolution which
reads thus: %
I've believe, with our facilities for trans
portat'on and exchange which enable US TO-
produce upon our land the crop that yields the
largest returns, with our long hours Of labor,
End above all with our uneaualed soil and eli
mate. that we are able-in fact always have
been and always will be able-tO compete In
the markets of the world In the sale Of agri-
cultural products" a-,. flslS
The first speaker was Charles Z. Iadd, OF
Illinois. He began by observing that con-
test was going on between the laboring
many and the crafty few. The issues to-day
were the same as the issues of 1850 The
masses were contending against money
aristocracy. For the last twenty five years
the country had been nothing but a great
junk-shop, full of slave chains broken bay
onets and polished brass buttons. When q
tax bill was presented for payment the poll
sician would harangue the people and say:
-~Mdnt we save the country Didn't the
war cost something's" a The battered voters
would swell up with consciousness of hav-
ing saved the country and give their votes
to sustain the schemers The speaker said
the country adjoining the town in which
he lived was as beautiful and fertile as any
In the world.
The people were honest and thrifty, and
yet during the last winter more auction
ssales and extensions OF interest had been
made than any previous year. The debts
for which the sales had been made were due
men who twenty-five years ago were not
worth dollar and who had grown rich OF
the extras of protective tariff. A mer-
chant in Canada had told him that he had
sold American axes for twenty years in
competition with Canadian axes, although
he had been obliged to pay a duty upon
them of two dollars dozen, and yet the
tariffites said that a duty must be levied in
order that Americans might be able to make
axes at all In conclusion, Mr.. Laid said
the convention should be named the ''Eman-
Cipation convention rather than q Tariff
Reform convention. sEa.tS
Governor Buckner, of Kentucky, said that
a President had just been elected by
fraudulent votes and that he was, about to
III - tn, 20 d.
istration whose chief purpose was to per
oetuate an odious system of taxation for the
benefit of class. He believed, however
that free trade had only received check
and that the movement would gather such
momentum within four years as would gain
victory in 1892. Hh ',i'N re
Thomas ]. Shearman, Of Brooklyn, N. T.,
spoke on Protection, the Enemy of Indus
try" He began in a drou way. putting the
protectionist argument in q shape to con
vuise his audience. He enlarged his sub
ject and made protection out to be the com
mon enemy of humanity. Growing serious
he fell to quoting dates and statistics to
show that protection in the United States
had proved itself the enemy of agriculture
of labor, and even of its pets, the manu-
facturers He laid the blame for the i'm
portation of foreign pauper laborers on the
protection tariff and attributed to 1t the
ruin of the iron and steel trade in the East
while the West, where protection was al
most neutralized by reduced railroad rates
had reached production of iron and steel
manufactures eleven times as large as i1f-
teen years ago. to.
Clinton Kurdish, of Illinois, HkeneG
Grover Cleveland to Stephen A Douglas
and proceeded to attack the old political
parties, and in fierce vein of mingled sat
Ire and invective rebuked Congress for re
fusing to obey the dictates Of the people te
reduce the tariff. He said: $3.50
We tried to get q reduction from l2o pei
cent. tariff and we were told We had to b<
content with q reduction OF per cent. be
cause 1t was all we could get from q Congress
elected By Democrats. The Republican party
have levied on the people = tax which ptunges
zSOO00O00 of white men into slavery . thou
sand times worse than the slavery from which
they rescued 4, 1000 900 Of black mem; IT'S III