The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1889-02-06
The Quesiion ROT seitIed lei.

The QuestiOn Not settled Yet.
The Baltimore SIN aptIy says
that the Senate tariff bin gftss a
practical illustration of What the
Republican party means BY pro-
lection. The issue squarely pre-
sented in the last Presidential cam
Epaign was not whether projection
as it applies to American labor is a
mistake, but whether the Kind of
protection advocated by thesRepub-
lican party Saa not saeh as helped
monopoly and oppressed labor
Among other things clearly demon
strated by the figures and arg uments
brought to bear upon the question,
! it was shown that the farmer has
everything to gain by tariff redpc
tom andIespecialfs by placing raw
/ materials on the free list and thus
cheapeningt the priceIof accommodates;
but the answer quickly came, when
free wool was discussed, that the
farmer realized more from the tariff
on wool than the Increased cost of
WOODEN fabrics used in his family
1t was shown that comparatively
few farmers raised sheep at all, and
that although every man, woman
and child in the country used wool
in some form, it required the SER
vices only an average of FIVE hun
dred men to attend to- each million
of sheep raised in the country. The
Senate bill places a duty of about
sixty per cent. on wool, and as we
do not produce enough, either in
quality or quantity, to supply our
mills, this, of course, means that the
added per cent. is to be paid out of
the pockets of our people.
The effect of such tariff Legislation
as we have been living under for
some years, and is likely to be per-
petuated under Republican rule, is
bearing its disastrous fruits among
our agricultural people. The great
West is stepped to the lips in debit
and three-fourths of the farms in
many localities are covered mp with
mortgages. Already States are be-
ginning to devise means to prevent
foreclosure, and the period is likely
to be greatly extended in some of
them towhich the equity of rcdemp-
ton applies. These mortgages arc
held in the East, and once capital is
started by such legislation and col
lections commence, the evil day of
which political and financial pro-
phets have spoken will be close at
hand. s 4s.is5g Is
Norare these embarrassment CON
fined to the Western States. We
have but to look around us to see
how uneasy lies the. agricultural
head. There is no way by which
the farmers grain can be protected
THE price he sellsa at is not fixed BY
an artificial standard devised by an
act of Congress, but by the selling
price in London and the markets of
the world. 1t is simply the law of
supply and demand that applies to
him, while all he buys is governed
by another rule entirely. 1t is not
taking money out Of one pocket and
Epntting it i'll another, as was said of
the manufacturers and his employees,
but when the farmer takes it ont it
stays out. or only very small part
of it ever gets back again.
All labor, whether on the farm or
at the loom or in shops, is iniuriously
affected by just such legislation as
the Senate bill embodies. The pro-
lection that helps has been discarded
1.-THE protection that Expresses is
about to be put in operation. But
no man in his senses supposes that
the issue joined between the two par
ties of this country is finally settled
The stake involved is far too impor-
tant to be so quickly disposed of
The fruit horn of the policy now on
the eve Of introduction cannot fail
to be such as, will condemnit. The
rich will grow richer, the poor
poorer; the farmer will continue to
mortgage his land, and the manu-
tacturer who holds the mortgage
will ere long press for payment
The party that represents the gen.
eral good as opposed to class legisla-
tion-that stands forth as the cham
I pion and defender of the people as
against the monopolists-is otlikely
to lose its grip on the public purse or
the public conscience by single de-
feat. Time will tell how completely
money and corruption have tri-
umphed over the best interests of
the people, and when the awakening
comes, as it surely will, the party
to which the country will then turn
ought not to be found demoralized
and broken host.
The Democratic party has not yet
fulfilled its great mission. The flu
ture prosperity, the best hopes of our
people, are in its keeping. But if it
is to be ridden to death by warning
chiefs or honeycombed with corrupt
jobs, or broken into factions, each
trying to use it for some petty adj
vantage, it will be only minority
mob when the day of deliverance
arrives. The great heart of the
party beats to-day with as high. re-
solves and pure motives as when 1T