Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1890-07-24
THE TARIFF DISCUSSED.
hon. Roger Q. Mills Talks to the People
The FaIiacies of Protection Fully tx
posed.

/ u Mills, texas, was uCeQ anu
spoke substantially as follows:
Ladies and Fellow Citizens of Missouri:
congratulate myself to-day on the great
| privilege of standing in the presence Of this
| vast concourse of the people Of the state If
| Missouri. 1t has been the privilege OF the
| representatives of the people from genera
tion to generation to meet on public occa-
sions in assemblages ike this for the els
cuss:on Of questions eff-cting public interest
| and the public welfare.
! In my honest opinion, outside of the four
years of civil strife, there has never been a
| time when it was of more Importance for
| the Ameri,en people to confer, consult
| and to woik- The time has come when We
must tread beneath our feet all prejudice
and untruth and follow the lamp OF truth
! wherever it may lead. The country to day
! is depressed. The sad evidence comes to Us
! from vale and hill, from mine and factory
and from field and household. Who is
responsible? For more than two hundred
I years Previous to 1861 the wealth of the Ma
ton was distributed around to the humble
hearthstone where il should be. contributing
! to the human happiness and human
/ comfort. God reserved the rights of the
people to work for til il indivi iual wants.
/ The results of that labor is now rapidly con-
/ centratfng into the Golfers of the few. Up to
1850 there were buc one or two citizens who
could call themselves mill.onaires. Two
hundred years of Democratic principles
suited in this continuous distribution of
WEALTH. wealth. was anus q. To-Day
the half OF the wealth OF q, o0). 900 PEG
! pie is owned by % ODD people. Poverty and
distress is the inheritance of the masses
while wealth and palaces are the Inherit
! ance OF the wealthy. Who is responsible?
/ When 1 was young the farmers used to
! come to me to loan me money. To day they
! are mortgaged for all they can stand, unable
/ to pay their debts, unable to supply their
/ wives and children with he usual comforts
! Of life: Who is responsible? Thank God,
can 10 into your faces and say you
/ not Election af er election the bal
lot has spoken against a system of
/ ROBBERY. To-day the country stands with
! astons hment and looks upon the National
/ Congress AZ Washington, where the repre-.
sentatiyeS of the people say they will create
/ life offices and appoint life officers. These
/ are the members OF your Congress. What
/ has become of the Old Anglo saxon idea?
( Our fathers who built this country said
! tn It tn" governor must be governed. We
have followed this idea for hundreds
I of years The people as governors of
! the governors told that
longer trustworthy. When the people are
crying for their rights, in the language OF
Vanderbilt, they cay: ''Tnc people be
damned" Who is responsible? The coun-
try is in peril Its institutions can not last.
The III IN 5 a sophist who does not acknowI
edge this result under existing rule. Our
fathers who gave US liberty intended that
We should foster and retain that liberty and
hand it down from generation TO genera
ton L was said then that the people were
incapable OF self govern ment The older
ones said they could lie trusted. They said
they wouli have the will and the courage to
inform themselves on public questions and
to be governed by tn interests of the whole
people. All this provision was necessary to
foster and preserve liberty.
After ALL the mai 2rity of those who have
legislatet are not alone responsible. You
know that old saving, Like priest, like
neODlp.h l. Ike antarivaS like
pie. The representative executes the peo-
pies will. You Will not ind Mr. Mansur nor
Mr.. Ecckery voting for the laws that
expressing you, because these gentlemen
have constituency that will not permit
them to do Applause Those who
elect are responsible. They are RESPONSE
BILE for the taking of wealth cut of The han7!s
of the poor and building it around the pal
aces of the rich. l would not willingly of
fend any Republican. If they are offended
il is the truth that offends them. L came
here to preach the old Democratic faith in
Missouri, the nth that We inherited from
our fathers Applause
When the war of 1850 opened the old
functionary that h id done service for so
many years was turned over to new hands
and receipt taken for il. During the de-
cade that prece led 1850 wealth increased as
never before and never since. Tramps
were not known and plenty was every
where. Wealth was distributed and happi-
ness shone upon the land But at the close
of the decade named new regime began.
Then began that system of protective tariff
This word Tariff comes from Tariffa and
originally had its application only to duties
imposed by the MoorS upon all traders in
the Mediterranean, on the ground that they
had the exclusive rights to those waters
That's where tariffa comes from. After
q while old Virginia gave man who was |
DO d enough to say: .'AIl waters belong to |
all nations. Not dollar can you get from
u.s." We'll close our ports" said the Moor, !
and he did But Thomas Jeffer son soon com
PEELED them to open and they have ever
since remained open. That's the kind of
tariff we IA d in old times. [Applause.l
After the war the tax all incoming
goods was increased and a new tax was
levied on domestic produces. They said this
was necessary. and perhaps it was. 1 would
be the last man to criticise the act at that
time, for / helped bring about the condi- !
tions complained Of Laughter But after the
war. when the necessity became less. when
came back to the Union and said: Eve
want to help you to make this the best Gov
eminent on the face of the EARTH" then in
deed they did commence to repeal the taxes.
but not in the right way. They repealed the
taxes for the benefit of the rich and not the
poor. They did not take the tax off the coat
you wear and the implement you use in toll
The fundamental principle of liberty is
equality-equality of burden and equality of
benefit. The Old Democrats have heard
these years: Equal rights to all, exclusive
protects wealth, The poor man has not the
power to protect any thing but his person.
When these Iepealeri first repealed they
sad: "Let US first rid ourselves of tax, notthe
poor man. He doesn't know much anyway
aud If he does sQuirm Well shake the d
flag and shout in defiance of pauper labor,
and that will fetch him" [Laughter.l
Iwant to make an illustration. If all the
public wealth would be reduced one half, if
the public money were doubled. the wealth
VIC u,d be doubled. J his increase IF wealth
must be considered In connection with one
great fact You are all in debt. The pubic
and private wealth of the country aCgre-
gates about S2o.OOoOO0,0O0 You remember
contracting of currency In 1873 the country
was shaken from one end to the other by
the mon tary situation. Then n distin-
guished son of Missouri. Richard p. Bland, !
presented bill for the free coinage OF silver.
[Cheers.1 God has given the gold and sill !
YER" said he. HE has enriched the hills |
with it. Take that and coin il by the thou
sands of dollars and throw il into circulation
and it will bring relief, even il does not ef- |
feet a cure" hut a certain Republican SEN
ator declared that il would soon take a
wheelbarrow full of silver dollars to buy a I
beefsteak. Why, silver has been in cifcula- /
ton since Abrahan's time Silver and gold /
have been the money in all ages Now they /
propose to stop the circulation OF silver in /
the face of our eff rts to increase it, Con /
gresham said to me the other day: Mine I
ty- nine out of every hundred are in favor of I
free coinage" And yet that man went and /
voted against it lie. like many others. /
dared not go in the face of that pious man of /
God who, on his way TO Washington held /
family worship in his car, because he said: |
Il Nx yafN Ia ~ -