The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-10-17
The Tariff Nut Cracked.

the original production, yet there is
manner of expression and an appar-
ent change of base which / may be
permitted to notice. His first and
very casual expression is as follows:
$50 also the fact shat the country has
groaned for twentynine years under
the most unlnst system of taxation
ever invented by the. ingenuity of
man" Now my friend of the Sen
tinel, will Won just ask the gentlemen
of the jury, if they know of FREE
TRADE NATION on earth whose labor
ing people have groaned with so
healthy, happy and prosperous a
groan as have the American people
under the protective tariff of the
Republican party. When you have
their answer you will no longer won
der why they have borne it so long
and SO patiently dyes" it is admit
ted that the tariff is of Republican
parentage and has been fOstered by
Republicans, but. remember that the
Republican tariff is tariff for pro
lection, while the Democratic tariff
is, and ALWAYS has been, tariff for
revenue only. Of course we admit
that the Republican party is not one
that is called upon to denv. regret. or
| feel ashamed Of their political acts
Our friend of the Sentinel, in his cas-
nal manner also SAYS, at is also proper
to state h IT. in the CONCEPT ON of the
measure and it's enactment into law
| Il mi, tI,o
the Democrats assisted and supported
the measure, the measure was neces-
sary then, the government needed
vast sums of money" Now my
| friend, right here is the meat Of the
nut accidentlv Or designedly exposed
The Democratic argument, ever since
1920, has been y tariff for revenue
only, and believe it. fair to presume
that our friend means by his express
ion above quoted, that the idea of a
tariff was conceived during the war
and was enacted into law as a means
of obtaining the necessary money to
carry on the war If this version of
his remark is correct what are we to
think, or what are we NOT to think Of
1t in the light of the fact that tariff
| for revenue law was one of the inher-
itances of this government and the
first PROTECTIVE tariff law was passed
bv Congress in 1916 under JAMES
MADIsONs administration, WAS sup
ported by the South and opposed bv
New England, and in 1S20a bill was
passed through congress which very
materially raised the tariff, and this
time was supported by New England
and opposed by the South, and the
declared purposes of each of these
| bills was to protect American indus
tries. Again in 1882 the tariff was
revised and the result of this revision
was another increase. and it was hen
that the famous notification act was
nassed by the State of South Caro-
lima and the federal troops and war
ship had to be sent down there to en-
force the law. In 1912 a new protec-
tive tariff bill was passed with de-
clared protective features Does not
orr friend know that the tariff law of
1916 was not in time of war. and that
1T was fought and settled on the pro
tectlve issue. that it was opposed by
the New Enylanhers because thew
were not at that time either manu-
facturers or producers but engaged in
commerce, bnt under the influences of
the protection manufactures sprang
up IN their midst, and when the tariff
Qnesion was again raised, in 1920, the
New England people were its strong
est supporters, and the people of the
South who were engaged with their
slaves IN raising cotton and other
products, which they sold largely to
foreign notions and were desirious of
buying their supplies abroad and get
ting them home free of duty, were the
| most active opponents of protective
tariff. And from that dav to this.
they, the Southern States, have OBJ
posed a.pretective tariff, and as they
are soul and body of the Democratic
party, the tail of which, here in the
North must stay with them in this
matter as with the slavery question
and every other issue that they have
raised for the last thirty years. Again
the Sentinel says "when Cleveland
was elected it WAS not strictly on an
issue forced by the Democratic leaders.
The independent voter was large
factor True my friend it was the
independent voter that elected Mr..
cleveland, and it was that same indie
pendent voter that refused to elect him
when he got on that cold WORKOUT
knock-kneed, hump-backed. southern
bred, free-trade horse" Why is it
that our friend from the Sentinel in
his first article advocates absolute free
trade, and in his second article sim nlv
revision OF the tariff? Will he keep
right on until he gets on to the good
solid foundation of American "Pro-
tective Tariff" In his first article he
says, "abolish tariff on lumber and
supplies that are used in the lumber
business" and in his second article he
goes no farther than to say that ga re-
ductlon OF the tariff would increase
our markets." And he should have
adied, at starvation prices. Do Won
not Know, Sir, that there are hundreds
OF thousands of wealthy men in orr
country who are not producers, either
from the soil, the mines, or the shop.
but they are all consumers. And do
you not think that any class of laborers
IN this country prefer to pay good
iiving price for the products OF their
FELLOW laborers, and secure for them
serves and their fellows living price
Tor their products that are consumed
oy the wealthy on-producers, and do
you not know that there is no nation
on the earth that has as good mar
ket to offer us as we would give to
them by ''free trade" And as Ionn