The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1890-05-21
A GLANCE BACKW.A ARD.
"reminiscences Recalled by the hep'" "
McKinIey's Tariff Commt ttee.

lican organs of the tariff rings olscu0. ~
tbe Dem ,cratic efforts to rel orm Inc
revenue system two years ag' o. Ane
Democratic members of the W: Us anu
means committee-Messrs. Mills, DieoA
inridge, Bynum and others-d evo VOC:
two or three months to the PFepa 'a a.
of a tariff bill, and the Repul 1lcah
organs reproached them for their 49, nc a.
toriness. The organs poked all sol W VI
fun at these gentlemen because Wy
did not report bill within week VI
two after they had taken up the qu' -
ton, and declared very broadly tnl ~
their failure to do so was due 10 tneA
lack of general intelligence and apllltS
To do such work, as we'll as to thelr
shocking ignorance of practical ous,-
ness conditions and their want OF amll.
iarity with manufactures. Inc journal
of this city, taking the cue from tne
Eastern organs of monopoly, printed
the figures showing the insignltlcance
of the manufacturing interest," III Ole
Mills and Breckenridge districts anu
insisted that as Mr.. Mills and ME-
breckenridge represented farmers prln-
c;na1lv and Southern farmers at tnat,
it was monstrous etfrontery for them TO
assume to know any thing apo1e INC
nrincipals of taxation, or to have any
thing to say about the amount OF tribute
that the protected interests shou,o 70
allowed to levy upon the masses Oh 'ae
people. s
The Democratic members OF the ways
and means committee two years ago
agreed upon bill before submitting 1T
to their Republican colleagues. For
this they were fiercely denounced oS
the New York Tribune, which charac-
tnrized the Mills bill as ''a dark-lantern
bilr'-a phrase which was echoea anu
re-echoed by all the other organs Oh Vue
tariff rings.
When the Mills bill was reported tne
Republican papers, before their aoie
editors had had time to read it, assaulted
If in unison in an attack upon the busi-
: ness interests of the country, which, II
successful, was certain to throw the
whole commercial world into confusion,
close mills and factories all over 1he
country, throw thousands of working
men out of employment, reduce the
t wages of the rest and play smash gen
n erally. There were some people scat
tered around the country whose uncon
0 scionable dividends the Mills Dill "ouh
have cut down. Some of these people
called themselves Democrats and the.
: hurled imprecations at Cleveland MIL
and the rest of the tariff re1orhefs
whereupon the monopoly organs sho"te'
in chorus: Behold how the Democratl
T. party is torn up and likewise split wld
omen. I,o, it is demoralized and rem
= with internecine strife. Tariff tinker
{ ing has done The business for 1t. In
I Democratic party always was an ass
J That is why it tackled the tariff. Their
I is nothing like being grand old part
! and possessing all the wealth. paoflo
| ism and intelligencein the country, an
! being led by friends of protection
| American industry Grand old partl'
7! like that know enough not to tackle u
| tariff, and that is why they are always
or almost always-on top.
J We are led to indulge in these rem
I niscences by a survey of the spectac
| now presented at Washington. III
majority of the ways and means col
I mittee-composed of friends OF T.
I students of markets and not
! Neutrality-suspicious. with highly-pi
!; tected potteries and such things IN the
i districts, and therefore familiar WI
1 the business interests OF the count
, and competent to make scientific tarl
f13
! long as poor, ignorant Farmer Mills a
his associates worked on their Dill
y have finally produced an abortion. In
thought they had bill several tim
S but they changed their minds, and
until few days ago did they know WI
= they were going to do with sugar, Wo
hides and dozen other things. In
bill is a dark lantern" bill, beca'
y they did just what the Democratic me
bers of the committee did two ye
} ago-framed their measure wlth'
consulting their Democratic as
GATES. And what plight IL
are in. The leather, wooden
iron manufacturing interests OF n
England have been up in arms
weeks because of the additional |
dens sought to be placed upon TIL
the carpet industry of the country
tests that the Mckinley measure, /
becomes a law, will involve it in al
\ lutte ruin; the sugar planters OF 1.o
n lana and the beet root theories OF n
81 sas and other States are in condl1
bordering on insanity; the canning
terests are paralyzed. The 6. o.
I'll utterly demoralized throughout the c.
mt trv: the President doesn't seem tc k
cts whether he is ''afoot or horseba
ys, Blaine, Butterworth anil Hit are
vs. ing free trade, while Crazy Horse
i'd Kinley is vainly striving to apply
,al absurd protectionist theories to &C
.ho business conditions.
-s In view of the assumption OF snpe
~ intelligence and capacity to deal
ac- eevenue questions, in which the Re
III lican leaders and newspapers indu
its two wears ago, the existing situa
ost would be inexpressibly absurd,
,es, we're not fraught with such dire per
,m- The country.-Indianapolis Sentinel
1t BOOMING AGRICULTURE.