Hopkinsville Kentuckian., 1890-10-28
Come to ihe Front
MklNLEY RENOMINATED.

His Speech Accepting tho Nomination For
Congress What Ills Farty Promised
How It Has Kept Its Word-An Interpre-
tatiun OF tho Chicago Iatform.
The St Louis Democrat, the
St Paul Pioneer-Press the Chicago
Tribune, the Omaha Bee, the Atch!son
Champion and many other papers
throughout the West which have al
ways been loyal soldiers in the high
tariff army, have, OF late. been very
resliye under the leadership of Mr.. Nc
Kinley and those who think with him.
Senators Plumb, ingalls,, Paddock, Man
derson. and even Senators Dawes and
Blair, and q few OF the representatives,
notably Congressman Butterworth, while
inslsting that they are protectionists,
have mado more or less vigorous pro-
tests against the Mckinley bill These
papers and statesmen profess the Ut
most loyalty to their party, and to q Ma
tional protective system as we'll They
have no sympathy with the Democratic
party; and yet McKinleylsm does not
please them.
That gentleman has been silent for
some time. Tho leading papers OF his
own party have abused him without
stint and have discussed his measure
in the most savage terms And in so
doing they have assailed his political
orthodoxy. 1t is interesting therefore,
to hear what he has to say for himself.
OF course he claims that he belongs to
the regular school, and he quotes the
Chicago platform, OF which he Is the
reputed author, in support OF his claim.
What does that document say? What
was the issue upon which the party
fought the last campaign? What had
the ordinary citizen, who understood
plain English, a right to expect from
the party which asked him to vote for
Mr.. Harrison?
Tariff revision, to be sure, but of
what kind? Many people insist that
they thought that revision meant re-
duction, and some of them go so far us
to say that had it been generally sup
posed that it meant any thing else Mr..
Harrison would never have reached the
White House. Yet the words of this
platform are quite plain, and Mr. Nc
Kinley appeals to them in his own de-
fense. The promise was to revise the
tariff in such way as to check importd-
tion&
That is the party's latest utterance-
upon the subject OF the tariff 1t is
bound by it--that is II party platforms
ever bind any one. 1t was entrusted
with power that it might 'check inn
portations" Millions of dollars were
subscribed to its campaign fund on the
strength OF that pledge. Protection for
protection's sake was the theme Of the
orators and the organs. The revenue
reformefs were denounced as free trad
ers because they proposed to do almost
what the Western ''kickers" are asking
to have done now
The victory was won with the help OF
the Omaha Bee, the Chicago Tribune,
the St Paul Pioneer Press and Messrs
Plumb. Butterworth and the rest Of
them. Then Mr.. Mckinley set about
the work OF translating the platform
into legislation. The result is the Nc
Kinley bill, which has provoked howl
all along the line. sand what he asks,
"is the howl about? Have we not done
what we could to check importations?'
The Customs Admins tration bill, which
Is now the law OF the land, is denounced
by the free traders because 1t does just
that thing. The Mckinley Tariff bill,
which the Senate will pass when 1t gets
ready, will contribute to the accom-
plishment OF the same result. The
party is carrying out its pledges. You,
Mr. Plumb, and you, too, Mr.. Blaine,
approved those pledges when they were
made. Shall we stand by them or not?
That is the sole question. l say we
shall stand by them. And l say further,
that whatever may have been the case
before 1888, in that year our. party was
committed to the cause OF protection as
embodied in tho Mckinley bill. The
time for protest has gone by. The rec
ord is made up The party must abide
by it-at least until the next National
convention meets"
Such is Mr.. McKinley's plea. And IL
must be confessed that 1t has plausi-
Bile sound. The man who makes 1t is
undoubtedly honestly and earnestly de-
voted to bad cause, while the men
who arc fighting him usually give the
cause just rs effective suppors when
voting timo comes, though they knowit
to be q bad cause.
Another Kansas paper evidently
agrees with Mr. McKinley's view OF the
situation. It says that those protec-
tonists who are clamoring- for lower