New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-10-27
SECRETARY BLAINES SPEECH.

Secretary Blaine having drawn the Tree
trade Democracy into masked ambush IS moS'
destructive when he opens fire. When the NC
Kinley bill was before Congress he brought Ior-
ward the reciprocity policy as principie 'na'
should be incorporated in it. Our friends the
enemv with amazing faulty assumed that ne
had abandoned high Protection grouno' ue-
scended to the free.trade level and dlVlded tne
Repubican forces. They accepted RECIPROCITY
with precpitate rush Is long advance III 'he
direction of free trade and extolled secretary
llaines proposals as in the highest degree
.tatesmanIike rejoicing with exceeding JOY over
,ba irreparable breach in the Republican ranks
which they rashly assumed had been mace
When Congress adopted the Reciprocity amend
mont as an integral part OF the hepuoAean
svstem of Protection, they discovered TOO iate
that the veteran campaigner had led Them ihoo
On ambuscade, and after drawing their lire hao
them at his mercy. Reciprocity instead OF
dividing had united the Republican forces on
HIGHER Protection ground than was previously
occnied. There was nothing for the Free TRAD
ors 70 do except to retreat in extreme disorder
CRYING out against reciprocity as deluson and
a sham.
Naturally so brilliant a tactician as Secretary
blaine makes effective Use OF the olunoer'hR
manoeuvres of his opponents. In his canton
speeoh he describes with grim humor their ardor
and enthusiasm for reciprocity so long as they
fancied that the Republican party would be
stampcded by it, and their panic-stricken dis
NAV when they found that no breach had been
caused in the Protection camp and that they nad
been hurrahing in front of masked battery
The loud clalnors with which they have been
denouncing reciprocity as policy OF humDug
and pretenoes he dismisses with contempt as
signs of the disorderly rout of the free-tnde
sssaiIants of American industrial prosperity.
Then follows lucid exposition OF the essential
principle of reciprocity, which is not un~-
strictcd free trade but fair dealing between
nations. Secretary Blaine makes this new prln-
ciple Of Republican policy intelhglble 10 the
dullest mind. If the sugar-producing countries
are to have free market in the United otates
for what they raise: it is only just that they
should turn about and give American farmers
and manufacturers fair play. Reciprocity rs
embodied in the Tariff bill is essentially pro
tectiye principle. 1t fits in with all the pro-
visions for encouraging domestic industries and
relieving them from tDe pressure OF foreign
competition. 1t protects American wheat pork
kerosene and manufactures in the Spanish
American market precisely as the tariff sched
ulps protect the same interests in the home
market.
1t il most fortunate that Secretary Blaint
during the closing week of the canvass has made
this issue prominent one. His presence in
Mr.. Mckinleys district rallyng the Republicans
of Ohio to the support of that great leader eff
ctually dispels the free-trade illusion thai
there has been any break in the party ranks
His reply to the assumption OF MIR. SchurZ ant
Mr. Wells that the good times following 1914
were caused by the enactment OF low tariff Il
most effective and powerful. This stock ar
pument of the Free Traders is brought forward
| in this canvass rs an Offset to the uneXamplet
prosperity of the country during the last thlrt!
years under Protection. 1t Is demolished bS
| the PrOtectioniSt leader whose conversion t.
| free trade our friends the enemy were i'm
| pudcnty claiming few months ago. Score
tary Blaine's speech is aggressive in tone, lumi
| nous in the treatment OF controversial questions
and instinct with argumentativc pOwer-th'
hest speech made In the Republican canvass
hut its chief merit is the dialectic skill will
which reciprocity, one Of the great issues of thu
perfected Tariff act, is presented and explained
TO the American people. Complex az the legis
iatvc policy of the Republican party in Con
gress has been, reciprocity stands out as ont
| of the substantial results of the sesson-s land
mark of progress in the development Of Amer
can industrial interests. 1t is theme worth!
Of Secretary Blaines genius
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