Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1890-07-21
BLOWS OF A GIANT.
Hon. WILLIAM L. WILSON'S MAGNIFICENT
ATTACK
On the Iniqutss Of the Mckinley Bll-HH Great
Spsach at Baltimore Reproduced
The fin-Plais Tariff and
lis Effects.

Senator Wilson, Hon. w. c. Z. Rreck-
inridge and others. Congressman Crisp
OF Georgia, Hemphill Of South Caro-
lima and w. i. Wilson Of West Virginia
spoke. Mr.. Wilson's address has at
tractcd so much attention for its felic-
ity OF expression and power Of argument
that the REGISTER deems il proper to
reproduce it. II is a giants blow at the
iniquitieS Of the present tariff and the
ten-fold more iniqutous system which
the Mckinley bill would fasten on the
people.
ME. WILSON'S Address.
"NO man can look on the map Of
Maryland without seeing that it is dcdi-
Gated to tariff reform. The city OF
Baltimore is the gift Of the sea. II
while its people slumber tonight some
mighty convulSion OF nature should lift
the bed Of the Patapsco to the level of
your wharves and tilt the waters of the
Chesapeake into the Atlantic all classes
of your people would instantly feel that
an irreparable disaster had befallcn the
city, and that the paralysis Of death
had fastened on its prosperity and
greatness. No men understood the
fact and all that 1t implies more fully
than the great merchants who more
than half century ago, In the rude be-
ginning Of railroad construction.
reached boldly forth for the products
Of the Ohio Valley and sought to take
them forever a prize for the markets of
Baltimore.
l..fss
stances considered. Is not surpassed in
foresight and daring in all the wonder
ful history Of the developments Of rail
roads. They riskcd much on the hal-
ard Of a doubtful experiment. and they
did so because they clearly saw the
mighty stakes for which they We're
playing. Looking down between the
capeS they saw the great ocean. whose
tides rolling up TO their city gates
offered to bear back its commerce to all
the markets OF the world They could
not send forth empty ships to trade ia
those markets. and 80 they sought To
gather here the surplus products Of the
fertile regions beyond the Allegheny,
that both coming and going these ships
might have profitable cargOe>, from
whose mutual interchange and diStri-
button the city might draw wealth and
ever increasing prosperity. They had
learned from history how sure and cN-
uberant fountain Of wealth is the
abundance OF the seas, and from their
most favored location they sought 10
gather Of that wealth.
HIGH WAYS or TRADE
But, my fellow citizens, their wis
dom to-day is discarded. if not, indeed,
turned into folly. \ party has arisen
and attained to power in this country,
whose teachings declare that the seas
which surround us are not highways Of
trade: not invitations 10 share in the
commerce and traffic OF the world. but
permanent barriers TO shelter and pro-
tect us from the industrial attacks of
other nations; party whose chief
prophet has declared that IL were in
deed. better for us, as a nation. II these
waves were waves of fire, and the thun-
der Of the tempest that sometimes
roughcnS them stern interdict against
the prosecution Of foreign commerce.
In pursuance of this policy they have
already called of our merchant
marine from the seas. forbidden the
American merchant and the American
mariner to take part in the carrying
trade OF the world, made unlawful, or
at least Improbable, the many occupa-
tions that are called into being by this
trade, and dried mp a great source Of
for American labor and Oi
profitable enterprise for American capi-
tai. But this is not the call for our as
here tonight. We have been
fighting against this condition Of affairs
for too many years to come out under
the feryors of July sun merely for a
new protest. no matter how sincere,
against H. We are, az least. accustomed
to a passive commerce. however much
we may feel its wrong and its oppres-
Sivencss, but we are to-day confronted
with new turn Of the screw, an ag-
gravation of our distress by another at
tack upon what yet remains 10 us OF
that passive commerce. A tariff bill has
already passed one branch Of Congress,
and is now pending in the other branch,
whose object openly and repeatedly
avOwcd by its trainers and supporters is
to check impOrtatiOns and still more
narrow our foreign commerce. They
have. in fact. gone carefully around Our
frontiers. and whenever they found an
opening I'm our tariff walls through
which there rolled or tricklcd any
stream Of trade they have sought To
seal il up. or at least raise so high those
walls as greatly to diminish that stream.
In their blindness they have not seen
that I'm closing these openings and rails
inc higher these walls they have not
ONLY shut ont the stream from abroad,
but shut i'm the stream that struggled
To get out. They claim that In 80 doing
they are shielding American industry.
or. as the deceptive phrase goes. that
they are protecting II against the COM
petion OF foreign industry; what they
are really doing is 10 strike down one
branch OF home industry that they may
add to the power and prosperity OF am
other branch Of home industry
srIIKfNG ILLUSTRATION.
"Iet me Illustrate this economic truth
by an example that comes home to the
people of Baltimore. The farmers ol
the Shenandoah Valley, among whom !
was born and have always lived and
Who have filled my life with kindness.
are the producers Of the great staple
wheat. NO farmers have more fertile
soil. From IL they harvest crops that
ought to bring them independence, u
not wealth. The G5.O00,OOO people oi
this country cannot consume its wheat
ron. A fourth part Of that crop. 100
wears Of plenty third part. must LOOK
for consumers beyond the sea- where
the population has outstripped the pro-
luctiye capacity VI the soil. The farmer
lf the valley sends wheat 70 Bailiihoi'
over your great railroad. II passes
through your elevators 10 the loTeigh
who bear IL across the
sea To bid for markets in London OF
Liverpool. Il is sold at rates hNed by
the free competition Of that foreign
market Unless the farmer j. willing
10 nav freight both ways there must De
a return cargo. The proceeds oi MS
wheat are invested In tin-plaie' Tor
which there j. a steady and increasing
demand in America. When hc reaches
on his return he has tin-p'ale
which he +, able 10 sell al far proht 70
Inc timers and Gamers Of Maryland at
bree cents per pound. The custom
house officer fOrbids him 10 land
me Mound Of II until he has paid two
and two-third cents per pound on
.t-,lmost as much a. its first
.ost The farmer protests against this
.vaction. He asks II the treasury Of
,is country is 50 empty that IL must Inn
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