Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-08-12
REAGAN ON THE TARIFF.
Means by Which Immense Fortunes
Have Been Made-Masses Down
Trodden.
The Iaboring Classes and Farmers Organize
for Self Professionalism Government
Needs Purifying.
Correspondence of the Gazette.

| Is the full text of Senator Reagan's re-
| marks in the senate August 2 on the
tariff bill:
Mr.. Reagau-Mr. President, the sem
ator from Mississippi Mr.. Georgel, in
| discussing the bill under consideration ,
! objected to 1t because the effect of the
existing legislation and to greater ex-
tent the effect of the proposed leglsl a.
ton, is the transfer OF q very large part
of the property of the country by opera
tion of law, without price or considera-
ton from the masses of the people to
few persons, making those few very
rich while it is steadily and certainly
lmpoverishing the great masses of the
| people.
The senator from Connecticut Mr..
Hawley1, who is usually fair and just in
his treatment of public questions, sup
| posed he had answered this proposition
! by showing how much richer, how much
more prosperous the state of Connecticut
was than the state of Mississippi.
My understanding of the question Is
that what thu senator from Mississippi
was Directing to was that Connecticut
was made so much more prosperous by
being a manufacturing state and enjoy
| ing the benefits of this class of legisia-
| ton, while the senator from Mississippi
! was representing substantially an agri-
| cultural state which was bearing the bur-
| dens of this class of legislation by which
the state represented by the senator from
! Connecticut was being enriched.
Mr.. President, whenever arguments
| are made here by those who represent
the mass of the people OF this country,
| by those who represent the agriculture
and the labor of the country, by those
| who represent the toilers and wealth
makers of the country, we are answered
| either by technical arguments, or by
references more or less contenptuous to
| the condition of impoverished commune
ties of this country and comparison of
their condition with thnt of other COM
munities in more prosperous condition.
Mr.. President, up to 1860 there were
very few men, in fact L believe there
| were but two in this country, whose for
tunes were valued by millions-Stepheu
Girard and John jacob Aston. II there
were others, l do not remember them.
Up to that time the wealth of this
country was more equally distributed
among the people than in any other
country beneath the sun. Up to that
time the enjoyment of the wealth pro-
duced by labor, enterprise and capital
was more equally distributed amongst
the people than anywhere else, so far as
my knowledge goes, either in modern or
ancient times. Since that time, and
within the last thirty years class of
men have acquired fortunes ranging
from 81 900 900 to 5000 ,000, ZOO apiece.
Mr. II a hi
about? Was it the result of equal laws,
of just legislation Count S1G0, 900. 200
If you can. Imagine if you can any man
trying to earn the tenth part of $780,
900. 900 by fair enterprise, by successful
enterprise. 1t is not in human capability
to make any such sums of money.
When we come to the inquiry how
these vast fortunes are made we have
only to go to the legislation of congress
to find the reason for IT. Vast subsidies
to railroads; the transfer of countless
millions by protective tariffs, syndicates,
trusts, combinations OF capital against
labor, for the purpose OF extorting eX-
traordinary prices for given articles of
commerce.
These are the means, TO large extent,
by which these immense fortunes have
been made; these are the means by
which this vast inequality in the condi-
tlon of the people OF the country has been
produced; these are the means which
have loaded down the farmers of this
country with mortgages and debt; these
are the means which have Impoverished
even the farmers of New England,
where they are blessed with the advau-
tages of this class legislation for
their manufacturers; these are the
means which have loaded down
the farmers of Pennsylvania,
great and prosperous state given over to
protection; these are the means which
have made the whole West almost q
land of mortgaged farms; these are the
means which have to so large an extent
impoverished the great mass of the peo-
pie so that they are no longer able to pay
their debts, and. with the hardest
struggle they can make, find it difficult
to support themselves and their families.
While this is SO, We find in the louali-
ties where manufacturing is carried on
fortunes piled upon fortunes, wealth
piled upon wealth, millionaires multi
piled by millionaires. The senator from
Mississippi deprecated communism; the
senator from Connecticut deprecated
communism. When the country Is given
~ ~ q Sihoo WIZ uoo iuO
as an instrument to enrich the few by
impoyerishiug the many, we have
reached the most dangerous phase of
communism, and, unfortunately in this
as in other cases known TO history, the
men who are reaping the advantages of
class legislation will neither listen to
reason nor to argument, but answer
them with contempt.
Mr.. President, the royal family of
France, the nobility of France, the
priesthood of France before 1899 could
never be made to hear reason. They
oppressed. Impoverished and degraded
the French people. The cries OF the peo-
pie were not heard. Gentlemen who are
using this government to throw the
wealth of this country into the hands of
few persons, to throw the estimated
SCI 200, 000, 200 of wealth, as suggested
by the senator from Colorado TMr.
Tellerl, into the hands of l00, 900 |
men had better read history and |
take some of its warnings to them
selves. They had better look at cur
rent facts in this country to-day, and see |
that agriculture and labor are organizing |
themselves TO assert their rights, and |
when gentlemen have driven this class OF |
our PEG pie to desperation they will find |
that human beings and votes count more |
than dollars, even If they are counted by |