The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1890-11-27
sTAUNTON, VIRGINIA. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER ~, 1890.
What Two Years Will Do

The brief period intervening between
the passage Of the tariff bill and the
election was an unfortunate event in
one sense, and it may be a fortunate one
in another, for the Republicans. In the
first place It afforded an admirable OPP
portunity for the opponents of that
measure to misrepresent it, which they
industriously did, and to inflame
public feeling against it. There was
not an importer or free trader, nor was
there a dealer whom they could reach,
who did not avail of the occasion to
peryert the tariff law, distort its provis-
ions, and grossly misrepresent its legiti
mate effects A concerted plot was en-
tered into to raise the price of almost
every article of trade, and to demand
increased prices upon the distinct and
false ty.ea. that the Mckinley bill was
the cause. AS an example, every article
made out of tin was advanced, although
the provision affecting tin plate does
not go into effect until July, 1891, and
then, grading the advance by the in
crease Of the tariff on tin plate, it would
not have been one-tenth of one per
cent, while the increase was sometime
as much as two hundred per cent. In
many instances articles on the free list,
and in other cases, articles as to which the
tariff had not been changed, shared the
same fate; and all of it charged to the
Mckinley bill. The effect of this was
hurtful to the Republicans, inasmuch as
there was not time enough to counteract
the falsehood by a counter statement of
the truth. The result was, that a large
vote was cast against the friends of the
bill, under an impulse to resist an in
crease of prices, and to rebuke the party
that stood responsible for the enactment
of the measure.
While the Republicans have to endure
the effects of this perverted condition
of the case, they will not be without en-
enlargement as time demonstrates the
merits of the measure and the immeas-
urable benefits that will be derived from
it to the country. An off year does not
eount much in national affairs, espe
cialIy when the relations Of parties are
adjusted as they now are in the legisla-
tive and executive departments The
measure itself will stand, until it has
had fair trial, and the advantage of
practical experience has been fully illus
trated in its operations. The fact that
the people have been robbed through
free trade Misrepresentation and the
connivance of dealers all over the coun
try. will bring its rebuke when they
realize to what extent they have been
imposed upon The further fact that
when the people have leyeled down to
the true conditions under the bill, have
brought their calm judgment to bear
upon the results of it's operations, and
realize that all the great and paramount
interests Of the country have been ben
eiieially subserved by it, they will seek
the earliest opportunity to show their
condemnation, not only Ct the import
ers and free traders, and the systematic
falsehoods they practiced, but of the
party that has been temporarily advan-
tagged by them.
Two years hence the public mind will
be in a different frame. The receptions
of the free traders will have been ex-
posed by the practical operation of the
Mckinley bill. There will be a clear
understanding OF the nefarious meth,
DDS adopted to accomplish the results of
the 4th, and there will consequently be
a determination to ayenge the wrongs
and outrages that have been perpetrated
in the methodical and preconceived de-
ceptions that were used. The doctrine
of protection 20 American labor,
American industries, and American
homes will be asserted by those
to whom its benefits will be liv-
ing, tangible witnesses. The contest
will then be made on definite lines
drawn between the two great parties
with the assurance that a majority of
the American people will decide in favor
of American interests, and the party
that makes them a cardinal tenet In it's
faith.