St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-03-19
THAT HISTORIC GROUND.

~ VI IuG 0lODS
Please accept my thanks for the drubbing
you gave the Pioneer Press in to-day's GLOBE.
A paper that is ashamed to confess its party's
principles ought to haul down the party
colors Republieanism and protection are
welded, and cannot DO divorced. Please
give succinct statement of the tariff issue
as il was presented by the two parties in the
last presidential campaign; also the actual
vote polled by the respective parties. This
will show that adherence to protection
principles is the only historic ground of
which the Republican party can boast
IAN OLD-TIME REPUBLICAN.
Minneapolis March II.
Tue tariff issue between the Repub-
lican and Democratic parties was clearly
made up in 1888. In the Chicago plat
form the Republican party pronounced
formally for higher tariff on articles
of domestic manufacture. which in
cluded all the necessaries Of life and
every commodity of manufacture in Or
binary use. Rather than touch high
tariff taxation, the Republican platform
pronounced for "the entire repeal of
internal taxes" consisting almost
wholly of excise upon liquors and to-
bacco. Nor was this platform adopted,
as the Pioneer Press processes to be-
lieve, i'll the confusion and excitement
incident to the struggle between rival
candidates for places on the ticket, but
it was the deliberate act of the cOnven-
ton. performed after careful and pro-
longed discussion in the committee
room, where all the leaders of the party
OF any prominence had hearing, and
unanimously adopted by a rising vote
of the convention before the nomlna-
tons were made. The platform was
not made for the candidates, as is some
times done in conventions, but 1t was
adopted first, and the candidates, who
were nominated afterwards, pledged
themselves to cordial support of the
platform in its entirety.
The Democratic platform was really
made up before the assembling of the
st. Louis convention. The principles
of the Democratic party were enunciat-
ed in the messages that Mr.. CLEVELAND
sent to congress. They were formulated
in the MILLS bill when it passed the
house of representatives, and were
given still more formal expression in
the platform adopted at st. Louis.
That platform declared for an enlarged
free list, which should include lumber.
salt and fiberS used in manufacture, and
for material reduction on all the tariff
schedules. There has never been a time
when the differences between parties
were so clear-cut or so fully discussed
as in the campaign of 1888. They we're
discussed for over year in the preSi-
dents message. in congress, in the
newspapers, on the stump. in campaign
literature, in every congressional dis
trict, and possibly every school district
throughout the land. Thus it will be
seen that it is the height of absurdity
ton and tariff reform was not presented
in the election of 1888.
The Republicans elected their ticket,
as we have shown, by a peculiar manip-
ulation of the electoral vote, nothwith
standing the popular vote was on the
side of the Democrats. Mr.. CLEVELAND
received 5,540,329 votes, while his sue
cessful competitor had nearly 100000
votes less.
Every political occurrence since No
yember, 1888, has served to strengthen
and deepen the feeling that as meas
ure of necessary public justice the
tariff tax must be radically reduced.
Yet, in spite of the pressure of popular
sentiment in that direction, the house
committee on ways and means, with its
Republican majority, has about COM
pleted a so-caIied tariff readjustment
bill in which the only article that is
transferred to the free list is kind of
grease that comes off sleeps back and
is used in finishing leather. This fur
nishes key to the sort of tariff reform
the Republican party can be relied on
TO accomplish. When the moon is con-
verified into green cheese, and not until
then, can tie Republican party be eX-
pected to favor tariff reform. If the
leaders can succeed in inducing their
ignorant followers to believe that the
Republican party is capable of reform
ing the tariff, they will have only added
another to their many cunning devices
for perpetuating the protection policy.
They will find out in the long run, how
ever, that il is better to be honest than
cunning, even in politics.