The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1890-02-21
BLAINE ON TIE TARiYF.

'.t~'~ sNsVSiabl1 bsOtltS III " tDdH any pro
dnc.ion he has ever before put forth on
that subject. II Il clearly in the line OF
the truth to say Of Mr. blaine, Gas he do,s
Of Mr.. Gledstone,) tilal ne Is the most
distinguished representative u The .pro.
lection" school Of political economists.
That he should begin IL weaken In his
defense Of his iavoritc policy, aproteeaon",
augufs breaking IN the lines Of The lesser
lights hs well as among the rank and file
Of "prolcstion's" dcyotees in this article
Mr.. Blaine admits what nc never admitted
before, That free trade Il better for Great
Britain than "protsctlon". This, then,
docs away with all comparisons between
wages paid III Great Britain and the United
States TO show that "protectIon" secures
high wagss But 10 show the straits to
which he Il driven 10 his attempts to break
the force Of Mr.. Gladstone's stern logic,
We have only TO state that af,cr having
made the admission, he makes a number
OF comparisons with Brilish statistics 10
show that hi4 own ad mission Il false. TO
show that he thinks that "frec trade" Is
better for Great Britain than ''protection"
he makes this remarkable statement:
$50 far from guarding herself agains,
materials from other countries. her, (Grcat
Britains) lnduslriai system would wither
and die Il foreign products were withheld
even brief period'. How docs this re-
markable statement eomport with t1e state
men,s daily made l,y protectIoi.Ists Of high
and low degree 10 the effect that the Eng
lIsh people are rapidly growing tired Of
''iree trade and longing for aproteetion".
II "protection" Is to cause the industrial
system Of Great Britain to wither, why
should they openly call fer their own dc.
ssruetion by calling for aprotection". The
most amusing feature Of Mr. Blaine's argu-
ment Is that he uniformity attributes nil
prosperity In this government to'proiec.
ton" and all adverSIsy, all financial de-
pressIons, 10 low tariff. He was greatly at
= loss to find any shadow OF proof that the
financial depression Of 1857 Was the result
Of the low tariff Of 1876. and, in the abb
sence Of anything better, he takes the fol.
lowing extract from Mr.. Duchanon's
message TO congress after the panic.
"&l,h unsurpassed plenty In all the el
s:fneute s3f national wealth, our manfact.
urers have suspended. our public works
are retarded, our private enterprises Of
different kinds are abandoned. and thou.
sands of usefli iaborers are thrown out Of
employment and reduced 10 want"
The reader will observe that there is not
word here as 10 the cause OF the condI-
ton OF things as described by President
Buchanan. Had Sir. Blaine been a. cam
did rs he Is skilifui he would have read
Mr.. Buchanan's message little closer and
he would have found the following as the
real ca"se of the great depression then
existing:
II Il apparent that our existing inistor-
tunes have proceeded sokeiy from extrasa-
giant and vicious system Of paper currency
and bank credits, exciting the people 70
Wild speeulations and gambling In stocks.
These revuisions must continue 20 occur
at successive Intervals 80 long as the paper
currency and bank loans and discounts Of
the country shall be left 10 the discretion
OF foHrfesm hundred irresponsible banking
Institutions
This, then, IS the evidence OF Mr..
Blaine's own witness as TO the cause OF the
panic OF 1857. MOI a word about the
Walker tariff Of 1870 Ard AIr. Blaine
knew all about the existence OF this evi
denee. Every man who lived in the west
In 1857 will remember the hard times
then, and all consequent upon the fact
thai state bank bills were 50 deprecated
that II WAS almos, impossible to use any
of il as money. Every one of adult age
remembers the dire financial ericis Of 1873
that shook the business OF the country to
Its foundation, and wrecked many man
In ils ruins. AL this happened when the
war tariff Of 1854 was In .ull force. There
Is just as much reason to believe that this
crisis was the result Of The high tariff ri
that the panic Of 1857 xas the result of the
Walker tariff OF 1896. Mr.. Blaine COM
parcs the increase in wealth In the Unitet
States from 1860 to 1850 to the increase
Ia wealth In Great Britain for the same
period to show the benefits Of protective
tariff. Here again nc Is unfortunate, n
he has already admitted that free trade !
better for Great Britain than protection
and therefore Il the latter did rot inereas
as fast in wealth as the United States, he
increase would have been less had she beei
under protective tariff law. But eve
had he not admitted 40 much, the compai
ison would be yalueless as during all thi
period the great west was being settled y
by Immigrants from England, Germany
ireland. and other European countrie
? who settled upon the rich prairie lands an
In few years made them valuable, viii
no such processes were going on In Gre'
!. Britain as her population was alread
dense. An equally fsllacious comparisc
: Is made by Mr.. Blaine to show, that, VI
y der protection agricultural states increa
e In wealth more rapidly than mauufactu
. ing states. He says that from 1860 to IS
c, the six New England state with New Yo
ie end Pennsylvania increase In wealth >
nj per cent. while the eight agricultuI
to states of Illinois, Indiana. Iowa, Kansi
Michigan, Minnesota. Nebraska, a
Wisconsin increased during the san
:. period 500 per cent. He seems to ha
!. entirely overlooked s,,e fact that In IS
5 the eight agriculture. states were you
!. and wi.honlya 4 sparse population butrich
j unoccupicd government lands which w
s offered on the most liberal terms to settl'
both from New England and from Euro
and that during all this time hundreds
i'd thousands OF people were settling up'
Is, these lands making them valuable a
G. that herein Is the secret in the increase
re the wealth Of that vast western empire.
.ir Does any one suppose that these states wo
have been any less rapidly settled under
low, than under high tariff No sane n
Ii does. II Mr. Blaine desires to find the, to
a latent cause Of this remarkable increase
at wealth in these western states let him we
,e the fact carefully that during the time fr
1860 to 1880 the New England states and n
York and Pennsylvania increased in popu
h. ton but ~ per cent while the agricultr
ia .s.t., ,,.,,.ad ;,,creaeed ,ver = ner REM.