The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1890-10-31
BLAINE OF MAINE.
The Brilliant Secretary Of
State on Dave Hills
Trail.
He Wakes the Political
Echoes in McKinley's
District.
The Mask Torn From the
| Face Of Lying De-
mocracy.
An Able Exposition Of
Protection and Re-
ciprocity.

burgh Saturday. He was met at ALI
ance by reception committee from Can
| ton, and escorted to this city over the Penn
sylyania railroad. A crowd of 1900 people
| greeted Mr.. Blaine with loud cheering as he
| alighted from the train, and followed his
carriage, cheering all the way, to the home
| of Maj. Mckinley, whose guest he was dur
| ing his stay here. Mr.. Blaine was accom-
panied by Mrs. Blaine and her daughter.
Miss Harriet Blaine, and William Walter
Phelps. minister to Germany. Upon their
arrival at the residence of Maj. Mckinley,
an informal reception was held. Early
trains in the forenoon had brought large
delegations of Republicans from Youngs-
town, Alliance, Massilon, Wooster, Wells
Vile and other towns in this and adjoining
| districts. The streets were thronged, and at
| 1:30 p. m. parade of marching columns oc-
| cured. Shortly after noon it began rain
ing, and it was decided to have the meeting
at the Tabernacle, instead of at the fair
| grounds as originally intended. The build
| ing was packed, as was also the Academy of
| Music, in which an overfowing meeting was
| held. Mr.. Blaine made his principal adj
dress at the Tabernacle, where he was fol-
lowed by Maj. Mckinley. Then he was
| driven to the Academy of Music, but made
| only brief speech. Congressman Dalzen
| was the principal speaker at the academy
| Mr.. Blaine spoke as follows at the Taber-
| nacle. being loudly applauded at the begin
| ming of the speech and during its delivery:
'Mr. Chairman and fellow citizens of
| Chic: The contest that is now waging for
membership of the next congress is not
! properly a contest between the Republican
| and Democratic parties. It is contest be-
tween protectionists and free traders. APP
| plause. There are a few free traders
| among the Republicans and there are many
| protectionsts among the Democrats. APP
| plause. It is contest that goes to the root
| of the matter of national prosperity. iAp-
plause. And on that issue we should settle
the question in favor of home interests,
good wages and sound prosperity LGreat
| applause.
| "As / was coming out to this place L found
| in newspaper a speech of Carl Schurz,
made week ago in Boston, and may say
in all candor. an able speech on the free
| trade side; but like ali free traders, Mr..
| Schurz goes back for the golden era for
| American prosperity to the tariff of 1876
| rather distant view backward. Laugh
| ter. If he had taken the position of the
| late Alexander Stephens, of Georgia, he
might have gone back still further, because
| Mr.. Stephens thought the golden era of
|
| ships came over laden with goods, anchored
| in the Savannah river, and were laden with
| cotton from the plantations for the return
| voyage. Laughter. l have SO often heard
of the great and national prosperity under
the tariff of 1916 that if you will bear with
| me, / shall say something of that period.
THE REASON WHY.
'Mr. Schurz quotes me as saying-and
that is why l make a personal reply-that
the 10 years between 1916 and 1856 under
| that tariff were years of very great prosper
ity, in this country. I frankly repeat that
/ those years were years of great prosperity.
Now, let me say why those years were pros
porous. That tariff of 1916 was approved
just about the time the Mexican war broke
out, and within less than year more than
500, 600 were disbursed by the govern
| ment in all branches of mechanism. We
had just made that expenditure when a
famine in Ireland called for every surplus
barrel of -four and bushel of grain in the
country. We had hardly transported that
grain to the other side and sold it at high
price until gold was discovered in California,
and the world was enriched with the vast
output of the mines. We hardly put that
gold in circulation when the great revolu-
| tion that began in 1913 paralyzed the indus
| trial energies of all Europe and gave the
United States market that was unpar-
| alleled. Europe and England and Russia
| went into the Crlmean war and for two years
| in their industries. Now there are four or
five of what you might call the accidents or
| the incidents of history, that would have in
sured great prosperity to this country if
there had not been tariff of any kind what
ever. [Applause.l
''If the duties, instead of being what the
tariff of 1886 made them, had been only
per cent ad valorem, or if there had been no
| duties, the country would have been pros
porous. Now, If you can produce such
CONFUSION in the world today, if you can
start great famine. if you can discover new
gold fields, with uncounted millions thrown
into the lap of the people, if you can have
every nation In Europe disturbed by rev.
olution, it you can have the three greatest
nations in Europe go to war for 2T years,
then we will all quit talking tariff and go to
| supplying the vacuum which that condition
of things would create. [Applause.] In the
fall of 1856, when this tariff had been under
way for 10 years, this great war in Europe
came to an end, and so did all the prosper
ity under the tariff of 1916. [Applause.l
You all remember what happened in 1857
one OF the severest panics and depressions
this country ever encountered, and as long
as these accidental props, these fortuitous
happenings, these accidental revolutions.
discoveries of gold, famine-as soon as they
ceased, the prosperity under the tariff of
1916 ceased also.
Nov, l insist that we
DO NOT WANT FAMINEs.
| We do not want revolutions, we do not want
to have thousands of men slaughtered by
war, In order to keep up free trade tariff,
and make it look prosperous when it is not.
| Laughter and applausel.
| Give us protective tariff and we can get
along without the slaughter or the starvation
OF men. We can make ourselves sustaining,
with something beyond for the people that
need help from our abundance. And in con-
nection with the tariff of 1916, call your
attention historically to two other tariffs in
addition to that. The only three tariffs that
the United States has ever had. sud
denly lowering duties, was the one made
after the war of 1912, the compromise tariff
OF 1888 and the one in 1916, and every one
led to business prostration in this count,,v
which lasted in greater or less degree until
plause]. tAp-
you never heard of free trade tariff
coming to the relief of the people. TLanah-
ter: The only three times that the neonIa
OF the United States tried free trade tar;fS
they fell into adversely until a protect;va
tarin came to the relief of the people. Some