Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1890-11-05
Political Bluff and Bunc0mbe.


subject so continuously raisrepresented in
the United States as the tariff" He then,
says the New York Herald, proceeded to
illustrate this statement by a series of mis-
representations which we're remarkable
only for their audacity and recklessness.
To suppose that Mr.. Blaine has any faith
in the truth of bis own assertions is to i'm
peach his good sense and his knowledge Of
American history. he is student Of
Shakespeare and will recall that sentence Of
Falstaff, "Why, Hal, tits my vocation, Hal
tits no sin for man to labor in his voca'
tion." 1t is Mr. Blaine's vocation in the
present canvass to swear that the Mckinley
bill is blessing to the country and that
high taxes will make tho people rich.
He does this with wry face, but is
urged by the pressing necessities of bis
party. The people must be kept blinded to
the disastrous consequences of that measure
until the elections are safely over, and Mr..
Blaine is master in the art of concealing
facts by magnetic defamation.
W. Wv eAmPiO Juc1iCCs AOWOVOAS WhOh
we say that he believes scarcely word he
uttered. We have no desire to fatter him,
but we venture the assertion that it would
be impossible for him to accept his South
Bend theory of the political situation. He
may urge it's claims as the readiest method
of winning votes; for, as Falstaff says, it is
his vocation; but to stake his reputation as
a statesman on it is very different matter.
For example, Mr.. Blaine assured his
hearers that since protection has had full
swing for Twenty-Five years, and since the
country has more than doubled its popula-
tion during that time, the two staEd TO each
other as cause and effect.
We are led to suppose that if we had had
no protective tariff there would have been
little emigration to these shores and very
few children would have been born in
American families.
During the last twenty-nine years, he
added, more railroads have been built ethan
in all the continents and islands of the
world" This has been done while the re-
publican party was in power, and, there
fore, because that party was in power.
We might increase this list by saying
that during the last twenty-nine years the
telegraph, the telephone, electric lights,
cable and elevated railways, sewing
machines, photography, eleven-story build
ings, dynamite guns, breeoh loading rifles,
laughing gas, steel armor and all the other
apparatus of modern life have either been
invented or greatly improved. And by
parity of reasoning must admit that the
republican party is the prime cause of them
all.
Shall we continue this logic to it's con-
clusion and say that during the last twenty
nine years Charleston has been shaken by
earthquakes, Chicago, Portland und Boston
have been ruined hy coDfagratiop; Lincoln
assassiuated and Garfield murdered; we
have suffered from "la grippe;;" billiards
have torn up the West; cyclones have
swept the ocean; epidemics have filled
graveyards; New York Aldermen have
|
these things have occurred under he regime
of the republican party, therefore that party
| is the prime cause of each and all of them
Perhaps, however, Mr.. Blaine in his ex
treme love of fair play will assure Hs that
| only the good and beneacent happenings
are claimed by the republicans, and he will
therefore credit the disasters to the demo
Gratis. We should, of course, appreciate
such favor and regard it as fair sample
of the statesman's generosity.
Now the people are getting tired of this
bold and impudent demagogsm. It is up.
safe to play them for idiots The average
citizen has learned to think, has read
history, is acquainted with the laws of
progress and knows that whether the re.
publican party wins or is defeated, mines
will be developed just the same, fields will
be titled, dividends will be declared, rains
will fall and crops will come in their season.
Not even this Infamous Mckinley bill,
which lowers wages and increases the cost
of living; which taxes the wood in the
baby's cradle and the metal handles on the
old mars coffin; which raises the price of
every woollen garment that protects from
winters cold and of the window gla S
through which the sun shines; which gives
the monopolist an opportunity to enrich
himself at the expense of the poor; fosters
di content, strife and strikes; destroys COM
petition and dooms the wage-earner to
starvation-not even that bill can destroy
the holy inspiration of our free institutions,
for the people will rise up against the
partisans who originated it and drive them
into outer darkness.
The difference between Mr.. Blaine and
ourselves is that while he believes in his
party we believe in the people.