Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1890-08-13

son newspaper men were disposed to
think the story genuine.
But now the whole thing has been
substantially confirmed. William E.
Curtis, who attracted considerable at
tention last winter through his connec-
ton with the Pan-American Congress,
and who now has a position under
Blaine in the State Department. has
given out an authorized explanation"
which has been printed in the New
York Tribune.
Curtis says: There is no reason why
the actual facts about the incident in
the Appropriation Committee room
the other day should not be related. 1
happened to be witness and the cir
cumstances were these:"
He then goes on to tell how Blaine
tr ed to impress the committee with his
idea that we should use the sugar duty
as a means to secure reciprocity with
our Southern neighbors; but Curtis takes
good care not to deny the strong
language which Blaine was represented
as using.
He even goes so far as to say that
Blaine declared that if he were in the
Senate he would fight the sugar sched-
ule to the best of his ability-from
which it may be guessed that Blaine
may have used the vigorous language
above quoted
And as for that part of the report
which refers to the ''winking" between
Blaine and Blackburn, it is almost sub
stantiated by Curtis ''Mr. Blackburn"
he says, 'indulged in little chatting in
jocular way" What this chatting was
and what Blaine's answer was he does
not venture to tell us; and as this ''au-
thorized explanation" does not deny
Blaine's sharp words of condemnation
for the Mckinley bill, it may be safely
assumed that those words are genuine.
But Senator Blackburn himself has
been heard from and he verifes the
published report. He says: ''I never
heard a more earnest or emphatic de-
nunciation of a measure than that of
Mr.. Blaine on the Mckinley bill. He
tore it to tatters and warned the Re-
publican members of the committee
that if they passed the bill in its pres
ent shape the Democrats would sweep
the country in 1892. So earnest and
vigorous was Mr. Blaine that he brought
his silk hat down on the table with
crushing force, to considerable damage
to the hat"
Blaine, then, is in open rebellion
against some parts of the Mckinley bill.
The question now is which represents
the Republican party-Blaine or Nc
Kinley?
One thing at least is clear. Blaine
recognizes the fact that our farmers
must have a wider market for their
products in order to get good prices.
The Home Market Club, of Boston, has
for years been trying to drill into the
heads of the farmers that the American
market is the only one that we need to
concern ourselves about
Blaine knows better than that, and
he knows also that it is the tariffs of
foreign nations that keep us out of their
markets. He knows that the duty Of
ITO per cent. levied by Venezuela on our
flour practically prevents our millers
from selling IN that country. Blaine
wants to make these South American
countries let in our agricultural products
in return for opening up our market for
their raw sugar. Blaine evidently sees
a sanctty laying about the foreign
market which Mckinley sneered at and
refused to believe in.
AT a time when there are so many
threats of tariff retaliation by fore gn
nations and when some of these nations
have already carried out these threats,
| it is not to be wondered at thatso shrewd
a man as Blaine should recognize the
value of a foreign market 1t is well
also that he recognizes the principle
that foreign markets can be opened to
US only by opening our markets to for
eign nations
When Blaine has gone so far as that,
how much of his orthodox protection"
remains? Has he not put himself out
side the protection camp?