The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-05-19
Robert 2. Porter.
J. f. Pittnamer.

affair an at-home gathering as far as possible,
and though quite number of claw-ham-
mer coats and white ''chokers" could be
noted among the club members, many of the
guests attended in ordinary evening dress.
A FEW OF THOSE PRESENT.
Among those present were the following
named: Hon. W. w. Morrow, Hon. Joseph
McKenna; Hon. +. j. Plummer, Govern
ment Director of the Union Pacific Rail-
road; Colonel A. G. Paine, Colonel A. E..
Castle. NJ. NJ. Esree. Wendell EaSton,
Colonel A. E. Castle Jr., j. S. Mummaugh,
J.. W. Howe, S. }. Clarke A. D. Allan Jr.,
W. ,. Hlnkle. Colonel Reed Jones, Dr. N.
t, Coulson, S. NJ Shortrdge, J. c. Quinn,
Paris KilbuTn, j. d. Gage, Colonel W.
a. SanbOTn, f. S. Chadbourne, Theo G..
Marceau, DR.. Martin Regensburger, w. H.
Pratt, J. a. Watt. Judge Quincy, l.. u Grant,
DR.. /. Pawlcki, ". d. HOleOnl, J. II. Spear
Jr., 7: J. Bass, P: B. Quinlau, w. S. Duval,
r. B. Dickinson, II. c. Nash, w. H. Kruse.
l.. II. Clement, Judge j. II. burst, f. c.
GLADDEN., A. S. Hallidie, T. f. Siberian,
General John McComb c. r. A. Friedrich,
G. H. Eishan, G. II. Puppy, E. p Danfortt.
J. G. Girsting, c. NJ. Jennings. 7. Ii. Minor,
Con O'Conr or, Colonel Laidlaw, S. K.
Thornton, j. l.. Field, W. II. Davis, Colonel
William Mcdonald and many others.
Mr.. Porter and party arrived shortly
after o'clock, aud after introducti0us and
Misunderstanding President Wendell East0n in
vited Mr. Porter to address the assembly.
In the course Of an address, chiefly on
criticisms on the recent speech Of Mr.. Will
son on the tariff question, Mr.. Porter said
MIR. PORTER's REMARKS.
When / left Washington It was with the nten-
tlOn Of leaving all tabuiated statements and sta
tistlcal tables behind The grandeur OF this
journey across the continent and the inspiration
Ii he hAK a "a
lug changes Of scenery from rolling plains and
sandy desert, the magnificent mountain ranges
and blue Pacific, combined with the general
hospitality aud cordial greeting, have not been
conducive 10 bringing my mind to The hard
practical facts Of tdriH discussion. NeYerthe-
less. when the officers of the Union League Club
and my friend Congressman Morrow called my
attention to the speech OF the Hon. " iillam
Wilson OF West Virginia, felt il would be un-
Republican aud uupa.riotic to allow such libel
upon a great pilnclpl which has been adyo-
Gated by every President excepting tn ee, ON
Washington 10 Harrison, 10 pass by unnOtced.
do not propose 10 lecture o The people OF The
Pacific Coast as my friend Wilson did upon the
subject OF local seif-gCyeInment. 4 people WHO
are able 10 Work out a civilization such as | have
seen during my stay IN California, from the law
material that came from all parts of the world
foot ana on horseback, in caravan and slowed
away ID the foreeastle OF sailing vessels, needs
no instruction as 10 how to govern themselves.
WILSON'S soPHIsTRIEs.
In his argument for free trade, Mr.. Wilson laws
considerable stress upon what he calls taxing
the necessarles OF life and The tools with which
tile farmers and artisans labor. He says:
" When you come TO examine the details OF our
tafln system, You VIII hnd that the United States
throws It's heaviest burdens where they should
be ightest and its lightest burdens where they
should be heaviest Far from taxing or levying
dulles Oh the mecesSarles of life. the aim of the
Republican party has always been 10 reduce The
Guiy or pat upon the free list all articles OF
prime necessity or raw material
In Carrying out this fundamental idea we have
Increased our free list IN twenty years from
about One-SiXIh or One.hfth of the dulable list
Until the Mckinley bill has finally enlarged IL so
that half OF what We Import comes In tree OF
duty. Tea, coffee, sugar, all necessary articles
OF food. have been made free OF duty by the
Republican party, Practically all additions 10
the tree list have been made by the Republican
party. In this way, and by ludiciOus reduction
OF duty. the average rate OF duty on all imported
goods has been reduced from ABOUT 4S per cent
during the war times 10 20 per cent under the
Mckinley bill.
A COMMON BLUNDER.
MI Wilson made the mist4ke OF all free
traders in assuming that the tariff Is tax on the
consumer lie trOts out that hreadbaTe free
trade suit OF clothes, which Is taxed" so ne says
40 The extent Of ten or twelve dollars" and yet
IL cOsi ready made at tie clOthingstOTes IF your
Guy about that amount. He sheds tears over
The poor mans blanket the duty on which, lie
claims. Is all added 10 the cost, when intelligent
JeOpla know that HE difference In the cost of
blankets here and In fIee-irade England is very
small.
The speaker then referred 10 a challenge
he issued during the Presidential campaign
defying the free-traders to produce goods of
English manufacture equal to those Of home
make and selling in England mt prices
nearly equal to those in New York, but the
challenge, lie said, WAS never taken up. He
then turned his attention to the sheep IN
duStry and showed by statistics that the
duty on wool had fostered an immense IN
duStry throughout the country, and that in
fact the effect of the duty on wooden cloths
- 81 II
claims. In fact, clothing is better and
cheaper to-day than ever before. Having
disposed Of this point aud told story bout
the BOwery parrot which could only say, in
and out of season, tile tariff is tax Mr.
Porter turned his attention to the tin-plate
industry aud said:
TIN AND TIN PLATE.
Much OF MIR. " lson's speech, nearly One-han
of II, think, was devoted TO tin plate. | am
glad 10 find our flee-trade fIlends discussing this
question. Ii Will surely react on them before tie
fan OF '92. We shall be wearing American tin
badges and carrying American tin buckets In the
torehlight professions mex Campaign.
way was TIL duty put upon tin plaIe? Mr.
Wilson says: " But III. object of this TAX Is not
to get SIG, 100000 into the Treasury but to raise
The price OF foreign til plate aud keep Ii out or
the market for the benefit of those who VIII
manufacture The plate in this country and 10 put
the S16,0O0.0O0 into their pockets"
WHIT would my friend Morrow or my friend
Mchenna say 10 this statement? They would
the duy on liu plate so that il eau be man rfac-
tured here al home 1t would show a lack of faIin
10 the prlneipieS OF protection which woul Il be
cOWaTdly aud unp1trlotc.
with The history Of the stee-rail industry the
wre-feuce industry, the sieel-billet Industry, the
nail industry before ~ no other course could
nave been pursued. In all OF these cases tie cost
OF The product has been reduced aud In some in-
stances reduced 10 the original amount OF the
oniy. the cost having thus been lowered to the
consumer. Tie duty on these articles has Ike
wise been reduced by The Republican party.
STRIKING COMPARISON.
In answer TO Mr.. Wilson's statement about tin
plate, let me tell you the story of The wire-nau
industry In this country and request you to paste
these facts IN your hats for use next campaign.
In 1873, believe, we produced about 1000
kegs OF wire nails. AS / am speaking entirely
from memory, not having figure Of any kind
Win me, l must use round numbers At the
time speak OF the duty was 2 cents per pound
and The cost OF nails ABOUT 10 cents per pound.
In 1882 tie TAIN Commission, after receiving
he assurance of the nail producers that they
would supply the home market If he rate OF duty
was Increased 10 Il point that would enable them
10 h0id The legitimate home market against the
lnr0ads OF Foreigners doubled tile duty on wire
nails. Ot course, there was howl in tile free.
tTaue press. we were rOundly abused for this
wicked acl 10 the same way my friend Wilson
now criticiZss Mr.. Mckinley for raising the duty
on tin plate.
But what was the resulIP The effect OF the
ouiy, al hrSi, was 10 stiffen the price OF wire
nails Tor about twelve months. Our own nail.
makers were encouraged. Then our own mills
got fairly started aud the cost OF nails 10 con-
sumeis gradually declined until from 10 cents 1t
dropped to cents, and so on down to cents
ana now / believe they are selling at 2la or
cents per pound. And as the cost went down the
production has gone up. Instead of producing
a thousand kegs of nails we last year produced
three million Kegs, and we have established an
Industry which produces eight or niue million
dollars worth OF product per year.
THE DUTY REMOVED.
How about the duty? Has that remained
where the Tariff Commission put it. at cents
per pound? Why. no, gentlemen. The same
Republican party that put the duty on nails in
1882 took IL of again in 1890 Tie MCKINLEY
bIli was merely bill In the interest of American
producers and American consumers. The
patriotic man who framed II, whom have tile
hOnor 10 call friend In all that word implies Is
net IN league with those who want 10 rob the
public. lie took the duty of wire nails aud
variety OF other manufactures OF steel aud IRON
because the manufacture had been established
anu we could compete with the rest of the
world de took the duty of sugar to cueapen