New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-08-05
SELECTIONS FROM THE MAIL.
A SOUTHERN REPUBLICAN.
AND HIS REASONS FOR BEING o

AND HIS REASONS FOR BEING ONE.
TO the Editor Of The Tribunc'
Sir: met an old "ex.Confedcratc' friend hero
today who am informed constitutes one OF aoont
5000 now living in New-York and voting stead'P
with Tammany Hal-strange tastci After passing
the usual compliments he asked me how 1t was siat
l. a southcrn-born and southern-bred man. with
yrginian ancestry Of five generations, could be a
Republican and Prctectonist.
Thinking that my answer might possibly interest
some Of your myriad OF readers. VIII. win your
permission. jot down few Of the many reasons wmch
have for the past thirty years controlled my polueH
votes
l am Republican, first because am an American
and because believe this great Nation to be Digger
than any OF its forty-four parts. am ono'
second, because but for that matchlesS party
would today be a foreigner in Ncw-lork. having peen
detained upon the Confederate border to nave III.
baggage opened searched and viewcl By hosule S'iu
foreign gcndarmes. ! am Republican, third becau9o
that Is and has always been the only political party
in the Nation that advOC ates the elual poitca r's
OF all men before the law. am Republican, lourti
because the financial policy established by IL III sPo
of unyiedlng and bitter Democratic opposition NJ ever,
STEP has reduced the rate OF interest upon our puO"
credit from 10 tc per cent and given us "o'o
than 81 800 900 900 currency Of gold silver ana pp
convertible the one into the other at par upo" w
option Of the holder. Those four above give" ea'o'N
seem to me to be alone sufficient TO satisfy rc"'o''
able inquiry.
WHY am a ProtectionIst, I answer, first DC
cause / would build mp and develop the marVc'ou'
riches Of nv own country rather than another. lhc
rich and priceless inheritance to-day possesSeu D! our
G5 oOOC COO free and sovereign citizens, VIII "i'iI
the next 100 years perhaps. contain pop"a'.'n VI
not elss than 2JO,O00,OOO Under our form oi Eo''
eminent every man IS in theory, rs gooo d. c'I,S
other man. The Government, being based upon to
principle of the consent Of the governed no one WI"
dispute the necessity OF Intelligent 'o'crS'
Intelligence means education. Education means
the development OF mind as result
OF the expenditure OF money. III, therefore,, us
view DO accepted true fair wages for fair WORK VIII
follow as logical necessity. Can ne" country
like ours, with history of only 100 years. uhuer
government Of the people, DC expected 10 cops WIN
labor system of nations thousand years oin' I'M
der despotc rule and having millions OF redundant
pauper Iaborers1 Would it be wise for the Chlted
states to accept for her laborng population the
scale Of starvation wages that exists In these old
countres1 1t seems to me not Al but says S tie
free trader, "we should buy In the cheapest au ee
in thc dearest markets" and II the millennium had al
ready come. and all the nations OF inc ea1n w Mn
ccmentcd Into ope happy and harmonious hm mn wtn
no conflicting interests might Join In this Demo
cratic chorus. But unfortunately IL Decoines tne
duty Of each nation to protect its own INTERESTS whch
Sometimes also antagonizc those Of some other ma
ton. What then IS the American duty Cleary-ta
that IS what the Republican party is doing In the
passage of the Mckinley bill, the shipping DILL ana
so -, A.. 4,
a friend Of mine informed me here to day that he
had recently replaced in the window Of MS storehouse
plate Of glass that under revenue tarlir nad cost
him so cents. He paid now only 20 cents and this
too, under the Mckinley bill duty. what mas done
protection given under the policy Of the Republican
party-and this condition runs through the whole
range Of needed articles. Why then can any loyal
American citizen las OF our Mugwump news
papers are daily doing have the face to DISCOURAGE
an economic policy which not only absolutely lowers
prices but furnishes also our own labors STEADY ana
reliable employment. r -, ,,....oo
New-York, July 23 1891.