The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1891-08-26
THE OH.u CAMpAilr.
issues Upon Which the Coming War VIII
BE Waged.

That the democrats of Ohio would
set their faces against the Mckinley
tariff, and against protective tariffs in
general, and would renominate Gov.
Campbell were conclusions anticipated
before the meeting Of their state con-
vention. What position they would
take on the silver question was a mat
ter of doubt. The platform adopted
favors free coinage, but this result was
secured only after stout battle on the
part of the opponents of that policy,
the majority being ninety-nine in a
convention of seven hundred This is
not conclusive of the attitude of the
party in Ohio next year, when the is
sue will become more pertinent than it
is now, but it is something which can
not be overlooked.
The significance of the Ohio cam
paign will depend very much upon the
way in which it is conducted. 1t is
possible for the campaign managers to
give such prominence to the tariff issue
that the silver question will be lost
sight of for the time being, and this
seems to be the most probable course
OF events. The republicans, by nomi-
mating Mr. Mckinley, have taken their
stand on the measure which bears his
name, and the democrats have in OK.
press terms accepted the issue so ten
dered. "We accept" they say, 'the is
sue rendered to us by the republican
party on the subject of the tariff, as
represented by the so-called Mckinley
tariff act, confident that the verdict of
the people of Ohio will be recorded
against the Ubiquitous policy of So
called protection, championed by the
republican party in the interest of
favored classes against the masses. %
If the speeches made in the conven-
ton may be taken as the keynote of the
campaign there will be, as there ought
to be, an illuminating and enlivening
discussion of the items of the McKin-
ley bill. and the republicans will be
put on the defensive at a hundred diff
ferent points So long as the contro-
versy is waged over distractions very
little Roadway will be made, but when
the particular things in this measure
are brought under review, it will be
found to be essentially a dishonest
measure. 1t is not necessary to affirm.
and we do not affirm, that the persons
who voted for it, or who now support
it, are dishonest. The greater part of
of them are as honest as other people,
but the measure itself reeks with dis
honesty from beginning to end, as near
ly all the protective-taritf taxes ever
passed by congress do. The reason
why they are filed up with swindling
provisions is perfectly plain. When
congress attempts to overhaul all the
industries of the country every man
who has any special pecuniary interest
IN it is prompted togo to Washington to
work for himself. congressman are
for the most part lawyers having little
acquaintance with business, and even
if they had much acquaintance with
business in general they could not have
it with each particular trade. Probably
the one having the most varied informa-
ton in the last congress was Senator
Aldrich. Yet the blunders he made in
dealing with particular things were i'll
many cases startling and always per.
nicious. Probably in each such case
he took the word of some interested
party and made no independent inves-
tigation, for which, indeed, there was
no time.
AS illustrating Mr.. Aldrich's ways of
arriving at the truth and as exhibiting
thedishonesty of protective tariffs in
general, we rac.ll for moment con-
fession made by that senator when
somebody asked him how the duty on
iron ore had been fixed at seventy-five
cents per ton in the tariff of 1883. Both
houses had voted for fifty cents per
ton, although in different bills. Not a
vote had been taken authorizing any
higher rate of duty. Morally, the COM
mittee of conference, to which the sub
ject was finally referred, was bound to
report the duty at fifty cents, neither
more nor less But when the bill was
reported this particular item had been
raised to seventy-fve cents, and it was
necessary for congress to adopt that
rate and take the risk of it's far-reach-
ing consequences or to reject the bill
altogether. When Senator Aldrich
was asked why this had been done he
said that it was done at the suggestion
of BILLY" Malone, of Virginia, who
was not member of the committee,
nj ho hn,. 0E no
ate at that time. There is no reason
apparently why any particular rate of
duty, once agreed to by both houses,
should not be increased in this under
hand way at the suggestion of any
body, either in or out of congress.
There are several items in the McKin-
ley tariff involving very large interests
that were Struggled into the bill sur
reptitiously in the same way as Ma
homes iron-ore tax was in the tariff of
1883.
The duty on tin plate was a swindle
from the outset. The handspring of
that increased duty was not the hope
and expectation of starting the tin
plate industry in this country, but of
compelling people to use galvanized
iron instead of tin for roofing purposes.
The wool items of the tariff are full of
deceptive and swindling provisions
which have been repeatedly expo sed in
the public prints and by manufac turers
who are themselves protectionists. The
fact that these deceptive and under
hand provisions have brought no bene-
fit to those whom they were intended
to help, and have yielded only heart
burnings and mutual elimination be-