The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1891-08-27
REPUBLICAN DENUNoIATIoN OF
MCKINLEY.

General John Beatty has prepared q
yolumnious review of M0iur McKin--
ley's tariff speeches whion occupies
over twelve closely loaded columns in
the Cleveland Plain Dealer of this
morning. In his review General Beatty
claims that Major Mckinley is not the
exponent of the Republican doctrine of
protection, but has lent himself to
policy which is destroying the Republi-
can party by doing violence to the in
terests of the people. In concluding
his introduction General Beatty says:
The Republicans of Ohio have for
many years persistently and consist
emily favored "a tariff for revenue
80 adjusted as to secure Incl
dental protection to home industry"
but Major Mckinley has abandoned
extreme position, to which / believe It
would be disastrous to the party and
injurious to the country to follow him.
The Beatty expose of McKinleyism
will prove a most important document
in this campaign, defining, as it does so
clearly and specifically the Henry Clay
doctrine of protection from the spur
ious tin-plated article offered as sub
stitute by Mckinley to the voters of his
party. And, as the carefully tabulated
opinions of one of the strongest, ablest
and most fearless Republicans in Ohio
it will carry with Ii the weight of au-
thority. In conclusion General Beatty
says:
The principle of industrial protection,
whether embodied in what may be
called protective tariff, revenue
tariff, or q tariff by any other name,
when properly and honestly applied
will undoubtedly be productive of great
benefit TO the country. have no quar-
rel, therefore, with Major Mckinley to
this extent. am a protectionist, and
have been, and propose to continue to
be. But fear he has been banqueted,
coddled and crammed by manufactur.
ers and monopolists until In the exuber.
ance of his spirits, but with honest
motives no doubt, he has leaped to q
dangerous extreme. 1t Is the abuse of
the principle of protection by the i'm
position OF exorbitant duties for the
benefit of comparatively few indus
tries which have no exceptional claim
to public favor, to which l object, and
against which l desire to record my
earnest and emphatic protest.
Protection when divert d from its
legitimate course and used to promote
the interests of cliques and combines
may be rendered as dangerous to the
country as liberty when It degenerates
into unbridled license. The use of the
one leads to high-handed robbery, the
abuse of the otherto red-handed an.
archy.
If legislation could prevent the or.
ganization of trusts and pools under a
high tariff the interests of the unpro.
tected masses might, perhaps, in the
main, be safely left to home competi-
tion, but congress has thus far failed to
provide barrier against the extend.
ing evils resulting from commercial
combinations and hence those tempted
by the prospect of exorbitant profits to
engage in business often findit easier
and more profitable TO join the COM
bines than to fight them, so that In Ger.
tain lines there is now practically
no competition and no wholesome
check on prices.
Geographically, Ohio stands midway
between the great wheat, corn and cattle
growing regions of the west, and the
great manufacturing districts of the
1 east. Combined on her own soil in fair
proportions, are all the natural re-
| sources and elements of wealth of
| which either of the sections named. or
both of them, can boast. Her position
| in the family of States, and the com
| mingling within her boundaries of all
the interests and industries of the two
extremes, would Of themselves suggest
that she should occupy middle ground
| in this struggle between the manufdc.
turers who demand more bounty, and
the farmers and unprotected laboTers
who insist upon less taxation.
| We should say to the one you shall
not, IL we can prevent it, he needlessly
injured by foreign competition, and to
the other, you shall not be meTci essly
| oppressed by the trusts and combines
which develop and multiply under high
| protection.
The Republicans of Ohio, as will be
seen from their state platforms, have
for many years held tenaciously to this
safe middle ground. If they abandon
1t now under the leadership of Major
Mckinley they may eXpecC hereafter to
lift up their voices in lamentation oft
ener than in songs of triumph.
Against Republicans who adhere II
the old doctrine and refuse to aid ir
committing the party to the new, the
senseless cry of "free trader" will bt
hurled, but the accusation will be falst
and harmless. The man who has been
carried by the inconsiderate and reck,
less driving of his party leaders away
from his true position and natural abid
ing place would be weak indeed if ht
refused to travel the road which led Il
his own home because it stretched
many miles beyond his proper residence
and perhaps terminated in morass.