St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1892-09-08

song" The Alabama Plan, and
Col. Fairbanks then pleasantly in
PRODUCED Col Albert Clarke, secre-
tary of the Home Market Club, at
Boston.
COL. CLARKE's SPEECH.
Col. Clarke began by referring to
the democrats as being good fellows,
the principle trouble being they were
on the wrong side. He then took up
the recent speech of Congressman
Russell, taking up first the subject
of civil reform. He said he hoped
that Stevenson, whom Mr.. Russell
called spokesman, had got over being
one, but he did not believe he had.
office is public trust and that they
are the best trustees of that trust.
StevensOn'S record as a civil service
reformer is seen in the fact that he
removed more fourth-class post
masters in the first two years of
Cleveland's administration than
have been removed in the three and
one-half years of the Harrison add
ministration.
Col. Clarke vigorously resented
Mr.. Russell's insult to Whitelaw
Reid and said that every voter
should resent such an insult by voting
for Mr.. Reid. Col. Clarke also
defended our national banking
system and said that the stock
holders and gamblers might want
state banks, but that under our
present national banking system our
currency was good all over the
world.
Col. Clarke then devoted the rest
Of his speech to a most instructive
discussion of the tariff question.
There are two kinds of tariff: a
protective tariff and a tariff for
revenue only. There is no such
condition as absolute free trade be-
tween nations. We have to raise a
million dollars day to support this
government and we do it by levying
a tariff upon manufactured articles,
agricultural products, etc. Great
Britain raises a tax to support her
government by levying duties on
tea, coffee, tobacco, etc. England
raises 500, 100000 annually from
this source This and the income
tax of England amounts to $462
per capita, while our entire tax is
only $2.65 per capita. The tariff is
not an arbitrary restraint on trade.
You cannot name a single article
that costs more after the duty has
been put on than before. What was
the result of the recent senatorial
investigation to find out whether
under the Mckinley tariff? The COM
mittee found after a most searching
investigation that out of 21 articles
there had been a decline in price of a
fraction of one per cent. They also
found that there had been an in
crease in wages. The purchasing
power of the workingman's dollar
is now Ais greater than before the
passage OF the Mckinley bill. Look
at the report of the New York labor
commissioner which has just been
published. It is compiled by Hill
democrat, yet he is obliged to report
that there has been a large advance
in wages since the Mckinley bill,
and that the factories have had
larger outputs and fewer strikers"
The democrats tell US that the Nc
Kinley bill has ruined our commerce
Instead it has reached a figure which
it has never reached before. Our ex-
ports have increased under reciproci-
ty, the added trade from abroad is
valued at S1O,OOO,OOO. Our aver
age duties are lower than they have
been for 80 years. The Mckinley
tariff protects the farmer in almost
every respect. The tariff would be
unconstitutional if it protected one
class and not another
In referring to the petition for free
iron and coal, Col. Clarke said he
was glad to see that the name of E..