St. Paul daily globe., 1892-10-28
In the Interest of the Few
the Mckinley Bill Was
Enacted.
He Believes in a Radical Re-
form Of the Existing Tar
iff Laws.
He Was NeveP"Turned Down"
for Office by Any Pres
ident.
Hear We. Republicans!

/ L Ocs 4lC1 pOhCus L letiAIAyf
unequivocally, dignifedly, as is char
acteristic of the man. he tells the world
| why he can no longer support the Re-
| publican party in its career toward i'm
| poverishment of the masses for the
| benefit of tie few. Strong must
| be the reasons that impel a man
| to sunder the ties that have bound him
| all his life TO party which has hOnored
him, and which he has hOnored, and
this applies to Judge Rea. But he sets
forth his reasons clearly and power
| fully. But for certain conditions which
| exist just now, and which have Softened
| the political utterances of this cam
! paign, these reasons might be set forth
| still more strongly. But Judge Rea's
letter speaks for itself. Here it is:
To the Editor of the Globe
| The announcement Yesterday that I
had determined to vote for Mir. Cleve-
land was made without any authority
| from me, and without my knowledge.
| Being private citizen l only deemed
| 1t matter of Importance to myself how
| | should vote. l have freely and fre-
! quentiy during the past TWO years crit
! icised many OF the main features of the
Mckinley bill.aS being at-vaTiance with
| the policy Of protection, oppressive to
| the people, unfair in its distribution of
such benefits as it affords. ana the law
Itself as being enacted in the
Interest of the Few
| against the many. The more I have
watched its effect the more thoroughly
have L been impressed with its evil
| purpose and tendency. The duty on
steel and iron is 90 per cent higher than
demanded by the theory or protection
| applied 10 its fullest extent. That 60
per cent is wall behind which mOnop-
olles and trusts spring up, flourish and
fatten at the expense of the American
consumer.
The duty on wool and woolen fabrics
adds at least 40 per cent to the hundreds
OF millions of dollars worth consumed
| each year by our people, while not to
| exceed One-eighth of that added cost
reaches the United States treasury from
collected duties. The duty OH raw
wool has tendency to, and in practical
operation does. scale down the wages of
| the operatives in woolen factories. The
bounty OF two cents per pound paid on
sugar Is. to my mind, most
Pernfcious and DemoraIizing
feature. The planters of Louisiana last
year drew from the treasury of the
United States nearly eight million dol
lars as bounty upon their sugar crop.
Just why q planter in Louisiana who
raises a crop of sugar worth $780, 600
should receive as a reward for his in
dustry $4,000 from the United States
while the farmer of Minnesota who
| raises $4,000 worth of wheat receives
nothing, is difficult to understand.
for 1t must not be forgotten
that the sugar industry of Louiana is
| not an infant to be fostered to maturity.
1t is as old as the century. If it cannot
stand alone now it never can in the fut-
| ure. But the thing is wrong in prin-
ciple. 1t is species of favoritism at
war with the American idea of fair play.
1t is bad in morals, for it gives some
thing for nothing.
The bounty in theory is to make up
the difference in the cost of producing
sugar in Louisiana and the West In
dies. l have no figures at hand, but l
venture the opinion that it amounts to
more than the entire wages paid in rails
ing and manufacturing the sugar. If
the government reimbursed our wheat
ralsers for all the wages they pay in
raising and preparing their crop for
market, they might not find the burdens
OF taxation so grlevouS as they do today.
The foregoing are only q few OF the
Unjust and Unrighfeous
provisions of the existing tariff law |
am in favor of a radical reform in this
direction, and believe that it should be
accomplished speedily, and l shall vote
accordingly.
have been subjected during the past
two days to severe and unjust criticism.
Ali kinds of motives other than honest
ones have been attributed 10 me. l can
truthfully say that, although an active
worker i'll the Republican party since
1858, never have asked a president of
the United States for an office for my
self. Every American citizen should |
vote in obedience TO his conviction of
duty and right, He who does not is not
good citizen. Much has been said of
my being past
officer ofthe G. a. X.
That organization has no partisan pol |
itics in it. 1t is as free from any such
characteristics as any church. 1t does
teach men to be loyal to country and to
their convictions of duty. Lshall never |
depart from those teachings or waver in
my love for that organization. l am not |
able to comprehend why Shoulderlng
a muSket in 1861 and fighting
for nearly four years, oDedient
to my convictions of duty
to free the slaves and save the republic,
should now deprive me of the right of
voting for the measures that l believe
will best promote It's continual pros |
perity i'll life. The Republican party in
its early days was distinctively the
Party of the People
Its great leaders, Seward, Chase, Lin /
coin, Stevens and Sumner, were the |!
champions of the men that toiled. They |
believed in "a government of the peo- |
pie, by the people and for the people, |
It's achievements under their leadership |
for the cause of mankind are unequaled |
in all the past. When the leaders of |
that great party seek to make our gov
ernment One 'of the people, by corpora |
tions and for monopolies and trusts it |
is time for patriotic, liberty-lovIng men
to stop and consider, if not to act. [ |
have conscientiously done the former |
and on the Sth of November shall do the |
latter. JOHN p. REA.
Judge Rea added, to a GLOBE repre- |
sentative. word about what has been |
said about his candidacy for the position |
of pension commissioner.
1.-Two months before the election"
said Judge Rea. II wrote to Gen. Harri-
son suggesting that Corporal Tanner be
appointed pension commissioner IN case
the election go for the Republicans.
After the election l received a letter
from Tanner asking if | was candidate