Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1892-04-03
.STAINCH IN THU Faith.
IContlnued from Flrst Paqe. |

I
fail to Join US in the crusade we have I'M
dertaken. Certainly our sincerity cannot
be questioned. In the beginning OF the
struggle, we were not only bitterly opposeo
by a great majority of avowed enemies,
but were embarrassed by those in our own
ranks, who had become infected with the
unwholesorue atmosphere our enemies naa
created. . We hesitated not moment ooiu-
" to encounter both. We unified our
party, not by any surrender To the halI-
hearted among our members, out Dy an
honest appeal TO Democratic sentiment and
conscience We have never lowered our
standard 1t surely was not the policy nor
the expediency that Induced us dehantly to
carry the banner Of tariff reform
as we went forth 10 meet all well
organized and desperately determined army
IN the disastrous field OF 1855. A time
serving or expediency- hunting party would
hardly have been found the day after such
a crushing defeat undismayed, defiant and
determined, still shouting the old war cry,
and anxious to encounter again in the peo-
PIES cause our eXultant enemy We had
not long 10 wait. At the Waterloo OF 1890
tariff reform had its vindication, and prin-
ciple and steadfast devotion TO American
fairness and good faith glOriously triumph
ed over plausible stiffness and attempted
popular deception.
The Democratic party still champions
the cause which defeat could not induce 1t
70 surrender, which no success short of
complete accomplishment can tempt it to
neglect. It's position has been from the first
frankly and fairly stated and no one can
honestly be misled concerning it. We in
vite the strictest scrutiny OF our conduct
in dealing with this subject, and We insist
thatOur cause has been open, fair and con-
sistent. believe this is not now soberly
denied in any quarter.
Our opponents, too, have record onthis
question. Those who still adhere to the
doctrine that an important function Of the
Government is especially TO aid them IN
their business; those who only see in the
consumers of our land forced contributors
to artificial benefits permitted by Govern
mental favoritism; those who s. Q in our
workiugmen only the tools with which
their shops and manufactures are to be
supplied at the cheapest possible cost, and
those who believe there is no moral in the
question involved in the tariff taxation of
the people are probably familiar with this
record, and abundantly satisfied with il.
HONEST TREATMENT.
1t may, however, be proftably reviewed
by those who believe that integrity and
good faith have 10 do with governmental
operations and who honestly confess that
the present tariff burdens are not justly
and fairly distributed. Such a review may
also be of interest to those who believe
that our consumers are entitled TO be treat
ed Justly and honestly by the government,
and that the worklngman should be allowed
to feel in his humble home, as he supplies
his family's daily needs, that his earnings
are not uniustly extorted from him for the
benefit of the favored benefciaries of I'M
fair tariff laws.
This, then, is the record. When we be-
gan the contest for tariff reform, it was
said by our Republican opponents, in the
face of our avowals and acts, that we were
determined on free trade A long advance
was made in their iusincerity and impu-
dence when they accused US Of voting in
the interest of foreigners and when they
more than limited that we had been bought
with British gold. Those who distrusted
the effectiveness of these senseless appeals
inSulted the intelligence of our people by
claiming that an inccease in the cost of ar
ticles TO the consumer caused by the tariff
was not tax paid by him, but that II was
paid by the foreigners who sent their goods
TO our markets. Sectional prejudice was
invoked in the most outrageous manner,
and the people of the North were asked 10
condemn the measure 0f tariff reform pro-
posed by US because members of Congress
from the South had supported it.
These are fair samples Of the arguments
submitted TO the American people in the
Presidential campaign of 1883.
PUBLIC WASTE.
II will be observed that the purpose Of
these amazing deliverances was TO defeat
entirely any reform in the tariff, though IL
had been enacted at a time when the eX-
peuse OF tremendous war justified the eX-
action of tribute from the people which In
time of peace became a grievous burden,
though it had congested the Federal treas
ury with a worse than useless surplus, in
vitirg reckless public waste and eXtrava-
gancG, and though in many Of its features
the only purpose of its continuation was
the bargaining it permitted for party sup
port,
There were those, however. in the ranks
of our opponents who recognized the fact
that we had so aroused popular attention
to the evils and injustice Of such a tariff
that il might not be safe to rely for success
upon a bold opposition to its platform.
These were the grave and sedate Republi
can statesmen who declared that they
never, NeUer could consent TO subserve the
interests of England at the expense of their
own country. as the wicked democrats pro-
posed TO do, and that they felt constrained
10 insist upon a tariff, protective 10 the
point Of prohibition, because they devoted
ly loved our worltingmen and were deter
mined that their employment should
be constant and that their wages
should never sink to the disgusting
level Of the pauper labor of Europe,
but, that, in view of the fact that the war
in which the tariff then existing originated,
had been closed for more than twenty
years, and in view of the further fact that
the public treasury was over-burdened,
they were willing to readiust the tariff, if
it could only be done by its friends instead
of Rebel Brigadiersn Applause.
l will not refer TO all the means by which
our opponents succeeded in that contest.
Suffice it to say that they gained complete
possession of the Government in every
branch and the tariff was reformed by its
alleged friends. All must admit, however,
that either this was not done by the peo-
pies friends or that the efforts in their be-
half sadly miscarried, or was ungratefully
remembered; for few weeks thereafter a
RELOCATION 20 private life among those
occupying seats in Congress VINO had been
active on reforming the tariff occurred,
which amounted 70 political revolution.
These victims claimed that our voters
failed to indOrse their reform of the tariff
because they did not understand IL. II is
quite probable, however. that if they did
not understand it they felt it, and that, be
cause il made them uncomfortable, they
emphsucauy said such R reform was not
what they wanted. At any rate, the con-
sumer has found life harder since this re
form than before, and If there is a work
ingman anywhere who has had his wages
increased by virtue of its operation he has
not vet made himself known Plenty of
mills and factories have been closed, thou
sands Of men have thus lost employ
ment, and we daily hear of reduced
wages; but the benefits promised
from this reform and its advantage to
the people who really need relief are not