The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1892-10-21
MACvEAGH'S LETTER
GARFIElDS ATTORNEY GENERAL
WILL VOTE FOR CLEVELAND.

full Blow to the Republican Ticket.
Following the expressed determine
ton of Judges Cooley and Gresham K
vote for Cleveland, Hon. Wayne Mac
Veagh, of Pennsylvania, attorney gen
eral in President Gar6eld's cabinet, ha!
declared his intention to do likewise il
the following able letter:
John w. Carter, Esq, Secretary of tn,
Massachusetts Reform Club:
Your cordial invitation to address tn,
citizens of Boston on the issues of thu
canvass happens to reach me just whef
professional engagements prevent my
naming time when can do so, bu'
you are quite right in concluding that .
intend to vote for Mr.. Cleveland. Enter
tanning the convictions l do, no othoi
course is open to me, and l cheertulll
accord to the supporters Of Presiden'
Harrison the same sense of public dut,
by which / claim to be actuated. Al
both parties have presented unexception
able candidates there is no reason why
the differences which exist upon ques
tions of public policy should be dis
cussed otherwise than in good hume,
and with entire respect for each Others
opinions.
In the present campaign what may
fairly be called the false alarms of tn,
canvass will prove of little value be
cause Of the general confidence in tn,
safe and conservative character of botf
candidates. The average voter know
that free trade is impossible III this coun
try, for the conclusive reason that tho
vast revenues now required to meet the
expenses of the government will neces
sarily afford far higher degree of pro
lection to our established and prosperous
manufactures than either Alexander
Hamilton or Henry Clay thought desir
able in the infancy of our weak and
struggling industries. The average votei
also knows that the irredeemablc papel
currency in use before the war can nevei
reappear. On the other hand he knows
as well that no system Of duties on i'm
ports, however inequitable, can prevent
our continued growth in wealth, in man
ufactures and in population-a growth
due to the incompatible gifts Of Provi
dence, the intelligence and energy of tn,
people and the blessings of free institu
tions.
While l more than ever resolved X
hold duty to country far above any tie;
of party, l find myself at present in gen
eral accord with the Democratic party
and willing to trust its course in the
future. The insight, the courage and
the patriotism the masses of the party
exhibited in compelling the nomination
of Mr.. Cleveland when he was without
a single officeholder to support his can
didacy seems to me to demand that
should meet them in the same spirit AMI
act with them as long as they maintain
that high standard Of policy and of ad
ministration.
1t is the more easy to do SO because
the Republican party, securing its re
turn to power four years ago by promis
ing to preserve matters as they were, al
once embarked upon what regard as &
reckless and revolutionary policy-ever
overturning all the safeguards of legis
lation in the house of representatives il
their haste to pass the force bill and the
Mckinley bill, both, to my mind, un
necessary and unwise measures.
The opposition to the force bill is mol
only sure to create far greater evils thar
it could cure, but as also subversive oi
the rights Of the states has become sc
earnest and widespread that it is said te
have been abandoned; but it must not bt
forgotten that only two years ago sucl
a measure was warmly advocated by
President Harrison, earnestly supported
by the Republican party and very mar.
rowly escaped becoming law.
There is no pretense, however, tina,
the Mckinley bill is abandoned. On the
contrary, our express approval of it is
demanded. No doubt that bill, which
cannot but think was an uncalled fol
disturbance of the then existing tariff
greatly benefited few interests, but
certainly it really oppressed many
others. OF the protected industries
themselves many We're then, as now, in
far more urgent need of free raw mate.
rials than of higher protection; but with
raw materials on the free list the bill
could not have passed, for those having
such materials for sale controlled enough
votes to defeat it, and they were very
likely to do so if their bounties were
discontinued. The manufacturers need.
ing free raw materials were therefore
obliged to join in the Objectionable proc
esses of increasing prices by restricting
production, thus adding to the number
of trusts by which the price of the nec-
essaries of life is placed at the mercy
of unlawful combinations of capital.
] 1t is not surprising that labor, believ-
ing itself to be oppressed, soon rose in
revolt, and civil war has actually ragged
this summer in four different sections
of the country. And of course the
farmers, paying more for what they buy
and getting less for what they sell, grow
poorer day by day, and excellent farms
in some of the most fertile sections of
this most highly protected state will
hardly bring the cost of the buildings
upon them.
But the economic evils, however great,
of the Mckinley bill, and the unreason-
able system of protection it represents,
are of far less Importance to my mind
than the moral evils which folloy, l.,