Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1892-11-24
New York Tribune
How About Those Calamities7

1t is already apparent that the leader, Of
the Democratic party are troubled - know
what TO do with their victory, s. far. OF
course, a. Tammauy Hall and the Hill
Murphy organization are concerned, there
Is no CONSERVATION, nor even doubt. 10
these excellent citizens the event Of last
week meant Offices, and the teI-e iniuuc-
ton OF our neighb1r, The Neir York Sun
"Adai. get your axe" contains for them
the whole of the law and the prophets.
But there are Influential Democrats 10
whom sense of responsibility ia the pres
ent situation i not wanting and their
Drows are already overcast with aBxietie-
They realize that their party has received
commission from the people to make
good the professions and claims on which
Cleveland was elected. They recall the
language of their Chicago platform that
protection is fraud; that it is "a funda-
mental principle of the Democratic party
that the Federal Government has no pow
CT TO Impose and collect tariff duties ex-
cept for the purpose of revenue only" :;
that the Mckinley bill is 1.-THE eliminating
atrocity of class legislation" and that they
promise its repeal ss one OF the benefcent
results that will follow the action of the
people in intrusting power to the Demo
cratic party"
There is nothing vague ABOUT these as.
sertions and assurances. They are straight
forward, unequivocal aud apparently earn
est. The campaign was conducted on
them, and the people were told that Free
Trade Tariff would make everything
cheaper, while there would be no decrease
of earnings, no lessening of production
and no falling-of in the demand for labor.
IL was denied that protection upheld
wages. Ii was asserted that its benefits
accrued only to plutocrats and other un-
deserving persons. The people believed
these things, aud have authorized the
Democratic party to execute its platform
The voice of their instruction has scarcely
died away before q Democratic clamor
arises for time TO reflect and consider We
are told that there is no hurry. Why, isn't
the country going hop, skip and jump to
the dogsf Haven't there been "ten re-
ductions of the wages of laboring men to
one increase" since the new tariff went into
effect, and isn't this deadly retrogression
going on all the whiley Don't our friends
recall the ''du!lness and distress, the wage
reductions AND strikes they lamented In
their platform? Don't they remember the
acute anguish with which they called at
tention to the houses and farms burdened
with a mortgage debt of 81, 500 900, OOO"?
Don't they remember that .'in one of the
chief agricultural States of the West there
appears real estate mortgage debt aver
aging sl65 per capita of the population, '
and don't they know that the existing Re
publican policy "fosters no Industry so
much as that of the sheriff? These are
the claims on which they elected their can
didates. Surely, If they believe what they
said, they cannot wait an unnecessary hour
before breaking down the system which
has created and is adding constantly to
this long catalogue of woes.
The Democracy must come forward i'm
mediately with a Free Trade Tariff or it
must acknowledge itself to be cowardIv
and insincere. 1t cannot back and ali,
temporize and play, at Legislation. 1t
either means what it said at Chicago or it
doesn't. If it does. the calamities it de-
scribed are too shocking and general to
admit of delay in removing them If it
doesn't, and If there are no such calamities,
the victorious party is humbug, and has
achieved its triumph by Misrepresentation
and fraud. 1t will do well to spend q DOR.
ton Of the time it is demanding in refiec-
ton upon this homely sentence of Abra-
ham Lincoln: "You can fool some of
the people all the time. and all the people
some of the time, but you can't fool all
the people all the time"