The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1892-09-17
BLAINE ON THE ISSUES.
Questions of Paramount Interest in the
Campaign.

AUGUSTA, Me-, Sept. 6.-James G..
Blaine has addressed the following let
ter to Chairman Manley, of the Repub-
lican National Committee:
BAR UAHBoH; Me. Sept. 9.-The H0p
Joseph II. Hdalen Chairman, Etc,
augusta. Me.-MY DEAR SIR: Not being
able, for reasons which | have explained
to you, to deliver public speeches III this
present campaign, L take the liberty of
submitting my views on the issues which
regard as being strongest for the Rcpub-
licanS to urge before the people. The is
sue OF the greatest consequence ia the
tariff on imports. and it will continue 10
be until Il settlement is effected by Il
majority so large that il viii lie tanta:
mount to general acquicScence. The Re
publlcanS are aggressive on this subject.
Two years age they passed 4 general en-
actment known as the Mckinley tariff,
which for time failed 10 meet with l,op-
ular approval, and was regarded with Il
certain degree OF dlStruSt BY those who Iad
always upheld the protective system. Bul q
powerful reaction has come in consequence
OF the Vlndlcati"n OF the Mckinley tariff
by experience. 1t is found to have worked
admirably. and within tie last year has
produced a greater volume Of business.
internal and external. export dld import,
than the United States ever transacted be-
fore. NotWithS' andlng the character and
extent OF the opposition II II, agriculture
IS remunGratlVe. manufactures are pros
porous and commerce Is more tiOuriShing
than at any previous timG-thuS yiHdicat,
ing the Mckinley taTIti by an Impressive
and Undenlablc series CT facts. AGAINST
this tariff the Democratic party have taken
position almost without Parallel in the
history of the country. They r2jec: en-
tireIy the doctrine Of protection. pronounce
il a fraud, and anathcmati2e Ii generally
\ n nj, :, ny
the Democratic convention against the
report OF the committee on resolutions by
tWo-thlrdS vote, thus manifcSung the
intelligent participation OF every man III
the convention. Sometimes a resolution
may be adopted in haste or Just when the
convention is adiournng it may fail to
receive the attention OF the members, bet
this resolution WAS debated, pro and con.
adopted after aContcSt, and was perfectly
understood by the members OF the cen
vention. 1t is contained III these words:
We denounce the Republican protection as
fraud upon the Ii dor of the great MAJORITY o..
the American people 70! the benefit Of !cw.
We declare 1t fundamental principle Q. the
Democratic party that the federal government
has no constitutional ToWer to llnI ose HaH col
lcct tarlf duties eNcepi lor the purpose OF .cEe-
nue. only. We demand that the collection OF
such taxes be limited to the HeCe>>lli,s ot He
government when honestly and ccuuUGiraliy
administered.
If anyone VIII take the trouble To read
the resolutions by which Mr. Calhoun
sought TO defend his nuliItiCatlOn scheme
in 1888 he viii find the tarii platform! CI
the Democratic party IN general harmony
herewith; and il he examines ;hc subject
further he will discover that the duties in
the compromise tarItf which rcCOncileI
Mr.. Calhoun and app"aSeJ his angry +ol-
lowers i'll South Carolina were OF a more
comprehensive character than those con
tempated III the Democratic resolution OF
1892
The Democrats are i'll the habit of nam
ing Jefferson as the founder of their party
and yet, on the subject OF tariff. they are III
radical opposition 10 the principles lHId
down by jefferson. Towards tie claSp uf
hS administration the revenue from the
surplus, and the question was what should
be done. Should the tariff be reduced o.
should this surplus be maintained? jcIcr-
son pUlntediy asked: shall we suppress
the lmpOStS and give that advantage u
foreign over domestic manufactures >"
For himself he recomm nnded that tn
ilnposts he maintained. ami that rHr sur
plus created should be appropriated 10
the Improvement OF roads, canals. rivers
and education.
If the constitution did not give sufficient
power to warrant these appr"priat ons
jefferson Went SO far as to recommend
that ii be amended. ms preScn the
strongest condition of affairs upon VIII ca
a protective tariff can he Justified. and jet
tcrSOu did not hesitate 10 recommend il.
The Democrats of the present day. il Is
needless To say. are in direct opposition To
the policy which Jefferson thus outlined
and adhered to.
ENPLAlNS TIE RECIPROCITY SCHEME.
When the prncnie Of reciprocal trad
was first proposed to he introduced Inin
the tariff system. the Democrats showed
most generous appreciation 0i the .iII"S-
ton, and gave 1t their support as long as
Republicans refused to accept IL, bat when
Republicans came 10 approve Ut Il tn
Democratic support vanished and instead
oi fayorlng, We find the beno2rarir
national convention passing Il rcsO.l-
ton hostile 10 the system. But al
spite of Democratic opposition we
have attained, through reciprocity,
a ncws and valuable trade and The Sys
tenn has demonstrated lis manF adyal-
tageS. t were about TO declare sugar,
molaSses. coffee. ana hides tree from gil
duties III the Mckinney DIii bUl instead OF
that we passed a law by which we asked
the several nations Interested what they
would give to have those articles u;lhc
free. We found that the privileges Wh3ch
we We're about to give. without >nst &EI
without charge would secure 4 large trade
III Brazil. in Cuba. and Porto Rico. in the
NIndward and Leewarl Islands, III Brit
ish Guiana and Jamaica. san DUmIn-o,
ana the FIVE Central Am 'rican state. @ut
to q minor degree IN Austria, France. a li
Germany all in exchange Tor the art c.rs
which we had intended to gratGltnuSiY
admit.
The free list OF the Mckinney tariff is
larger in the number of articles. ami in the
aggregate amount OF their import Valuc,
than the dutiahle list " haI would have
been the result to the nIted States II eE-
cry article. before ii was put on the lice
list. mad been made tie subject Of III ,uIE,
to see what we could get III exchange for
it " e omitted TO do so tor many years.
and that neglect has cost the government
advantages III trade which would hnNc
amounted to tens OF millions OF dollars
| his IS the whole of the rec lpr0"lty scncaG.
/, is very pam and very simple. II So
cures a valuable tradn III exchange tUE ar
uCleS otherwise destined to be pat on ;!Ie
free list. The Democratic party tainA
they can dIScredlt II. and tley Ha'e thcG.
fort apparently for the uupatTlJIic rcasy
that they did not originate it.
WHAT STATE BANKS MEAN.
With all its calamlticS the war brought
us one great blessing national currency.
There are many who Will say that It W@s
worth the cost of the war To hllnG about 50
auSpiciouS result to capital ana labor
Prior to the war we had the worst cur
rency system of any enlightened natioaln
the world The state banks. with some
exceptions. We're Thoroughly lTrcSp po0Slh.c.
They existed by thousands throughout the
United states. Whenever one of tH"m
failed the result was large loss amt great
distress among the people. 10 one was
responsible for their bills. and they We're
generally found ScattercG III tn" pockets OF
the laborlng man, to whom Tiny were a
total loss without any redemption what
ever. OF the state banks il was often and
truly said that their Ge5tS were tAn meas
pre of their profits. They have caused an
aggregate loss of hundreds OF millions of
dollars among the poor Since ii, close
of the war All this IS different. Every
paper dollar that clrculaleS amon- the pro
pie has the United states behind il aS
guarantee Al the hanks that exist are
under the control OF the national govern
ment. and if they fail as financial lnStltu-
tons the government has taken care that
their bills shall he paid by securities de-
posted in government vaults.
Under these circumstances II Is matter
for extraordinary surprise that the Demo
cratic conventions should deliberately pass
resolutions fol the revival OF state banks.
The paipable effect Of this pOlicy II carried
out would be to cheat the poor nan our of
his daily bread. If state banks BE- atao'1fl
and Their circulation attain = large ~>t#.,
No aeyfrr Cnulf NJ more dead y rGg Ena ta-