Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-09-07
GENERAL BLACK.
HIS RECENT SPEECH BEFORE THE
BLOOMINGTON CHAUTAUQUA.

! The Eminent Statesman Reviews the Po-
| litical Situation and Exposes the Fall
lacy of the Arguments OF the Republic
| can Writers and Speakers-A Strong
| Address.
Protection does not protect" were
| the first words of General Black. 'It
does not protect the lawyer; he must
protect himself. 1t does not protect the
doctor; his bills do that. 1t does not
protect the blacksmith, whose ringing
hammer has made music for the world
since the days of Tubal Cain. 1t does
| not protect the farmer who stands
among his billowy grain and looks to
the sun and the wind and the rain for
all the blessings he can hope for. 1t
| does not protect the merchant. 1t does
not protect the children who toll in
| sweaters shops-God pity them-at Is
| cents day. 1t does not protect the
| laborers of America, as witness the rec
ord of a thousand strikes.
II have named the whole range of
| American Industries, and protection
| protects none of them. The panic of
| 1878 came at time when protection
| stood on every headland of American
| commerce. l am not here to make a
| hard times speech. Coming from Chi
| cago today l saw as fair a picture as
heart of American can desire. The
| three-fcld strength of our nation is ag-
riculture, manufacture, commerce. No
| Democrat would do an act to injure
| either of them. But Democrats would
adopt that policy which will make their
burdens equally borne. We hold that
| taxation should be for government alone
,.I,, =,
zen at the expense of another citizen
We hold with the supreme court deci-
| sion which says the taking of anything
of value from one man to give to an
other is robbery.
(which of you is there who would
make taxation uneven? Which one
would make it for any purpose other
than the support of government?
Which one would tax or take from one
class to give to any other?
None. Then welcome you as intel
lectual converts to the Democratic fold
All we want in this discussion is the
truth. Our fight is against the princi-
pies of the protection policy of the Re
publican party, and l leave it to the
middle-aged men of this audience that
it is a new doctrine TO item. They have
read senators out of their party for hold
ing the texts we Democrats hold this
day to be good tariff doctrine. Never
till 1888 did they hint at their present
heresy. Never till then, and then not
openly, then with a shameful, a coward
ly, half-hearted platform. The fruits of
a system, like the fruits OF tree, fur
nish the best means of Judging that
system. Unless you do believe that pro-
lection made the harvests you must adj
NIT that their system is a mistake and a
failure.
THAT man who produces should en-
joy. This country has produced every
year, from ocean to ocean the most
bountifu1 harvests. Where are the
fruits of those harvesters lodged now?
There are about 4 200 rich men in this
country-men who, out of the 60.000,-
600, have become in one generation the
miliionaires of America. A great Re-
publican paper will print their names
and tell how they came to be rich
Send two copies of that paper to Mr..
Carnegie, one to his hunting box in
Scotland, the other to his smoky shops
in America, and when he lifts the one
from a Scottish coast he may laugh that
he is q law-made millionaire but when
he lifts the O; her from the blood-stained
dust of Homestead let him gaze in the
faces of $1,000 men that have not been
protected l have no qua rel with the
millionaire. If he has skill and abil-
ity to accumulate l cannot blame him.
But do not believe our nation was ever
instituted to single out one man or ten
men or 4, 200 men and make them rich
by law.
1.-THE men who make the Democratic
party are your brothers in every patri-
otto work. They are fighting the battles
of humanity. What makes this beauti-
full city in the midst of these Illinois
prairies? Free trade among the states.
What makes Chicago great today, there
there on the shores of Lake Michigan,
where the eyes of the world are turning
in surprised wonder? Free trade in
America. Don't tremble, Democrats,
because they tell you if you reform the
tariff you approach free trade. l can
think of greater calamity than that.
l can see a misfortune greater than the
widening of the blessing till free trade
shall cover the earth as the waters cover
the great deep. Reciprocity is free
trade. 1t denies it, but it is. Yet, when
James G. Blaine broke the iron lines of
Republicanism and forced reciprocity
upon his party, that party killed him at
Minneapolis and threw him over the
breastworks.
But we Democrats are not for free
trade. We will levy tariff on goods
that are brought to our shores till the
needs of our government are met. We
will make tariff that shall support the
government, though protection may be
an incident. The Republicans will make
q tariff for protection with support of
government as an incident. hold that