The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-11-12
MAJ. McKinley,s Work.

EAdl. nnCG~ihtNy = W VI
The Overwhelming defeat which the Re-
publican party has suffered is largely due
to Maj. Mckinley. He ndoubtedly be
lieved that the passage OF his tariff bill
would fix the tariff policy Of the govern
ment for many years. He considered only
the manufacturers. and thought il he could
make them prosperous aud rich they would
provide sufficient money to keep the Repuo-
lican party in power. He did not even heed
the warning OF Mr.. Blaine. WAC condemned
the bill In urmeasured terms, because it
contained nothing for the farmers. Mr..
Blaine saw the blunder his party was maxi
ing and sougnt to avoid to some
extent the effect Of il by in
grating upon the bill his celebrated
reciprocity policy-a policy at which both
Maj. Mckinley d Mr.. Reed, at that time
spe Aker, snsered. Even the Presiden. re-
garded the reciprocity scheme with dis
favor until after the popular condemnation
Of the Mckinley tariff IN 1890, and then,
seeing that the tide of public sentiment was
strongly against his party on account of that
tariff, he laid great stress upon its reciprOc-
ity feature, going 50 far as to claim much
of the credit for that feature.
But Mr.. Cleveland sa " much farther into
the future than even Mr.. Blaine When
he sent his celebrated tariff message
to congress toward the close of
his administration be understood
that tariff taxation was the
great issue. and that the party that stood
squarely for reducing that taxation would
command the confidence and support of the
people. He was bit .erly criticised by the
leaders of his own party for That message.
They declared 1t would cause the defeat of
his party at the next natl NAL election. The
Democratic party, with Mr.. Cleveland as its
leader, was defeated II had majority of
the popular vote, but the almost unlimited
use of money, furnished by the projected
monopolists who had become alarmed
by Mr. Clsveland's tariff utterancss, pre-
vented il from getting a majority of the
electoral votes. At that time the pc lpls did
not realize as fully as they did subsequently
the importance of Mr.. Cleveland's tariff
message.
The democratic leaders who declared so
emphatically that that message was
a great mistake would hardly be willing
safe to assume tnat they have come to be-
lieve that Mr.. Cleveland acted wise y in
sending it to congress, because 1t brought
about condition OF affairs that has finally
resulted in putting the Democratic party in
control Of the government by such an over
whelming majority that that party may
reasonably expect to remain in power for
many years.
The defeat Of the Democratic party on
the issue made by Mr.. Cleveland's message
led Maj. Mckinley and other republican
leaders to believe that the country would
submit to still higher Or otection, aud they
thought to hold control Of the government
for an indefinite period by means of the
money they would get from protected
manufacturers, and the force bill, which was
on their programme, and with which they
expected to break the sol d south.
If Maj. Mckinley and other republican
leaders had been content to let the tariff re-
main as it was at the close OF Mr.. Cleve-
lands administration the country might
have tolerated the Republican party awhile
longer, but the policy outlined by Mr..
Cleveland in his message would have event.
ually prevailed. Maj. Mckinley is now
convinced probably that the people think
the tariff is tax which the consu ner paws.
not outstanding his assertion that It is
not.