Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1892-09-02
Opening of the National Demo.
cratic Campaign at Bloom
ington, Ills.
An Enthusiastic Audience AID.
dressed by the Nominee for
Vice President.
A Discussion of the Tariff o.
cupied the Greater Part of
His Speech.

BLOOMINGTON, Ills, Aug. 27.-Hon.
Adlai E. Stevenson, Democratic candi-
date for vice president, opened the ma
tional campaign by a speech in this city,
this afternoon. A large and enthus-
iastic audience was present and Mr..
S~tevenson's speech was applauded loudly
at various points.
The opening portion of the speech was
devoted to a review Of President Cleve-
lands administration, which he charac-
terized as economical and able, and a
den%unciation of the Fifty-frst congress,
to whose extravaganza he attributed the
large appropriations made at the first
session of the Fifty-second congress.
Speaking of the tariff he said:
The tariff is the all important issue of this
campaign. Shall there be a revision of our
tariff laws, and as u consequence of such leg
islatlon a reduction OF taxation: or. shall it
become the policy of our government to main
tain, permanently, high protection? The Re-
publican party, as illustrated by its recent en-
actment of the Mckinley law, stands for a
high protective-in other words, a prohibitory
tariff. The Democratic party, as emphasized
Wy y uUGoItuCeS dlO us aCGS, Is inc advocate
OF tarin reform. The issue is sQuarely pre-
sented. Upon the one side are the advocates
OF high protective or prohibitory policy-a pol
icy that enriches the few at the expense of the
many. On the other the advocates of such
reduction of tariff duties as will give to our
manufacturers the benefits Of cheap raw ma
terial, and lessen to the consumer the cost of
the necessaries of life.
Was Prosperous Then.
The low tariff law of ls48, of which Robert
J. Walker, the Democratic secretary Of the
treasury was the author, provided in SUBJ
stance, first, that no more money should be
collected than necessary for the wants of the
government, economically administered; Sec
ond, that no duty be imposed upon any articles
above the lowest rate that will yield the great
est amount of revenues: third, that the maxi
mum tax should be imposed upon luxuries;
fourth, that the loves. tax should be upon
the necessaries of life; fifth, that the duties
should be so imposed as to operate equally
throughout the Union, discriminating neither
for nor against any class or section. 1t must
must not be forgotten that so great were the
benefits to the people from the tariff legisla-
ton / have just mentioned that, in 1857, repre-
sentatlves of all parties concurring,
The Tariff Was Again Reduced
until the average rate of duties was ~ per
cent. The decade and a half extending from
the passage of the low tariff of 1876 to the be-
ginning of our civil war, has been truly called
the golden period of our history. The cost of
the necessaries of life had reached the mini
mum. and at no time in our history was it
easier for the wage Garner to support his fam
I lily. Oar manufactures did not languish. The
tires did not go out In our furnaces. The
wheels and spindles were not Idle in oul great
hives of industry. The demand for labor was
not lessened, nor was its value deprecated.
AS have shown, the average tariff tax at
the beginning of the civil war in 1861 was but
~ q Nanf M pIIwrhoSa rny~;<S~-- 6 $685.
to arm and equip soldiers and meet all of The
expenses incident to the great struggle, re-
quired large sums of money. Tariff taxes
were largely increased. The Morrill, tariff bill
was passed. Our government was in the
throes of war, struggling for its existence. and
but little heed was given by the people to the
fact that duties under the new tariff law were
not only highly protective to manufacturers
but burdensome to the people. But this was
not all. BY subsequent increase by successive
republican congresses the average rate of
duties
Reached AZ Per Cent.
This was the average rate of tariff taxes
when the Mckinley bill became the law.
The speaker then summed up the va
rious other war revenue measures and
continued:
revenue taxes paid into the treasury exceeded
three hundred millions of dollars. Where are
the statutes imposing these internal revenue
war taxes2 With but few exceptions swept
from the statute books while the nation was
yet groaning under the burden of enormous
debt. One OF the reasons given at that time
for the high protection to manufacturers was
the percentage they were required to pay out
OF their earnings as war taxes, aggregating In
. single year the sum l have mentioned.
With the war closed. a Republican congress
relieved the manufacturers from this taxation
And added tn thar nrnf1fo md m tho I,,nJo~,
OF the people by increased duties. l grant the
necessity of repeating these Internal war
taxes when the exigencies of war no longer
demanded their continuance. But why did
not the Republican congress repeal the war
taxes-tariff t~sxes-whlch bore 80 heavily
upon the farmer, upon the mechanic, upon
the laborer, upon the great mass of people?
But this is not all. The protected classes
growing year by year stronger and more pow
erful with the protection afforded them, de-
manded of the Fifty-frst congress yet higher
duties. AS infant industries they had been
for the time content with the moderate pro-
lection given by Mr.. Clay. Later. they had
demanded the higher duties imposed by the
Morrill, tariff, and that of later congresses. In
1881, during the first session of the Firty first
congress, their demand was in substance
For a P%rohibitory Tariff.
The response to this demand was the passage
by a Republican congress of the Mckinley
bill. The avowed object of this bill was to
check importation. Its purpose so to increase
the rate of duties, as in many instances to ex-
clude absolutely foreign goods from our mar
kets, and thus by cutting off competition, en-
able the home manufacturer without let or
hindrance to fix the price of his wares. In q
word. the Mckinley law. by its prohibitory
features gave its beneficiaries q practical mo-
nopoly, and enabled them in fact to levy an
additional tax upon the consumer, to the ex-
tent that the duty had been increased. The
American people unmistakabl set their seal
of condemnation upon this bill. Slowly but
surely they have become convinced that "pro-
lection does not protect" them. IS
Mr.. MkINLEY'S BILL.