Los Angeles herald., 1892-07-27
THE FIRST CAMPAIGN GUN,
Opening Debate in the Presi-
Dental Contest.
Aldrich Sets the Ball Boiling
in the Senate.
Senator Vest Replies in Behalf Of the
Democracy.
The Tariff Question by Common Consent
Made the Leading Issue-Congres-
sional Proceeiiings-Wash-
BY the Associated Press !

BY the Associated Pressl
WAsHINGToN, July 28.--The opening
debate in the presidential campaign was
heard in the senate today, Mr.. Aldrich
opening the debate with the declaration
that the tariff question was to become
by common consent, the leading issue
of the campaign. Vest announced the
determination of the Democratic party
to make that the issue in every town
ship in the land.
The conference report on the general
deficiency bill was agreed to. The
French spoliation claims are dropped
and the Pacific railway claims for gov
ernment transportation, postponed un-
til next session.
After routine business the presiding
officer laid before the senate Hale's
resolution as to the relative effect of the
Republican policy of protection and the
Democratic policy of tariff for revenue
only. Aldrich addressed the senate.
He said the Investigations by the finance
committee clearly established the fact
that a decline instead of an advance
had taken place in the price of the
necessaries OF life and the resultant
cost of living since the adoption of the
Mckinley bill. 1t was significant
fact that while the cost of living in the
United States has declined, the cost of
living in England had increased 1.9 per
cent in the same period. At no time in
our history had the earnings OF the
people of the United States been as
great, measured by their powers of pur-
chase of the comforts and necessaries of
life, as today. ~
Referring to Vests assertion that
never before the present time had there
been such disturbances of labor or such
hostile and inimieal relations between
employer and employed, Aldrich pre-
sented statistics of strikes in each year
from 1880 to 1890, in the United States.
These strikes varied from $40 in 1880, to
798 in $780,, whereas in Great Britain,
the paradise of the tariff ,reformers,
3,169 strikes had occurred in 1889.
Vests statement as to the prostration of
the agricultural interests was diane
trically opposed to the actual facts. The
farmer today, with an equal number of
bushels of grain or pounds of wheat,
could buy more and better clothing
machinery or supplies than ever before.
Vest replied to AIdrich. In the face
of the recent carnage at Homestead the
senator from Rhode Island, said he, rep
resented that there were the most ami
cable relations existing between en-
ployers and employed in the United
States. Either the American workman,
said Vest, must be an anarchist by ns-
ture, or else he was today oppressed and
robbed by his employer. As to agri-
cultural prosperity, Vest asserted that
the price of farm lands had steadily gone
down in Missouri and other largely agri-
cultural states.
| Paddock denied that statement go far
| as Nebraska was concerned, and Davis
of Minnesota and Allison of Iowa put in
| similar denial for their states.
| Pettigrew rising to say something
about North Dakota's increase of value.
Vest remarked that was because the
land was entered at 81 .25 per acre.
Allen said land bought in Washington
| two years ago, at government prices.
now sells for from $40 to $25 an acre.
| Vest retorted that he did not doubt
it; he was out there a few years ago
when they were asking $1,000 an inch
for land in Tacoma and other places.
| The debate was continued by Allison
and Palmer. Palmer did not believe
the Republican party was responsible
for such events as the Homestead trag-
edy, but was responsible for having
promised that it's legislation would
make such occurrences impossible. The
Republican party, since it ceased to be
the great patriotic party, had been we'd
ded to the dead Issues OF the war. The
protection party had joined it for its
own selfish interests.
The anti-options bill went over, and
the senate adjourned.