Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-09-14
MOLINE ENTHUSIASM.
A Big Democratic Meeting Last
Evening.
A Mastery and ELOQUENT Address by
Frank r. Blair uof Chtcag0-Out-
line OF the speech.


rousing time. The Cable Flambeau
club, led by band and followed by a
long line of workingmen. marched
through the streets and later to the Wag
ner Opera house. where large and en-
thusiastic crowd had gathered, nearly
every seat in the house being filed. The
meeting was called to order by City Com.
mitteeman Max Kohn, who introduced
Frank P. Blair. of Chicago. who was en-
Enthusiastically received. The speaker be
gan his address by stating that his theme
for his address " ould be the tariff and he
would present few facts and arguments
that to him seemed conclusive why every
man who WORKED for living should be
In sympathy wi the principles and doc
trines laid down by the democratic party.
To begin with. Mr.. Blair said it would
be necessary to see what the two parties
had promised the people in the plat
forms adopted at the last conventions, and
he accordingly read for the benefit Of his
hearers the platforms upon which the two
parties stand today. He then said that
for 80 years the republican party had
been in power and had gradually in-
creased the tariff taxation-for many
years the excuse had been that it was
necessary to do this in order to pay the
enormous war debt, but now it was
compelled to find some other excuse to
retain the intelligent voter within its
ranks. He then spoke of the demo-
cratic party in its early days under the
leadership of jefferson and Clay. when
tariff on imports was advocated to
protect infant industries, which. by the
way, said the speaker, is no new thing.
He believed that a tariff to protect an
infant industry was we'll laid, but he
also commended that the gigantic trusts
and combinations which today sur.
round us on all sides need no protec-
ton. In all the history of protection.
the speaker said that at the Minneapolis
convention it was the fret time the
principle had ever been declared that
tariff taxation raised the wages of the
breadwinner. which he contended was
done TO appeal directly to the work,
ingman and gain his vote-it was
bait and nothing more. AS an Ameri.
can he believed this to be the greatest
nation on earth, and that its workmen
were better treated. but he denied en-
phatically that the republican party had
ever shown any love flor the workingmau.
With a tax on raw material and manu-
featured articles and no tax on imported
labor. the speaker asked some one to tell
how wages could be in the face of hun
dreds of thousands Of laborers arriving
from Europe each year. Mr.. Blair then
spoke of the fact of American manufac-
tuners being able to sell their products in
Canada. South America. and even in Eng
land, cheaper than the English manufac-
turer. As few instances out of hum
dreds of similar ones he cited the Ameri
can Tool company that sells brand of
axes here for 81 per dozen and lays the
same down in South America at So per
dozen, the Winchester Arms Company
that sells its goods 40 per cent cheaper in
Canada than it doesHat the door of the
factory, the Goats Thread Company.
whose products are disposed of at 8
cents a spool in Quebec and cents in
Massachusetts. Not alone these, but
hsrvesters. fire arms. pianos. and hum
dred other articles are sold at the same
ratio. He then quoted from letter
written by Jerry Rusk, secretary of agri-
culture, showing that moving machinery
is sold in Russia and other wheat grows
ing countries at lower figure than it is
in America, and adding significantly that
''the farmer will raise howl about this
state of affairs and the mower and reaper
trust will cost the republican party 1CO.-
600 votes at the coming election" He
also spoke of pillow m 4de at South Bend,
Ind. which is placed upon the market
here at $12 30 and the same. firm. after
paying the freight, lay it down in Quebec
for 50. still underselling the English
manufacturer. Mr.. Blair contended that
tariff robbery was no protection to
American labor and that American labor
was not better paid in consequence. To
illustrate this he said: Suppose a man
and boy are working side by side making
shoes at Lynn, Mass. They receive 30
cents per pair. If the boy makes two
pairs and gets 20 cents day and the man
makes four pairs and earns 81 40 in the
same time, do you mean to.tell me that the
man is being better psidf Certainly not
The American workman does more work
and does it better; that's the reason he is
better paid" eff YOU will think over