Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1892-02-27
TIE DIFFERENCE.

The following letter has just been re-
ceiyed by The Press:
To the Editor Of The Press:
Sr-Please explain to me the differ
ence between the Republican and Demo-
cratic doctrines. l will be voter next |
week, and wish to do my duty at the
next election.
Nec York. Feb. 20, 1892.
The distinction between the Republi-
can and the Democratic position on ques-
tons of public policy is vital and funda-
mental, The two dominant issues now
before the country are the tariff and the
currency. Our correspondent declares
t hat he desires to do his duty in the forth
coming Presidential election and we
assume that it is his purpose to become a
patriotic American citizen in all that the
term implies. This being the case, his at
tention is called first to the fact that the
Republican party believes that the Unit
ed States should be industrially indie
pendent as well as politically indepen-
dent; it aims to develope the manufac-
lures Of this country SO that Americans
shall buy the products they use from
Americans and it proposes, by means
OF protective tariff, to secure the home
market TO American producers, create a
constant demand for labor and assure to
every American workingman, native or
naturalized. steady employment with the
l.. .,
favorable industrial conditions. The pol
icy of protection has been amply tested
in American history, and ii has never
failed to increase the prosperity of the
nation and the wages of the workers.
Under the Republican Mckinley law
manufactures of all sorts have been slim.
ulated, the demand for labor at high
rate of wages has been increased and the
prices of products have been diminished
to the consumer.
The Democratic party believes in free
trade. 1t would throw down the tariff
barrier and place the American working
man in direct competition with the for
eign toiler who receives less than half the
American rate of wages. 1t would de-
crease American manufactures and in
crease importations of foreign goods
The Democratic free wool bill now be-
fore Congress is framed, as Springer, the
Democratic leader in the House pro-
claims, to bring about " a very heavy in
crease in the importation of woolens.
fb,,s 4 A 1
the demand for American labor The
Democracy is committed to the destruc-
tion of the Mckinley law, the Gripping
of American industry and the reduction
of the wages of every laboring man in
the United States.
Second only to the tariff is the curren-
cy question. The Republican party s
doctrine. enunciated in its platforms.
proclaimed by its Presidents. maintained
with answering fidelity throughout its
history, is that the workingman S dollar
shall always be worth 100 cents. The
Republican doctrine demands that all
dollars shalt be equally good /; that the
value of the currency shall not fluctuate:
that the coin on the bill that the laborer
receives shall be worth exactly as much
next SATURDAY. night as it was last Satur-
day night The Democracy believes in
cheap " money, The Democratic coin
age measure now before Congress pro-
vides that the United States shall repeal
the law that enables the holder of the
tn - IL
dollar if he chooses. 1t provides for the
unlimited coinage by the United States
of dollars that are worth only seventy
cents; and if it should become a law
every wage Garner in the country would
be paid in dollars worth only 70 per cent.
of the dollar he gets now.
This is the difference between the
parties on these great issues. The same
difference extends through all their his
tory. The Republican record is as glori.
GUS as the Democratic record is shame
full. The Republican party was the foe
of human slavery. The Democracy was
its champion. The Republican party
crushed the Rebellion and saved the ma
ton. Half the Democracy fought in
arms for slavery and disunion two
thirds of the other half antagonized the
government and declared war failure,
TIE Republican party carried through
the Homestead law, the measures for
specie resumption, the laws for pension
ing wounded veterans against Democratic
opposition. Its achievements for the
past thirty-two years constitute the
grandest portion of American history. |
1t has fought persistently for free vote |
and fair count In a majority of the
States of the Union it has enacted secret
ballot laws that secure the humbest vo- |
ter from intimidation or Interference |
The Democracy has opposed these laws. |
The Republican party is essentially
party of progress. The Democracy is |
hopelessly uDprogressive. Republican
ism is AmerIcanism. Democracy is its |
opposite.
The difference between the two is such |
that no intelligent voter who wishes to
do his duty in the next election can hes
itate in his decision N. Y. Press.