Huntsville gazette., 1892-11-05

Grafton of iron furnaces in the American col
onies The British said
1--we will make the iron and you content
yourselves with the raising OF corn and wheat
and rye and oats and barley and pork-the raw
material. We will do the manufacturing. We
will keep the aggregations of capital on our side
and we will have the skilled artisans and me-
chanics over here
Then that first law was passed with refer
ence to the industries OF this country which
George Washington signed. and what was the
RESULT Every man is acquainted with the fact
who has read the history of that day that i'm
mediately upon the enactment and the going
into force OF that law industries in this country
were started, prosperity came, the poverty from
which we were suffering was dissipated. The
government had money TO meet its running ex-
penses, and at once gained good credit as
government among the nations OF the earth III
was continuous prosperity until the free trade
idea again became uppermost in 1916 and struck
down that first protective tariff legislation and
then we returned at once TO the same condition
of poverty, bankruptcy and business stagna-
ton, and that continued until 1874 when we
again to extricate ourselves from that condition
resorted to protection, and at once prosperity
came again. That period continued until loS2,
and here is the testimony of Andrew Jackson
as TO the result of it upon this country. In his
message TO congress in 1852, he says:
''Our country presents on every side marks OF
prosperity and happiness uneQualed, perhaps, in
any other portion of the world
Notwithstanding such were the prosperous
conditions OF the country, Calhoun, who came
into the leadership Of the democratic party at
that time in the interest Of slavery again sue
ceeded in fastening upon us free trade legisla-
ton Commencing with the enactment of the
free trade laws of 1888 an. era of adversely set
in such as the American people had never before
known, even during the poverty stricken times
Immediately after the revolution. That period
brought us TO the panic OF 1887. Thomas II.
Benton, speaking Of that period, said that the
fires were out in the furnaces, the mills were
idle, those who had been called to labor were
turned out of employment, and in the whole
land there was no sound OF the hammer, ex-
cept the hammer of the sheriff and the auc-
tioneer.
'sWe got out OF that difficulty in 1910 by elect
ing on a protective tariff platform old Tippe-
canoe the first Harrison, and by returning to a
protective tariff system in 1872 At once pros
perity came again, but it was short-lived At
that time slavery was making a desperate eff
fort to maintain itself, and in 1916 that element
in national politics succeeded in again fasten-
ing upon us free trade legislation, which re-
mained until 1861, period Of fifteen years 1t
was the most emphatic free trade period the
American people had since the constitution
was adopted over which George Washington
presided. Every democrat who talks to you
in behalf Of the tariff will take occasion to tell
you, as I tell you, that it was a typical free
trade period. But they will tell you what
won't tell you. that it was an era of great pros
perity, and they seek to justify free trade by
reason OF the prosperity they claim the country
enjoyed during that period.
Now, to show you that 1 am not mistaken
about that have little testimony here thai
want to offer. Gen. Stevenson, this democratic
candidate tor the vice presidency, is citizen of
your state. He is a representative democrat.
Certainly no democrat would question his state
ment while he has the second place on the~tick
ct His word ought to be just as good as Gro
yer Cleveland's, for they both had about the
same kind of experience with respect to the
war l believe they both hired substitutes.
That is the way he got to be general When
his party came into power with Grover Cleve-
land at the head they made him general post
master. Well, here is what he said in speech
at his home in Bloomington on the oath day of
last August:
1.-The decade and half extending'from the
passage Of the low tariff OF 1916 to the beginning
of our civil war has been truly called the golden
period of our history. The cost of the necessa-
ries Of life had reached minimum and at no
time in our history was it easier for the wage
Garner TO support his family The farmer, the
mechanic, the day laborer alike realized the
benefit of low taxation. A benefit, why: Simply
for the reason that it lessened the cost of food,
of clothing Of every article that conduced 10
his comfort Our manufactures did not Ian
guish. The fires did not go out in our furnaces.
The wheels and spindles were not idle in our
great hives Of industry. The demand for labor
was not lessened nor it's value deprecated
1.-THE Mckinley bill Is the last act of the re-
publican party with respect TO this policy. That
bill has been most persistently attacked by the
democratic orators and their press until about
four or FIVE weeks ago, when they suddenly
quit And why: A dynamite bomb was ex-
ploded in their camp in the official report of
Commissioner Peck, of New York, on the labor
statistics of that state. Commissioner Peck is a
good democrat He was appointed by Grover
Cleveland when that individual was the chief
magistrate of the Empire state: he was ap-
pointed and reappointed by David b. Hill and
was continued in Office by Gov. Flower. So his
democracy is beyond question Commissioner
Peck reports that in the first year after the
passage of the Mckinley bill the laborers in
that state received SC, 1897 600 more than in the
year before its passage. He reported that
there was net increase in the value OF prod
ucts in New York of s3l, 100000 as compared
with the previous year. He reported that he
had found something more than $1,000 individ-
ual cases in which wages had been increased to
the extent of S23 IL per annum That spoke
volumes for the Mckinley bill.
''Then the democrats went after Commission
er Peck and actually arrested him for the crime
OF having reported the prosperity of this coun-
try In the platform OF the republican party
we declared in favor Of "a protective tariff high
enough TO equal the difference in wages abroad
and here. The necessity for protection now is
wages, and wages alone. In our early days it
was to foster our infant industries. When the
republican party came into power it came not
only 10 save the union but to do something for
humanity, and one OF its first results was to in
crease the wages of the country to the present
high standard. We pay higher wages here than
are paid anywhere on earth
Let me simply exhort you to look beyond the
questions and look to the men, For what I'M
der the heavens does anybody want TO see
Grover Cleveland president OF the United
States: What has he ever done? He has been
wrong ever since he came to the estate of man
hood He has been on the wrong side of every
politics. When he came to manhood there
were two claims in respect Of slavery One
was that it was q divine institution and So
cial blessing, and the other was that it was an
accursed blight that ought to be exterminated as
soon as possible. Grover Cleveland was on the
stood on the other side. James Buchanan
was the leader of Cleveland, and Abraham LIN
coin was the leader OF Harrison When Abra-
ham Lincoln called for soldiers Benjamin Har-
rison volunteered and went Cleveland volun-
teered but it was 10 stay at home. When he
lrN-r, f4.lf