St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-08-20
LOCALIZED ROBBERY.
The Tariff Does Not Levy It's
Burden Upon Stocks Or
Bonds
Nss>istrssssse,,,
Or Money in Bank, but Upon
the Necessaries Of
Life.
Your Food, Fuel and Cloth
ing, Thus Compelling
the Poor Man
To Pay Ten Times More Than
Is Imposed Upon the
Rich Man.

Recent speech delivered by eX-Gov.
St. John, of Kansas:
TariR System Wrong in Principle.
take the position that the whole
| tariff system is wrong in principle.
! Why? Because it levies its burdens On
what we consume instead of what we
possess. thus making the day laborer
| contribute as much to support the gov.
| eminent as we impose upon million
aire. Any system that does that is rob.
| berry. Ceres Of "That's so."] They say
| it protects labor. including the farmer.
| In Indiana a year or two ago L was
| discussing this question, ] said the
tariff never protected any mans muscle
and at the close of my address Il young
| man came up to me and said: You
| are right. Twenty HOosier boys were
discharged from the railway service
| this afternoon"
said: What we're you doing?'
1--WE were section hands"
"How much did you get day?''
NINETY cents"
land why were you discharged?"
$40 make room for some black
| Italians who worked cheaper"
Won't some "prOtectionist!" tell US
where these boys protection came in?
Tomorrow morning blacksmith goes
! into his shop and takes up the hoof of a
the Mckinley bill. So you see it is
protected" He picks up horseshoe
that is protected, picks up hammer,
and that is protected, picks up horse
shoe nail, and
That is Protected.
He proceeds with the protected ham,
mer 10 drive the protected nail through
that protected shoe into that protected
pOny'S hOof, and everything in that
transaction is protected except the
blacksmith's muscle. We have free
trade in that all over the land. And
why? Because we can bring in ship
loads of backsmiths' muscle without
paying any tariff. Cries of THAT'S
sou
Here are two men; one worth hum
dred thousand dollars with no children
lives OH this side of the street. and the
other worth one thousand on the other
side of the street with ten children.
What would we do with these two men
in raising revenue to support the state
government? Would we levy tariff on
the surrounding states and make the
poor man pay as much as the rich? No.
Why? Because he is not worth as much.
Here in Wisconsin You levy the burden
according to the mans financial ability
to bear it. That is the just way to do.
You don't make poor man pay as
mnch Oh his cabin in the valley us you
impose Oh the rich mans mansion Oh
the hill top.
Untairness Of the Tariff:
What does the tariff do? Why, it does
not inquire how many broad acres this
rich man has, nor how much stock and
bonds, nor how many thousand dollars
in the bank. Because tie tariff does
not levy its burden on broad acres of
land, nor upon stocks, CT bonds, or
money in bank. but upon the neces-
sarleS of life-fOod, fuel and clothing.
Now this poor man is just as much en-
Titled to be fed,and warmed and clothed
as his rich neighbOr. Instead of the
rich man bearing hundred times more
burden to support the government than
his poor neighbOr, the poor man having
ten children to feed and warm and
clsthe is compelled under this infamous
system to contribute ten times more
than is imposed upon his rich neighbor
That is robbery,a and you know it. And
thinking people, thank the Lord, are
beginning to find it out, too. Cries of
you are right.'[ What would 90? |
the brotherhood of man, and the right
of every citizen, black or white, rich or
poor, who has earned an honest dollar
to spend it anywhere on Gods green
earth it will bring the greatest return
without being compelled to pay
Tribute TO Anybody.
How would l support the govern
ment? l will tell you. l would support
it by levying the burden upon the
wealth instead of the poverty of the
people. Applause.
L have here list of 792 articles of
common use, upon which the Mckinley
bill has increased the tariff. Among
them | find clothing, blankets.
queensware. hardware, glass and
tinware. While agates, uncut dia-
monds, emeralds, fashion plates,
garnets, ivory, medals, stuffed birds.
and all precious stones are on the free
list. Why tax the necessities of the
poor and let the luXuries of the rich
come in free? Why not support the
government by taxing the wealth in
stead OF the necessities of the people?
DO away with this system Of legalized
robbery. Give the poor man a chance
to get a little home for himself and
family. Hold the big fellows down and
lit the little fellows up, and thus equal
ize the opportunities to get along in the
world, and the calamity howler'' will
be heard no more in the land. lap
plause and cries of That's right
In 1867 the cereal crops of this country
brought the farmers an average of
$3.50 per acre, but under our present
system the crops have gone down until
In 1889 they averaged little less than
- per acre. During this time the
mortgages upon the houses of the
people have accumulated until Kan
sas today struggles under S24O, OUO,-
600; Illinois. s400.OOO.OO0; Iowa, 5000.
O00.O00, and Nebraska $40. 600, 900, and
yet the farmers have been told that they
are protected" l want to call your
attention to the fact that, notwithstand-
ing the high tariff. wool has been lower
during the past seven years than dur
ing any other seven years III the past
half century. And the same is true of
cotton.
Controlled by a Few.
Under this system fifteen or twenty
men conuol today all the means we
have for reaching the markets of the
world, and our merchant marine has