People's party paper. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1891-1898, 1892-07-15
Senator Villas a ProtectiOnist.

would be as useless as it would
would be insincere for The Herald
to attempt to conceal its disappolnt-
ment and regret at the action of Sen
ator Villas as a member of the plat
form committee in the late Demo
cratic convention. The HsfAld has
felt itself in a measure responsib e
for the prominence and success which
Senator Villas has attained politically,
and this consciousness adds to the
bitterness of its present humiliation.
When William f. Villas made his
first appearance in the arena of ma
tional politics, in 1884, The Herald
thought it had recognized in him a
man who might reasonably be ex-
pected to develop into an able cham
pion of Democratic principles. This
newspaper supported his administra-
tons while member OF Mr.. Cleve-
lands cabinet, and it hailed with
great rejoicing his election to the
United States Senate in 1891, be-
cause it believed him to be an ardent
and genuine tariff reformer.
Of the part The Herald played in
pushing Senator Villas to the front it
would not be becoming to speak at
length in this connection. 1t is sufi-
cient to say that the Herald's conf
dence in the Democratic Senator from
Wisconsin was SO great that it relied
upon him as a member of the COM
mittee on resolutions in the Demo
cratic convention to see that the par
ty made no ambiguous, insincere or
cowardly utterance on the tariff ques-
ton.
Imagine, therefore, the surprise
and modification of The Herald when
Senator Villas appeared as sponsor
for the shocking straddle, intended to
pass muster as the tariff plank of the
platform, proposed by majority Of
the committee. Imagine, if possible,
the extremity of the Herald's disap-
pointment which was reached when
Senator Villas addressed the conven-
ton speaking against the minority
report and advocating the views OF
the majority.
There is no other conclusion to be
arrived at except that The Herald
has been from the start mistaken in
Senator Villas and wofully deceived
as to his position on the tariff issue.
He has been regarded in Congress as
a tariff reformer. It has been ex-
pected that he would vote IN favor of
bill reducing tariff duties and en-
larging the free list. Since he stood
In Democratic convention in favor
of incidental protection, how can the
hope be justi6ably entertained that
he would support a bill to remove
the burdens or destroy the inequali-
ties imposed by existing tariff stat
utes?
The man who believes in inciden-
tai protection is as much a protec-
ZIONIST as he who believes in protec-
ton for protectors sake. There
can, in the nature Of things, be no
real difference between them. There
is no halfway ground on the subject
of the tariff. If protection is right in
any respect, it is right all along the
line. The opponents of extreme pro-
lection can find no safe place to stand
except on the doctrine of tariff for
revenue only. Because Of this, al
though the admission is made with
sincere sorrow, Senator Villas, judged
by his latest public declaration on
the subject, most henceforth be class
ed as protectionist and cannot be
depended upon to aid the people in
their contest with the tariff robbers.