The Republican journal., 1892-09-15
Hon. James &. Blaine.

Hon. james &. Blaine.
| HIS VIEWS UPON THE CAMPAIGN. THREE
GREAT lSSUES-rlIE TARIFF, RECIPRO-
| CAL TRADE AND THE CURRENCY
STRONG ARRANGEMENT OF THE DEMO
CRATIC POSITION.
The following letter from Hon. James
G.. Blaine to Chairman Marley, of the Re
publican State Committee. has been made
public:
Not being able, for reasons which |
have explained to you, to deliver public
speeches in the present campaign, | take
the liberty of submitting my views upon
the issues, which regard as being strong
est for the Republicans to urge before the
people:
i. The issue OF the greatest conse-
quence is the tariff on imports, and it will
continue to be 50 until a settlement is eff
tected by a majority SO large that it will
be tantamount to general acIuiescence
F., The Republicans are aggressive on this
4 subject. Two years ago they passed Il
general enactment known as the Mckinley
| Tariff, which Tor a time failed To meet
with popular approval and was regarded
with Il certain degree OF distrust by those
who had always upheld the protective
system. But a powerful reaction has
come in consequence OF the yindication of
the Mckinley tariff 10y. experience. 1t is
found to have worked admirably. and
within the last year has produced great
Ell volume OF business, internal and eXtel-
nal, export and import, than the United
States ever transacted before. Notwith-
standing the character and extent of the
+ opposition to it, agriculture is remuneI;t-
/ 1--WE, manufactures are prosperous, and
commerce is more tioulisling than at any
previous time, Thus indicating the Me
kinney tariff by an impressive and I'M
deniabc series of facts
Against this tariff the Democratic party
have taken Il position almost without
parallel i'll the history Of he country
They reject entirely the doctrine of pro
lection, pronounce il Il fraud. and anathe-
Matte il generally. \ resolution to this
effect was adopted 10y the Democratic Con
Venton, against the report of the Com
miJ1ee Oh Resolutions. by Il two thirds
Vote, thus manilcsting the intelligent pau
tIcipation Of every man in the Conventions
Sometimes a resolution may be adopted in
haste, OF Just when the Convention is adj
joulning it may fail to receive the atten-
ton vi the members: but this resolution
WAS debated, pro and con, adopted after Il
contest, and was perfectly understood by
the members of the Convention 1t is
contained in these words:
I'VE denounce the Republican protec-
ton rs Il fraud upon the labor of the great
majority Of the American people for the
benefit of a few. We declare it Il funda-
mental principle Of the Democratic party
that the Federal Government has no con
stltutlonal power to impose and collect
tariff duties, except for the purpose of
revenue only We demand that the col
lection OF such taxes be limited to the
necessities of the government when hon
estly and economically administered -
II any one viii take the trouble to read
the resolutions by which Mr. Calhoun
sought to defend his Modification scheme
in 1913, lie will find the tariff platform Of
the Democratic party in general harmony
Herewith, and ii he examines the subject
further. he will discover that the duties in
the compromise tariff which reconciled
MI calhoun and appeased his angry fol
lowers in South Carolina We're of Il more
comprehensive character than those con
templatGd in the Democratic resolution OF
1892
The democrats ale in the habit of nam
ing Jefferson as the founder OF their party 3:
and yet Oh the subject of the tariff they
are IN radical opposition to the principles
laid down ny Jefferson. Toward the
close of his Administration, the revenue
from the tariff on imports produced a con-
siderable surplus, and the question was
Wha1 should BE donco Should the tariff
b. reduced or should this surplus be
maintained? Jefferson pointedly asked
''>hall we suppress the inposts and give
mat advantage to foreign over domestic
manufacturers" For himself. lie recon-
mehded that ''thc imposts be maintain
ed, ana That the surplus created ''should
be appropriated to the Improvement Of
roads, canals, rivers and education" If
the Constitution did not give sufficient
power to warrant these appropriations.
Jefferson ent SO far as to recommend
that ii be amended. This presents the
strongest condition Of affairs uDon which
protective tariff can be justified and
Jefferson ana not hesitate to recommend
IL. Inc Democrats OF the present day, it
is needless to say, are the direct opponents
of the policy which Jefferson thus outlin-
ed and adhered to.
: 2. When the principle of reciprocal
trade was first prop sed to be introduced
INTO the tariff system, the Democrats
showed a most generous appreciation of
the question, and gave it their support so
long us Republicans refused to accent if
But when the Republicans came to an
prove 1t the Democratic support vanished
and instead of favoring we find the Demo-
cratic National Convention passing reso-
luton hostile to the system.
But in spite of Democratic opposition
we have attained through reciprocity a
; new and valuable trade, and the system
has demonstrated its many ADVANTAGES
We were about to declare sugar molasses,
coffee and hides free of all duties in the
Mckinley bill, but instead of that we
passed law by which we asked the sew
eral nations interested what they would
give to have those articles made free. We
found that the privileges which we were