St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-10-25
HENRY GEORGES TALKS,

HENRY GEORGE TALKS,
And Protection Theories Melt
Away Like Mist.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Fellow Citi-
Zens: If / were an orator L would not
attempt to exert my powers before this
magnificent and intelligent audience.
In the little time have l want to talk
to you as plain man, present.
ing plain truths in plain way.
L want to appeal to your rea-
sons and not to your impulses. L want
to explain why | will cast my VOte'fOr
Grover Cleveland, and why | think
every intelligent citizen, why every man
who IS not monopolist, every man who
earns his living by toll, should do the
same thing. In the st. Paul evening
papers this evening noticed query as
to why l am here. Why l, a
pronounced free tracer, should sup
port a man who is not a free
trader, a man who in his letter of ac-
ceptance of the Democratic nomination,
as they put it. turned his back on free
trade? j will tell you why l am Tor
Cleveland. l am for Cleveland because
| believe him to be an honest and safe
sense. am a Democrat as Thomas
Jefferson was-because l believe in
the equal rights of man. | am
not Democrat in a party
sense. When Cleveland was nominated
! first l cared very little whether he was
elected or not. 1t was Hobson's choice
between the two candidates for presi
dent. l went across the ocean to lend a
helping hand to struggling humanity
over there. But when his first tariff
message came out was for Cleveland.
as being the best representative of the
principles which L advocated.
am a Free Trader.
am not for tariff even for revenue.
would abolish every tariff. | would
have trade as free between nations as
it is between the states of the American
union. But the Democratic party has
taken the first step in that direction.
In its platform it has denounced
protection as being unconstitu-
tional and a fraud on the people.
Grover Cleveland has fairly met
the issue laid down by the Republican
party, and stands today the anti-protec-
ton candidate. He does not go as far
as [ would have him. He talks about
the specter of free trade; but he has
taken long stride in the right direc-
ton, and | believe it is for the best in-
tereStS of every man to vote for him.
The Democratic party. which should be
the party OF the people. has gone so far
as to declare that protection Is fraud
upon the people, and that no tariff
should be levied except for revenue to
carry on the affairs of the government.
| am for free trade. Is it not the nat
ural trade? Should not nations as well
as people be left to make the trades that
seem best to them? Protection is de-
NAL of that natural liberty. 1t is de-
NAL of that natural right of man. Our
Republican brothers talk about pro-
lection for the labOring man as though
he was not able to take care OF himself.
But think what protection for the
laborlng man means. 1t indicates that
ne is charge upon us. The most highly
protected object in America was the
slave. think you remember When it
was wrong to oppose slavery. In those
ton thrown about the slave was good
thing for the slave owner. The pro-
lection was all for the good of the
slave. They said he needed a good,
kind master to look after him and
to teach him good morals. And you
look at any of the Republican papers
today. and you will see it asserted that
the laboring man needs protection; he
needs somebody to take care of him. l
spurn such doctrine as being an insult
to labor. The man who works for liv-
ing needs no protection; all he needs is
freedom. Protection is anti-Ameri-
genius as nation. Did you
ever stop to think why the
English language has become that of
the greater portion of the American
continent? Why was not the French
and the Spanish languages not the
principal languages? 1t was because
the English colonies were not protected.
The French and Spanish were. Now
that we have 60,000.000 people we have
this old thread-worn doctrine of protec-
ton thrust upon US. We are told that
we owe our prosperity and growth to
protection. What is protection? 1t is
protection against goods: a
Protection Against Good Things:
things we are all working and striving
to get. Here is the great American ma
ton whose boast is that it is able to hold
its own with any other nation in the
world. When | was a boy used to hear
them say that America was able to
hold its own with any nation. Now we
are the greatest nation in the world,
would be eaten up unless they were
protected. Did you ever see man who
wanted to be protected? / never did.
l never saw man who went to Europe
and wanted to be protected on
his return home; he never wants to pay
duty on the articles he brings home. |
never saw one who would not bring
home everything he could free of duty.
And there are today protectionists who
go to Europe every year and-buy all the
clothes they want, and on the way home
dodge the customs officer If they can.
But they are for protecting the labor
ing man, who can't go to Europe,
and has to wear Shoddy clothes
The farmer is always the better man.
What is he working for? Not for wheat
and hogs and stock-not merely for the
food he raises, but for what he does not
raise, such as tea and coffee, sugar, etc.
He produces wealth in one form aud eX-
changes it for wealth in another. What
difference does it make to him whether
protective tariff is levied at the cross
roads leading to his farm on the one-half
which he produces or upon the other
half which he brings in? Ii a protective
tariff is good for Nations, it should be
equally as good for each state of the
Union to levy protective tariff upon
SOouo WilCii dlO UIOuSnJ -lflO III iTOIl
other states. Our German friends will
tell us how protective tariff was levied
by every little German state. upon the
goods coming from every other.
Protection is not for the good of the
laboring man; it is only for the good of
monopolies and trusts. They took the
tariff off raw sugar and put it on refined
sugar, and now we have the sugar trust.
Protection means that if it does not give
protection to the managers of industries
it Is no protection; and in that it means
the robbery of the masses. Why not
protect the grower of wheat? Mind you
that these collectors of nroIectiYa dntv