Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-05-19
ALTGELp ON HOPKINS.
He Shows What the Latter should Have
Told the Convention.

4
| for &c vernon, was asked by reporter for
| the Chicago Mail for his views on the speech
| of Congressman Hopkins, temporary chair
man Of the Republican state convention.
The Judge smiled and incidentally re-
| marked that the speech was most remark
able for what it didn't contain. 1t WAS
| held 10y the Republicans that the address
| of Mr.. Hopkins was one of the ablest pre-
sensations of the Republican side of the
campa gn issues that has yet been made in
| this state. This is probably true, but evil
| IDENTIFY Judge Altgeld does not hold the
| views therein expressed to be sound. He
talked freely on Mr.. Hopkins ntterances.
| and an ong other things he said:
The speech of Mr.. Hopkins, the tempo
| rary chairman of the Republican conven-
ton at Springfield, was an illustration of
| the sublime confidence the leaders OF the
| Republ can party have in the gullibility
| of the American public. During the last
| fifty years great strides have been made in
| the industries of the world, owing to in
| vention, to a quickening ingenuity, to
! division of labor, to improved machinery,
and improved methods. Consequently
many of the useful articles of life can be
made for less than on--quarter what they
| formerly cost. This progress has been
| made in spite of the American prohibitory
/ tariff. nr. Hopkins had the assurance to
tell the assembled Republicans that the
tariff had been blessing to the working
t, man and to the farmer Of this country.
and he pointed to the fact that some things
| were made cheaper now than they were
| twenty years ago, but he took good care
not to tell them what those things could
be bought for now if the tariff were re-
| moved
He toll story 20 illustrate the differ
: ence between theory and practice. Now
the troub with the tariff is that it is only
| in theory that it confers any benefits
| Practically it has injured both the work
ingman and the farmer because it compels
them to pay a higher price for everything
they have to buy, and it does not in the
least protect the workingman's wages,
while it deprives the farmer of the mar
kets of the world. II Hopkins had
wanted to tell the Republicans at Spring
| field the whole truth, he should have told
| them that we have had the most absolute
| free trade n labor since 1860; that the pur-
pose of the tariff was to enable the manu-
| facturer to sell his goods at a higher price,
| and that Is the effect of it. If this were
not so there would be no need of a tariff
Manufacturers would not give from $4,000
to So 600 toward RAISING a corruption fund
| with which to carry an election in order to
| elect a man like Mr.. Hopkins to maintain
the tariff laws. They expect to get their
| money back through these tariff laws
Not only so, but they expect to get large
fortunes in addition back through the tariff
Now, these fortunes are made out of the
increased price at which they can sell their
| goods over what they would get If there
was no tariff and they had to sell their
goods at the same price that the English
| man and the German and the Frenchman
sell theirs.
But while they are thus protected in
their prices they import the labor they
want from the pauper labor fields of Eu-
rope, so thai every hour during which the
protective tariff has been in existence the
laboricg man has had to compete with
the pauper abor of Europe; not only the
labor that came here in the way of honest
| immigration, but the very men who con-
tributed mi lions of dollars to maintain
the tariff violated the laws and imported
shiploads after shiploads of European
pauper laborers under contract, so that
according to so high an authority as T. Y.
Powderly, both the American born and the
naturalized American laborer have been
driven out Of the great state of Pennsyl-
vania and their places filled by Huns,
Poles, Italians, and others, brought under
contract, in violation of law. If Hopkins
had wanted to tell the whole truth he
would have told the Republicans at
Springfield that the billion dollar congress
which enacted the Mckinley law, increas-
| ing the tariff from 40 to 60 per cent, had
scarcely adjourned when upward of 300
| manufacturing establishments, who were
to be benefited by this tariff, reduced the
wages of their workingmen, so that while
the McKinley law increased the price of
everything the workingman had to buy, 1t
permitted his wages to be cut down.
Hopkins should further have told his aud
fence that there are nearly forty of the
r leading establishments which were built
up under the tariff, chief among them
being Mr.. Ca-negie's, employing upward
, of $1,000 men, that have banished organ
} lied labor from their shons and filled its
place with labor imported from Europe.
Hopkins should further have told his aud
s fence that while the tariff keeps up the
price of every hing which the farmer has
to buy it has tended to rob us of the mar
kets of the world, and that for ten years
farms and farm products have been de-
g Ginning in value.
f Hopkins should have told his audience
that while upward of $4,000, 600 of people
were being taxed by tariff law to enable
:, Mr.. Carnegie 20 accumulate upward OF
/, Sc, 900 900, and while Carnegie was spend
!, ing bis time preaching to the American
- people what Christian gentleman should
: do with his millions, the farmers of Amer
: ica from whose sweat these millions were
made, found the mortgages on their farms
| growing larger and the labOrinp men al
d America found that they were harder and
= harder driven 10y imported pauper labor
The Republican party has given the
American laborer and the American
farmer the kind of protection which the
y elephant gave 20 the cartridges Wher
:. walking through the woods he ran acros:
some partridges that had lost theil
: mother, and were in deep distress. Hii
/, heart was moved with compassion; tear,