Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1892-11-03
STEVENSON IN NEW YORK.
He Talks to Brookly,ites ON Cleveland
and Democracy.

Adlai e. Stevenson. democrats cam
didate for vice president, spoke to a
vast audience in the Academy of Music.
Brooklyn, on the evening of October 80.
on the political questions of the day.
In reference to ex-President Cleveland
and his administration. he said:
Under Clevoland's administration the rights
OF All property OF all sections. OF all people
were recognized and enforced Under it the
bonded debt OF the government was paid at ma
turify: trust funds were not used 10 avoid \
treasury deficit and the gold reserve was rot
menaced by threats Of invasion to meet the
current expenses of the government Under
that administration additional burdens were
laid upon the people During the latter half of
Mr. Cleveland's administration an inpor,aDt
question was: What shall be done with the sur
plus revenues:' What is the condition which
now confronts us at the end Of three years
and q half OF republican administration On the
basis of revenues to the government, as esti-
mated for the present fiscal year, and of the
liabilities OF the government on account OF the
annual and permanent appropria tons for the
same period there will be q deficit of So Oo0-
600 Upon the assumption that the law reQuir-
ing s4sooo,OO0 fog the sinking fund viii be CON-
piled with, there is no escaping the deficiency
have mentioned The bankruptcy which now
threatens the treasury is the result first, OF the
enactment OF the Mckinley tariff law, and
second. the lavish appropriations of the Fifty
first congress The appropriations OF the last
republican congress- which has gone into his
tory the billion-doliar congress- far exceed
that Of any Of its democratic predecessors
Eve hold to the use of both gold and silver IS
the standard money OF the country, AID TO the
coinage OF both gold and silver. without dis
eliminating against either metal or charge for
mintage, but the dollar unit of coinage of both
metals must be OF equal intrinsic and exchange
able value or be adjusted through international
agreement or by such safeguards Of legislation
as shall insure the parity of the two metals and
the equal power OF every dollar in markets and
paper currency shall be kept at par with and re-
deemable in such coin
ITO this plain and EN- phat tic declaration of the
Chicago platform in favor of sound honest
money subscribe without qualifi cation OF re-
serve
Regarding the tariff question, Mr.
Stevenson said:
foundation Of the constitution, denounces re
publican protection a fraud the rights OF
the people: denies the power in congress to i'm
pose tariff tax, except for revenue only. and
demands that the limit of such imposition shall
be the necessities of an h6nest administration
Of the government 1 indorse, without quail
ification, the denunciation, denial and de-
mand We 90 not advocate or contemplate
free trade, but recognize in just system OF i'm
port duties convenient constitutional and
equitable plan for raising revenues with which
TO meet the necessary expenses OF the govern
ment-
defensible theeFy Of protection TO certain in
dustries by which heavy tariff burdens are laid
upon the great mass of the people for the ben
eft of the favored individuals who are fortunate
enough to receive its blessings. This theory
eliminated in the enactment of the Mckinley
law, by which heavy and oncrous tariff duties
are imposed upon some 400 manufactured
articles, most Of which are OF daily necessity in
the home life of people. The effect has
been to build up colossal private fortunes; to
increase the price OF living to the poor 10 fos-
ter and make possible combinations, trusts and
monopolies which prey upon the smaller indus
tries Of the country and destroy opportunities
for individual enterprise
I'VE are told today that republican tariff
protection for the thirty years of its career has
produced the present prosperous condition of
the country and within that time had added to
its material wealth $4,000 000, 600. or three
times he amount produced IN the preceding
$50 years. The fallacy OF making one two
coexisting facts the cause effect Of the other
is the most common and the most easily de-
tected- AS Well might this boosted prosperity
be ascribed TO thousand facts coexisting with
it 1t would be equally logical for US to charge
that al the strikes. lockouts, financial failures.
assignments and bankruptcies, which have been
three times as great in the past thirty years a
in the preceding go years, were attributable TO
the vicious principles Of tariff protection.
There has undoubtedly been wonderful IL
crease in the material wealth of the United
States, but who has it: These pertinent
questions, to which the answer is found in une-
quail distributions, in the accumulation OF enor-
NOUS private fortunes, the tendency to pass leg
islation in exchange for political favors, and
utter disregard for the rights of tax-laden
people. Equally untenabie is the claim that
the republican protection is in the interests Of
labor OF the 10 600 600 OF laborers in the United
States less than one-tenth are engaged in the
protected industries. The Mckinley bill went
into effect October 4, 1890. and between that
time and July L. 1892 lone year and
nine rnonths), there occurred in the pro-
s-dr c~r-a M try
strikes and lockouts, in every one Of which the
wages OF the workingu1en were reduced In the
light of this history, what becomes Of the COM
tention that protection protects labor: Two
billion, Ave hundred million dollars of mortgage
indebtedness: wheat selling al 60 cents bush
ell; cotton selling at z cents per pound; almost
all agricultural products selling below the cost
of production; all finding their home market
fer any surplus in foreign countries, emphasize
the conviction that there is no direct benefit to
the laboring and farming classes to compensate
for the increased cost of necessaries OF life and
the consequent decrease in the purchasing pow
er of labor The democratic party, If intrusted
with power, proposes to remedy the irregular
tiles and the injustice of the present tariff laws,
not by radical legislation which viii disturb or
paralyze any OF the business interests OF the
country but by wise. patient and conserva-
tive consideration of all interests to SO adjust
tax burdens that Justice shall be done both to
capital and labor, to the end that both shall
contribute fair share to the expenses OF the
government
81 need hardly remind you that the force bill
takes the election of represent atives in con-
gress out of the hands of the officers provided
by state law and gives it to federal agents
This bill in every line and paragraph breathes
distrust of the people 1t is totally destruc-
tive OF local self-goFernment No single officer
intrusted with its execution IS elected by the
people. This legislation, my fellow citizens, IS
devised in a spirit Of hate. Since my nomina-
ton have been in southern and southwestern
states of the union and have talked with men
of all classes and conditions there 1 find
general and growing apprehension OF
evils which Il is believed would result from
the passage of the Lodge bill or similar threat
ened legislation The enactment OF the threat
encd force bin into law would undoubtedly re-
tard the growth of the states at which 1t Is
aimed would excite in many communities race
troubles and invite retaliatory legislation
which would disturb property values and dis
continue and destroy the value OF northern in
yes ments And its reflex action upon The
north and The northwestern states would result
in consequent loss of commercial and trade re-
lations with the vast territory nov becoming
tributary to their wealth and prosperity. say
nothing now of the inherent vice OF the IN
American and revolutionary spirit involved in
the Lodge bill, which was pronounced by a re-
publican senator tine most infamous that ever
crossed the threshold OF the senate
st appeal TO the instinct Of selfiuterest and
to tie sense of common justice in the American
people. The era OF good feeling and renewed
commercial relations commencing with the
election of Mr.. Cleveland in 1884 should not be