People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1892-05-27
Protective Tariff.

Protective Tariff.
EDITOR VOICE: As the old parties
insist upon asserting that tariff re-
form is the great issue before the peo-
pie and the one upon which the COM
ing campaign, both state and national
is to be fought, and so many people are
easily deluded by the cry of protection
to American industries" l have
thought it might not be amiSs at this
time to briefly notice some Of its delu-
Sions as practiced upon the. great
masses of the people.
Just so long as the laboring classes
permit themselves to be deluded by the
bugbear of protection" just so long
will monopoly continue to forge its
chains upon the millions of slaves
tighter and tighter. The line of de.
narration between the many and the
few, the rich and the poor, the high
and the low, to my mind seems never
to have been more clearly drawn than
it is at the present time. We have but
to look around us to see the evidences.
A careful view of the situation will re-
veal to our view on the one side, mo-
nopoly, opulence, wealth and affiuence,
while on the other side we gaze upon
slavery, wretchedness, poverty, distress,
starvation and death. Tramps are rap.
idly multiplying and although Henry
Ward Beecher tells us that the world
is growing better, yet with a sad heart
we note that criminals accumulate
with the reproduction of wealth.
Some may say, "well, this was to be
so and is therefore inevitable" Let
me ask such, if any such there be, was
it ever intended by the great Father Of
all mankind that the masses should be-
come slaves, serfs and menials for the
few? No, my brother, we deny that
God, the giyer of all good, is such a be.
ing as to make such distinction be.
tween man and man. Distinctions, il
is true, exist, but this does not prove
that one man has the right to extor,
from another. In the language of an
eminent writer, I'VE know such a Legal
right exists, against which every fair
minded man will wage an eternal war
fare"
Mrs. Marion Todd says: 1.-THE evil
affecting the producers of this countr,
may be summed up in one word, name
ly, extOrtion, not only in one, but il
many ways. Everlasting taxation ha
held the peoples pocket books, stintet
their stomachs, blighted their hopes
lput out their ambition and robbed
their children of an education"
| This is the protective tariff unde,
which we are living today. A system
of thievery and extortion, a system
built up by monopoly to rob labor of it
just reward. Nay, it is gigantic mo
nopoly in itself, which is sucking tn
very life blood of the nation. A mo
nopoly, which, while it makes one mil
lionaire, makes ten thousand paupers
criminals and tramps. No one who il
not blinded by bitter partisan spiri
can fail to see this. Yet they tell III
this is the great issue, and cry tariff re
form. 1t is an issue which the peopl,
will do away with. 1t will be my OBJ
Ject in following articles to show tn,
decisions of this system.
AS we gaze upon the great thron,
marching through life we see two ban
nerS flowing in the breeze. Upon tn,
one is inscribed Monopoly" which
read in the light of reason means, "yo,
are my slaves" and its fangs are a
ready fastening upon the throats of it
victims. Upon the other we may rea,
the prayers, the pleadingS of the toilin
masses of its slaves as they piteousl
beg to be delivered from the iron gras
with which it is so ruthlessly Robin
them of their labor.
To show the deceptive delusions O
this system is, as have said, the air
OF these articles. l shall aim to Civ
some statistics which are indisputabl,
but for fear l trespass upon your yalu
able space, will say no more at presen