Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1892-10-22


/ plemented by Pacific railway legisla-
ton. attracted settlers, stimulated inn
migration and transferred the center Of
industrial power from the east to the
west. Even in war time the founda-
tons were laid for that marvellous ma
terial prosperity, of which the first
fruits were to be the resumption Of
specie payments and the cancellation,
during Sit gle generation, of two-thirds
of the national debt.
In like manner the tariff has minis
tered to the highest interests Of the ma
| ton. At the opening of the war the
| Democratic party, under the direction
Of southern slave owners, was com
mitted to the policy Of a revenue tariff
tending IN the direction Of absolute free
trade. The cotton, sugar, tobacco and
! rice planters Of the south, having what
| they considered the cheapest of all labor
! in their slaves, were the natural allies
of free trade England. One Of the eco
! nomic curses Of slavery wherever it has
! existed has been its inevitable effectin de-
/ veloping two or three great agricultural
/ interests and in preventing the diversi-
/ fcation of industries. Southern plant
ing interests and economic policy blocked
national development of industries. This
policy of a low tariff which had always
been southern rather than northern, was
abandoned when the Republican party
was confronted with the necessity of OBJ
tanning an income adequate for meeting
the cost Of great war
Now, while honest men may differ over
details of the tariff controversy which
has been conducted in this country over
100 years, they must at least agree that
Republican legislation provided most
efficient instrument for the collection of
the large revenues needed for war ex-
| penses and the rapid payment Of the na-
! tional debt. They must also recognize.
without dissent, the extraordinary ex-
| pansion of domestic manufacturing and
! the development Of foreign and internal
trade which have accompanied protect
! i've legislation. They must also con
| cede that the benefits of high tariff
| have been generally distributed in the
! course of time SO as to be equalized
! among all classes through the cheaper
| ing Of prices for consumers. They must,
| moreover, be prepared to admit that the
| protective system has promoted that
| wonderful diversitication of industries
/ which now affords resources of remuner-
| alive employment for the largest and
| most prosperous body Of working people
on the earth.
1t is characteristic Of the malign gen
ius of the Democratic party that after
| all the miracles of American industrial
progress have been accomplished it
| should turn back the hands OF time and
| take its stand today with the nullifca-
ton leaders of 1882 in proclaiming the
| unconstitutionality of the protective tar
if. Even Jackson's authority has not
| suficed to convince it that Calhoun was
| wrong, and the decisions of the United
! States supreme court have been of no
avail TO reconcile it to the prosperity Of
/ the American people under the protect
i've system.
The financial legislation of the Repub-
lican party constitutes a series of land
marks Of American progress. The great
measures of the war period were those
providing for the issue and ultimate re
demption Of the legal tender greenbacks
! and for the establishment of the national
bank system. These We're followed after
the war by the refunding and resump-
| ton acts. The success of the refunding
acts was largely dependent upon the re-
sumption Of specie payments. That was
a supreme act of good faith which es-
tablished public credit on so high plane
that refunding operations were conduct
ed with extraordinary facility.
In consequence of thirty years expert
ence with Republican financial legisla-
4far a rf,a,-5ps4, Y,ag4,ls va ,.,,,,l
distinction of being the only grent ma
ton that pays its debts. They have also
a currency which was brought by labori-
Gus processes to par with gold. They
have also a national bank system which
has steadily grown in popular favor and
undo which not dollar has ever been
LOST 20 a note holder, and only the small
est fraction to depositors.
All these great policies have been &C
complished without the aid Of the Demo
cratic party The funding act Of 1870,
by which the rates of interest on the
debt were changed by the conversion of
all classes of national securities, was
passed without single Democratic vote
in either house. The resumption act Of
1875 was opposed by every Democrat in
both houses. The national banking act
was denounced as unconstitutional by
the Democratic party during the war,
and its hostility TO the system has not
ceased to this day, when the repeal Of
the tax on state bank issues is deliber-
ately proposed in It's national platform.
That party thirty y-ears ago defended
these state issues, although they were
not secured, had no uniform value
throughout the country, were easily
counterfeited and displaced greenbacks.
1t advocates return 10 the same system
now, and apparently from deiberats
preference for IN inferior currency.
The Republican party stands for the