Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1892-02-10
IN G. nF THE rARIFF."


ginia tariff arguments Of sufficient
force TO convince the voter of average
Intelligence that he ought to vote for
more tariff taxes, the Hon, GEORGE
WESLEY ATKINSON has determined 70
try hand in the game. The ln;elligen-
Ger publishes supplement" which Is
now being distributed broadcast in the
interior of the State, to which in DIG
type is attached the full name Of Mr..
ATKINSON. This article occupies over
TWENTY-FIVE columns Of the aforesaid
supplement- aud is calculated to furnish
substantial amusement tovoters OF av-
erage intelligence, and the esteemed
Iptelligeucer will permit US to tender II
a compliment by stating that it Is IN
no way an improvement onits own
method of presenting the Republican
side Of the tariff question. 1t is, really
not nearly so logical as the hptelltgen-
GERS illogical editorial utterances. To
speak plainly the Hon. GEORGE WES-
LEY ArKINsox's supplement to the Week
IN IntcIIiGcucer is a con glomerate
mass Of self-contradict ion, mis-
statement Of fact and all-round
demagogy which is calculated to do
actual harm to the Republican cause
even .fn the Interior" where,
by the way, the voters are not
so ignorant as the esteemed TptelJigeneer
apparently supposes. After one reads
Mr.. ArKINSoN'S "A. B. c. Of the Tar
III" he is not surprised that the IntGlH-
qencer confines its supplement to
circulation in the interior, and dare not
circulate it among the readers whom 1t
believes to be more intelligent than
those who live in the back counties"
Mr.. ArNINsoN's article is too volumi-
nous and entirely too full of faisities
and absurdities to warrant an attempt
on the part Of the REGISTER TO "show
il up" in detail, with the limited space
at our command, and we can only give
a few Illustrations Of its general char
acter. For instance, at the outset Mr..
ATKINSON says:
The principle Of protection to American
industries and American labor was incor-
porated in the acts of our first national
Congress by fixing a tariff upon foreign
manufactured articles.
A man of Mr.. ArKINsoN'S knowledge
must certainly know that this is mis-
statement Of fact and that these taxes
were levied by our first Congress, not
for protection" TO American industry
or for the benefit of American labor,
but to raise much needed rCrCnUe by IN
direct taratjOp. Mr.. ATKINSON adds:
Washington, Hamilton, Madison, Jeffer-
sou, Adams, jackson, Webster and Clay
were all "protectionistss'
Not one OF these was a protection,
ISL. as the term is applied by Mr.. AT
KISsoS, and the REGISTER has at hand
we'll known and familiar utterances Of
every one of these statesmen on this
subject which we challenge the m
tclJigclycer or the Hon. G.. w. ATKIN-
SON to make public in their next
campaign document. WASHING
TON, HAMILTON, MADISON, JEFF
ERsON, ADAMS JACKSON, WEE
srER and CLAY vigorously denounced
and solemnlY warned the American peO-
pie against the very abuse of the power
Of indirect or tariff taxation which the
Republican party, controlled by the
trusts and syndicates and combines
which have grown wealthy at the peO-
pies expense, is advocating to-day and
which is exemplifed in the Mckinley
ini0uity. So did LINCOLN, GRANT,
HAYES, GARFIELD, ARTHUR aud the
Republican ,idol, JAMES G.. BLAINE,
himself when he was a member of Con-
gress and before the tariff barOns had
obtained complete control of the Repub-
Iican party. Both the Intelligenccr and
and Mr.. ATKINSON will acknowledge the
truth of this by refusing to publish
even the briefest possible extracts from
speeches on this subject by these states
men, with which the REGISTER's read
ers are familiar and which we will glad
ly furnish for publication.
Among the plain contradictions in Mr..
ArNNsoN's tariff pOtpourri we select
at random the following:
A tariff properly levied is not necessari-
" prOhioitory.
Then a little further along, under the
sub-head "Short Definition of Protec-
tion," he says:
Q.-What, then, in short, is projections
A-Wheu the duty levied upon foreign
products is so high that foreign manu-
factJrer cannot sell his wares in this cOUn-
trv-after paving the duty-at price low
enough to compete with the American man
Ufacturers.
II this is not necessarily prohibit
tory, what is il? When a merchant or
manufacturer finds he is no longer able
TO compete with his rivals in a certain
field he abandons that field. II a
protective tariff is what Mr.. ATKIN-
SON says it is, it must be necessarily
prohibitOry," and, hence, according to
his own statement, not properly
levied"
Under the amusing sub-head Tariff
Not a Tax, " Mr.. ATKINSON says:
Under the present. tariff, known as the
NF.r-5.rav- hill e,rcr1,. of tho lCvra. Grad &c