The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1893-11-04
He IS A DEMOCRAT
(Continued from First Page.)

theory OF protection would make q
nation Of parasites, not of freemen. OF
the men who favor protection, the ma
jority are actuated purely by selfish
reasons. They believe protection is
needed for their own financial and ma
terial interest. A manufacturer wants
to go into a business, and he asks that he
be protected-that is, the people pay
higher prices in order that he may make
q profit, land he justifiee his request by
urging that the people ought to be will
ing to pay more than necessary for his
products because ultimately the protec-
tive plan will give greater general pros
perity-in other words, that when every
body gets chance to rob his neighbor,
all will be happy. This theory is wholly
un-American and it's failure in practice is
the great cause of existing Injustice and
dissatisfaction.
Our country never needed protection,
in my opinion. It is the most prolific
country the sun ever shone on. Its pro-
ductiveness is unparalleled; and when
protection is given to an enterprise in
order that it may be profitable, the
money invested in it ia diverted by that
fact from it's legitimate use and natural
channel. The moment an industry cries
out for protection and hangs out the
signal of distress, the capital invested in
it should be withdrawn; and certainly if
invested in some ,ther industry that
needs. no protection, the money will
yield a better return in the end to the
investor himself, and will contribute
very much moro to the general prosper
ity, employing more labor, developing
more capital. The dollhouse process
was never necessary in the United States.
It is folly for q man to attempt to grow
oranges in Massachusetts, when he can
produce other crops that will pay with
out artificial forcing.
Now as to the silver question. On this
the Democratic party is united, except
where personal or state interests are con-
cerned. 1t is idle to say that it is Wall
street and the bankers who have created
and supporte this agitation in favor of
"holsest money. Men engaged in fnan-
ciai affairs can see, perhaps with greater
clearness than professional men like my
self, how dangerous is the over-produc-
tiou aud over-coinage of silver, and the
distribution of it among the people at
more than it's intrinsic value. At the
same time, the prof essional man and the
man, and the great majority OF
of the people everywhere in the country.
except in the silver states and some of
the Southern states, where q sentiment
seems to prevail wholly apart from the
facts of the question itself, are certainly
in favor of the declaration made in the
Democratic platform. which says not
that silver is to be discarded, but merely
that the coinage of the two metals shall
be so adjusted rs to secure their equality
and not diminish their production.
The mistake was originally mace when
congress, following in the wake Of
European nations, not producers of sill
yer, demonetlzed that metal, taking
away it's chief use, and thereby dlmin.
fishing it's value. For this act, however,
the Democratic party is in no wise re-
sponsible. Neither was the Democratic
party respo nsible for the Sherman bill,
which was one Of the supreme follies Of
a Republican administration, folly di-
rectly in line with the party's policy OF
protection. This act contained all the
error of protection methods, and. more
over, the in dpstry it protected had no for
eigo competition worth mentioning.
Or course, all people in this great
nation are not happy. There are iDlus
tees; there is distress; but in applying
a remedy, we should avoid the danger of
making the conditions worse. The
remedies sought should be neither too
slow, nor too severe aud radical. After
all, in life, both animal and human, all
progress must necessarily come from
individual effort. Methods, both socia-
lietic and paternal, always fail of their
desired effect, for the very reason that
they are not in accord with natures
laws. They tend to destroy individual
responsibility and effort, and consequent
" to retard real progress. "The survival
of the fttest' is the law of nature, and
will have to be recognized in any CON-
pany.
In conclusion, therefore, my deliber-
ate judgm ent is, looking at all things
that the Democratic party
has been, and will continue to be, the
conservative party of the people, and
will necessarily control the affairs OF our
so long as it does so wisely.
Ii it fails, as all parties may, from time
to time, to do it's full duty to the people,
they will turn it out of power until it
shall again return to it's original princl-
plee-liberty and equality among all
people.