Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1893-08-02
Place the Blame.

business; for the numer0nH trade fail
ures that have occurred, anda for the
discharge of hundreds Of wVTkmen
owing to the partial or entire closing
down Of factories. ss-1-
tits right to fix the biams fbf these
things, and the sooner It isDfixed, and
the more indelibly it is fixed, the better
for the cause of Protection. The weak
ness 5f the argument of the Democratic
press can be appreciated with a mo-
ment'ss thought, when it isconsidered
that Protection, which protects and
builds up, is being blamed, or has been
blamed. for the work Of free trade that
has been threatened tnly and, mot yet
even carried into effect. ..{.
We acknowledge and we grant that
the business conditions of the United
States have become greatly demoralized
since the election of President Cleveland
in November, 1892; and it is true, while
the Mckinley Tariff bill is actually in
force, but it is free trade, and the fear
Of changes it is likely, to make in our
Protective measure, that has caused
these internal troubles throughout the
country.
/ The Democratic party has pledged
itself to tariff reform. To quote the
New York Sun, they promised pros.
perity and relief to commercial interests
by prompt repeal Of the obnoxious
Mckinley bill, which the Republicans
had enacted 1t is fear of such
prompt repeal" that has demoralized
the country. The people know what
they have got, they do not know what
they will get. The people know that
under the protection of the Mckinley
Tariff act, the manufacturing industries
of the United States have been in
creased far beyond any precedent.
They know that additional employment
has been found for tens of thousands
OF working people. They know that
the wages of the people have been
higher than ever before in this cOun-
try. They know that there has been
no increase in the cost of living during
the operations of the Mckinley act,
but that, on the contrary. there has
been a decrease in many respects.
They know, moreover, that any change
in the tariff, such as has been promised
by the Democratic party, and to which
it is publicly pledged, will be and must
be in the direction of larger importa-
tions of foreign goods.
Such o change as this means one of
two things. The American wage earn
ers must either be content to give their
labor for less money In order that goods
of American manufacture may still be
able to compete with foreign goods
made with cheap foreign labor, or else
our factories must be closed and our
working people must be unemployed,
while we continue to patronize foreign
manufacture and foreign labor.
The business men and manufacturers
of the United States of necessity wish
to be prepared for such important eco
nomic changes. Immediately after the
election of President Cleveland, to-
gether with the Democratic Congress,
and long before the close of the year
| 1892, our American manufacturers were
trimming their sails.' They were
quietly arranging how they could best
curtail their transactions. Naturally
they wished to dispose of the goods
that they had ON hand without loss to
themselves. Next, they began to econ
omize in their expenses, ceasing to run
overtime, or even on full time. They
had no desire to find themselves with a
large stock Of merchandise for which
they had no actual orders and which
might be unstable on their hands
Looking still further into the future
and anticipating tightness of money,
they began to be cautious about, their
credits, accepting only orders for goods
for future delivery from such houses in
whom they felt tho utmost confidence
and security.
This condition, which began among
our largest manufacturers, extended to
the owners of smaller mills and those
engaged in industries equally enconr-
aged by protection, but still of smaller
financial moment. From the manu-
facturers this exercise of foresight and
caution extended to their customers
the wholesale houses that handled the
goods for the manufacturers These
wholesale houses adopted similar
conservative system to the retailers,
and sothe. tension was felt throughout
the breadth of the country. 1R 50
Inus Vne country l6 sltuated To-Day.
1t has been through a panic that would
have~been far more disastrous in its
results II the people had not been
thriving and industrious during the
past few years and able to accumulate
some money during the term of pros
perity experienced prior to the last
Presidential election. 1t is our welfare
under the Mckinley act, and that
( alone, that has prevented far more dis
astrous financial and commercial con.
| ditions than those which we have
actually experienced. 1t is the fear Of
tampering with the existing tariff, and
the, fearof removal of protection thai
has beenit the direct cause of the strin
gency throughout, all desiring to be
prepared against the time when the
Democratic pledges must BIZ fulfilled
hv Cavrxri N N ont tho 7, N, oa p hIa ynn1irx