The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1893-06-24
The Tariff Poison.
From M New York Post.

midtown made in December, 1890, ought TO
send gloom throughout all high-tarifI
circles. Since the collapse and exposure of
the business methods of John +. Plummer,
earlier in the year 1890. nothing at all COM
parable TO the Ammidown revelations has
appeared. Ii will be remembered that Mr..
Ammidown was the foremost Representative
of the Republican business man" that we
had ia the campaign of 1888. He was a
wholesale dealer in dry goods, and was also
President of the American Protective Tariff
League. In his latter capacity he was the
nominal editor of the American Economist,
or official organ Of the League. His hatred
of british free trade and all its advocates
and minions in this country amounted almost
| TO n frenzy. and in the early days of the cam
paign of SSs he circulated the famous British
flag card, with its batch Of forged British press
extracts, by the million. keeping up that
circulation long after the forgeries had been
exposed.
After the election was over in 1885, and
Gen. Harrison was chosen 10 the Presidency.
it was expected by their admirers that Messrs.
Ammidown and PlGmmer would have a great
deal to do with shaping the policy of the
! new Administration, especially in regard to
the tariff. They were in frequent consultation
with the new President before and after his
Inauguration, and undoubtedly were power
| full factors in the tremendous task of getting
campaign debts paid in the Mckinley Bill.
| Plummer, in fact, toiled so hard in helping
the good work forward that he neg lected his
business more than ever, and the sad conse-
aueace was that he was obliged to fail On
| March 10, 1890 When his affairs came to
be examined, the most surprising feature of
them was the almost Total lack of assets.
Several explanations were advanced to ac-
I Il, q.
of things revealed in this establishment Of
one Of the leading business statesmen Of his
time, but the only one which at all covered
the case was to the effect that Mr.. Plummer,
while absorbed in questions of state, had
been deceived by confidential partner, ia
whom he placed absolute trust.
Mr.. Ammidown kept business in motion
till after the Mckinley Law began its bene6
cent course, but il was not powerful enough
TO save him. He made an assignment on
December 6, 1890, and it was said at the
time that he was only temporarily embar-
raised. This assignment has now been sub
jected to judicial examination, and the YER
diet of Judge Andrews. upon it is that it was
made to hinder, delay, and deiraud credit
ors," and as such is set aside. 1t was shown
during the examination that when he assigned
Ammidown had liabilities Of about 100000,
iNdt ut siSsiBuEu uio iiAGltot III thN SoNA
mated at $50, 900, to the junior partner per-
sonally, and not as assignee for the benefit Of
the creditors, and that he drew $24 900 of his
private funds from his bankers a few days
before his assignment, which amount was
not accounted for in the schedules. Ii was
shown also that he had departed for Europe
in April, 1891, few days before ne was 10
be examined in supplementary proceedings
on an order secured by one of his creditors,
depriying himself in his haste to get away of
the pleasure of being present at the great
Mckinley Bill banquet of the American Pro
tectiye. Tariff League, which was celebrated
in the Madison Square Garden Concert Hall
on April %, 1891, the evening of the day
following that for which his examination was
set down before Judge 0'Brien.
Since that hurried departure, Mr.. Ammi-
down has not been visible in these parts,
though his nephew testified on the examination
that he had seen him in Hoboken six months
ago, and that he was now somewhere in the
West 1t is said that he has joined Mr..
Plummer and other embarrassed business
men on the Pacific Coast, but his exact
whereabouts are unknown. Whether the
two are building up a new American Protec
tive Tariff League at that distant point we
are not able to say, for our facilities for col
lecting information from them haye always
been very poor. When the two were circula-
ting their forged British press quotations W tne
campaign oil 1885, we endeavored 10 ge. from i
them some explanation oil their cohuucl' put
succeeded only IN Extracting TINS ioiIy uenv
erance from the great RUNNER; 10y eau "a
present my compliments 10 me ed''or Oh Tue
Eren'ng Fost' and say, whether that is or Is
not forgery, we, or any rate l, 40 not pro
pose to notice any communication IRON
paper that is filled every day with campaign
lies That is all have to say"
There was an associate OF Ammidown and
Plummer whose performances were very SIM
liar to theirs, and who was a leading Inquire at
the banquet from which Ammidown hed.
We refer TO Robert r.. Porter the compiler
OF the most worthless census TINS country mas
ever had the misfortune to be called upon TO
pay for Porter made good thin" for him
self by working brand of American cham.
payne, called '1this great Republican wine, -
upon the banqueters 1--WE quote from his own
account of the matter,) arranging it so that
there was no escape for the victims, since
only American wines were furnished Sub
sequently Porter travelled over the country
calling for this brand OF wine IN every hotel
at which he stopped, and raising a crow"
because it was not to be had. He was sub
sequently sued by the proprietors ofthe brand
hacausa nf his failure to keen certain finan-