The Portland daily press., 1893-11-11
THE EFFECT ON THE TARIFF
SMASHERS

OF course Prof. Wilson, the head tariff
smasher, and his assistants on the Ways
| and Means committee will go right on
saying that the elections of Tuesday
will make no difference in their pro-
gramme of tariff reform They will talk
about the mandate of the people last fall
and the cowardice and unfaithtulness
which failure to obey that mandate
would imply. Nevertheless while they
make this brave talk, they won't by any
means entirely close their eyes to the
figures of Tuesdays contest 1t happens
fortunately for them that they can very
essentially modify their tariff programme
without. being obliged to confess it, be-
cause that programme has existed up to
the present only in their own minds,
and not even there in very definite form
we suspect At any rate the public has
! not been able to find out what it is,
so that whatever May be its final form
it will be impossible to prove that it was
or was not modified on account of the
land slide of Tuesday
If it is not modified then it will be the
first time in recent years that the Demo-
cratic party has stuck to any principle
or policy when it seemed evident that
such tenacity would lose.it votes. Ever
since the war at least every slight
breeze has been enough to swerve it
from its course. Traditionally hard
money party it found no difficulty in
forming an alliance with the Greenback-
ers when there seemed to be prospect
of getting votes by means of the union
Traditionally free trade party , it ran
like flock of frightened sheep from it's
revenue-only platform of 1880, and four
years later adapted a distinctively
protective platform; Grover Cleveland
got it back again and its Southern
leaders braced it up to square declara-
tion in favor of free trade 1t won on
that issue, and for time it seemed ready
and anxious to execute what it called
the mandate of the people to smash pro-
lection. But the business depression
Thoroughly frightened it's nor thern ele-
Inents. and they began to desert the
tariff plank of last year upon which the
alleged mandate of the people had been
issued, and to explain that really the
plank didn't mean what it said and that
they had not the slightest idea of enforc-
ing it in its spirit or letter. Months ago
their intentions regarding the tariff had
been SO modified that it was difficult
to detect much similarity between them
and that expressed in their platform.
Months ago they had begun to talk
about incidental protection, and the
desirability of SO arranging the tariff
that the difference between the labor
cost at home and abroad would be recog-
nized. Months ago the party began to
run away from.its principles and policy
simply because it thought it detected
that they were unpopular. Is it at all
likely that they will stop their retreat
now thatsit has been demonstrated by
the overwhelming vote of the people
that their suspicion was correct?
{ Looking at the matter from political
standpoint, nothing better could happen
for the Republicans than that the Demo-
Gratis should stick to their platform and
pulverize protection. By SO doing they
would undoubtedly pulverize the Demo-
cratic party, as it has not been pulverized
since the Greeley campaign.