Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1894-09-12
A Terrific SeIf-Condemnation.

and thereby accept the German bill Oh
''peridy and dishonor," eX-Speaker Reed,
Towering in righteous wrath above the
.cowed and seif-disgraced Democracy,
thundered forth, out of your own mouths
has your condemnation come, he uttered
"a truth which added heavily to the shame
and humiliation of the most shameful oc-
.caSion the Democratic party mas khOWh
since it passed the fugitive slave law.
But it was reserved for Il DEMOCRATIC
member of Congress, one IN good stand
ing, to hurl scathing denunciation more
burning if that be possible, than any yet
uttered by any Republican,. ut the cor
rupt and detestable eaSur called the re-
form tariff law. Tom L. Johnson, repre-
.senting one of the Cleveland districts IN
Congress, became so thoroughly outraged
in his feelings because of the hypocrisy,
falsehood, cowardice and trickery OF his
party III Congress, that he made a speech
on the subject, which he caused to be
printed in permanent form III the Con
gressional Record. Here is a portion OF
the speech which makes very entertaining
reading:
Every man, woman and child uses
sugar. 1t is one of the prime necessarles
of life. And there is not a housewife IN
the land who will not feel that she is
robbed by our Democratic tariff re-
form when she finds that where she got
three pounds of sugar under the NC
Kiuley bill she now, under the Gorman
bill, for the same money, gets but TWO:
You and /, with our official incomes OF.
$4,000 a year, may not feel this tax; MI:
Cleveland, with his official income or
$4,000 d year, may not feel 1t; our col
leagues of the Senate, especially those
who may have bought sugar trust stock
at the right time, may not feel 1t; but the
great mass of the people by whose votes
we are here-the great mass OF the people
who must count every penny OF incomes
not sufficient to enable them to live IN
half way decent comfort, they will feel 1t;
they will feel it at once and feel 1t bit
terIy.
as for what will you tell them: Will you
quote to them Mr.. Clevelands letter to
Mr.. Wilson on the propriety of taxing SUI
gar? Will you quote TO them Mr.. Carlisle 5
statement that the needs of the treasury
require the taxation of sugar.: L know,
and you know, and the people know|
was about to say that every dog that
barkS in the streets of the capital knows
that the real purpose of imposing this
tax is not to give revenue to the govern
snent, but revenue to the bOOdlerS. You
cannot disguise it from the people, for the
people know it already. that the purpose
of this sugar tax Is to put millions and
millions into the pockets of men who are
already m~illionaires by robbins the people.
They know that this tax on sugar has
been bought through every step of its
way-carried by such open. undisguised
corruption as has never been Haunted
in their faces before; they know that the
sugar trust has purchased this privilege
of taxing them, and that though the price
1T may nave paid may be millions. it will
receive back millions and millions before
the treasury gets a cent.
Political decPncy, no less than political
prudence, ought to prevent Democrats
from trying it under the open charges that
this bonus to the sugar trust at the eX-
,aDSa of tho npOrla * in M Tr1onDt of haauv
contributions made from the funds of the
sugar trust TO the Democratic national
committee in the last presidential cam
paign. And the attitude of Mr.. Cleveland
on the sugar tax, the attitude of Mr.. Car
3iSle. the attitude of our own ways and
means committee in reporting a tax on
sugar, which we free trade Democrats
only beat in this House by the aid OfLthe
Republicans, give a color to the charge.
which the action now proposed will carry
IN the public mind to certainty, hat is
the way in which the Democratic party
as paying the monster trust for election
help.
If we make this surrender we must go
back TO our constituents with the German
bill as the approved and indOrsed Demo
cratic bIll-the answer which the Demo-
cratic party makes to the demands of the
people,; a bill reeking with notorious bar
gain and sale: a bill that the Republicans
Jeer at. that the Democratic press has uni
VerSally denOunced; Il bill that the Presi-
dent himself has declared an exhibition
of perfidy and dishonor; a bill that cannot
possibly be defended, and that as GER
taInly as election day comes in NOvem-
Der. will be Indignantly ~repudiated by the
people"
The Party d is
The Atlanta Constitution, one of the
most widely read Democratic papers in
the South, does not feel very much en-
c0uTaged over the outlook for the Demo-
cratic congressional ticket this fall. After
saying that the action of the President
was unfortunate and unWiSe, the Consti-
tuition says:
1.-The party muddle is now complete.
The organization is now on the thresh-
Aold OF a campaign big with results. and
It is compelled to assume responsibility
for a measure which its chosen leader
n chief has denounced as peridious
n to which he has refused to affix his
signature. was ever a party placed in
such position before? Every Democrat in
Congress who voted for the bill has been
slapped in the face and every Democratic
candidate III the country has had his
chances of reelection sadly impaired by
the refusal of Mr.. Cleveland to sign the
tariff bill. Nor is this all. The party's
majority in Congress is seriously threat
ened. for it seems impossible that the
congressional candidates of the party can
make a successful campaign by going be-
fore, the people and assuming responsible
1ty for 4 measure which the party's COM
gnander-in-chief has distinctly repudiated
and denounced, and which he has re-
fused to touch with his hand"
The Cost of the Necessaries of Life.
In commenting upon the boast of the
Democrats that they nave reduced the
duties on many articles for the benefit
of the w~orkingman and the farmers, the
Cincinnati Commercial Gazette makes
this striking and interesting exhibit:
In looking over the new tariff bill the
reductions made and the imports for the
fiscal year ending June 80, 1898, we have
evolved a table which shows how the
Democrats have reduced duties, and. ac-
cording to their theory, lowered prices
for the benefit of the farmer, the artisan
and the workingman generally, and we
want every farmer and wOrkingman who
reads the Commercial Gazette to cut this
table out and keep it for reference dur
ing the campaign. 1t may be valuable
when listening to some speaker telling
what the party has done:
Imports Re- Per