Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1894-01-04
voter hasn't sense enough to come in
out of the wet is correct, you are solid
and awfilly solid!
Stick to Principles, Let the Dollars
Fall Where They May!

The Chicago platform calls for
Tariff for Revenue, pure and simple, as
we'll as for the Free Coinage of Silver.
The silver plank of that platform has
been entirely ignored, and, from pres
ent appearances, is likely to be con-
tinued to be ignored. The people are
waiting in anxious expectancy to see
whether the tariff plank will share the
same fate. The State of Missouri has
stood foremost in the fight for revenue
reform. The rank and file of it's De-
mocracy have pinned their faith to it.
But, Notwithstanding this unanimity
of sentiment in Democratic ranks, we,
now and again, hear quavering voice
deploring the reduction of the tariff on
some article with which the prosperity
of some locality is supposed to be bound
up. We hear our brethren of ST. Fran
co.'s county mildly complaining about
the reduction of the tariff on lead, just
as the English squirearchy OF nearly
half century ago complained of the ad-
mission of grain free. The English
farmer got on pretty well after his
hands had been taken out of the pock-
cts of the English nation, and the
American lead producer will thrive
equally we'll after his share of the pub
lie taxes is diverted to its proper chan
mel. If, as the Pennington Times says,
this country consumes more lead than
it produces, the lead producer has more
to gain by tariff reduction than by
keeping it on his product, for the reas-
on that under system of tariff for rev.
enue only the commodity for which his
lead is exchanged would come in free
and thereby he would gain an advant-
age. The fact is that the tariff affects
our lead market but little either way.
The low price of lead is no more to be
attributed to tariff tinkering than the
low price of wheat. With free ore
coming in galena, sold at from twenty
seven to thirty-one dollars per thous-
and, under the Mckinley bill it sank
to from sixteen to twenty-one dollars
per thousand. The demonstration of
silver, which gave to us the single gold
standard, has had more to do with the
shrinkage of values than anything else.
Until We conform our monetary system
to natural conditions, prices will con-
tinue to shrink in spite of all the pro-
lection we may be foolish enough to
grant to favored classes in this country.
The Democratic party has taken the
broad ground that all protection is
wrong; that it is crime to use the tax
ing power to foster one mans business
at the expense of another; that it is
fraud to use the taxing power for any
other purpose than supporting the
government, economically administer
ed; that it is criminal folly for the gov
eminent to make good the losses of an
industry that cannot be made to pay.
Let no paper that calls itself Demo-
cratic attempt to apologize for our in
iquitous tariff system. The principles
of Democracy are not mere questions
of expediency, but are fixed in the
eternal laws of right and justice. If
the party stands squarely by them,
success is assured. There is no room
for Ready-to-halts in her ranks. If the
St. Joe Lead Company, for instance,
can't run successful business without
government aid, let it sell out to some
one who can.