Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1894-08-09
which ever, dollar Of legitimate surplu. had

which every dollar Of legitimate surplus ha<
| been extracted.
Il know. too, that sometime IA the futu1l
| when voluble politicians speak and write o.
| the benefcent effect of a protective tariff t.
| the laboriag men OF the nation. they. too. will
stop to ask how 1t happened that after an ex-
perience OF more than thirty years under the
| most rigid protective laws a free people ever
| endured. the first breath OF misfortune that
| came could cover the country with orRauized
armies Of destitute men striving to reach the
| seat Of government and lay before congress-
| their helpless condition that they might boc Of
| It for public assistance
| Surely a system that was conceived In char
| fly for laboring men after a trial SO long and
/ SO complete should have left them Sufficient OF
the fruits OF their toll to tide them over a panic
| OF few short weeks without organized effort
| to bring the government to their aid.
! mo. gentlemen this mask OF protection OF
American labor under which the eager rectpi-
| ents Of tariff favor have organized their trusts
| and com ines to suck the life blood from the
very veins and arteries Of labor everywhere
| has Deen torn by recent events until the man
| who refuses to look through 1t and see that IL
covers nothing but the bony fingers OF greed,
that have used it so long and so WELL will de-
serve no sympathy il he becomes or remains
the serf 1t has 50 largely helped to make Of SO
many.
And turning from the men who labor in the
protected industries to that vastly greater
body who cultivate our farms. operate our rail-
ways and conduct the innumerable classes OF
business that none are SO brazen as to claim.
derive a direct benefit from protective laws.
democracy must ask them to stop long enough
to read the lessons few short months have
crowded into the history Of country whose
destinies they hold in their own hands and
control by their own votes
They. too must remember we are standing
at the end of more than three decades OF a
the government: that no change in this policy
has yet been effected that it is still in prac-
ical force
And what Is the result?
TRUSTS and combines on every hand; the
fruits OF labor taken from the many and given
to the few; mtllionatres counted by the thou
sands: homeless men by millions; rumblings
OF discomfort from every quarter, but loudest
and longest in the very centers Of the most
highly protected industries of the land; strikes
and lockouts everywhere: armies of idle men
gathered in our cities and marching over
the country, Wanting their restitution in the
face Of the world, with here and there the
howl of the anarchist, the knife Of the assas-
sin and brand OF the incendiary emphasizing
with fire and blood discomfort that has be-
come almost epidemic and threatens the sta
btlity Of the government itself until the last
resort OF nation an appeal to the military
arm for protection. has become public neces-
sity.
Where is 1t to be found?
Certainly not in any governmental policy
for which the democratic party is responsible,
for in the whole period OF q generation it has
been unable to subject any one of its theories
to practical lest
And equally certain it Is that IL these con-
ditions are due In any degree or to any extent
to the acts Of political party the RESPONSE
bility for them must rest upon the shoulders
of that party whose theories have been nodded
into 1or fhof FOO. thf n
trolled the policy of the government.
May We not, theref ore, we'll inquire whether
we have not carried the theory of q paternal
government that Is to single out one or many
branches OF business and give them the aid Of
governmental protection. which simply means
that through force OF law 1t will take from one
class to give to another up to the danger line Of
experiment. and are we not already sufficiently
warned that some change in the political policy
OF the government is necessary II we would
preserve 1t for generations to come?
And what theory. let me ask, Is it possible
to evolve, that would be more likely to bring
peace to a torn and distracted country than that
to which the democratic party Is pledged: q
policy that formulated into law would simply
mean equal and exact justice to all with special
privileges to none coupled with faithful. hon.
est and economical administration OF public
affairs.
Il wish I could stop here and look forward
with undtmintshed confidence to the final con-
summation of the wishes and faithful fulhlment
OF the promises Of the party as I understand
them. know. however, cannot do this.
1t would be q cowsrdly evasion of truth to
attempt to conceal the fact that the democratic
party has reached acrfsis in its history that
threatens its welfare If not its life.
In what now say speak for no faction In
that party. for no man or set OF men within it,
for 1 have neither right nor authority to
SO speak
LAS an Individual may rightly express my
views a matter m IN
the party Of which I am a member, and avail
ing myself OF this privilege want to say that
when the history Of this administration Is
written. I hope it will not contain the state
ment that the democratic party Of this union
was ncapable Of keeping to any extent or in
any degree the principal promise upon which
1t rode into power.
within the party councils want the voice
once. want gentlem H. to realize that we live
in a country Of vast, Of varied and sometimes
conflicting interests that affect different local
tiles in different ways: that many general laws
must Of necessity be the result of compromises;
and want the democratic members in congress
reform 1t Is possible to pass and make 1t the
law of the land without further delay.
II want this because it is better than moth
ing and because it will be an honest effort on
as possible the pledge OF their party as they
understand it.
If it does not come up to the requirement Of
that pledge as read it will not lay down my
arms: will not consider the matter settled; |
will say frankly that my party has not been
able to keep in all its parts and to its full
tent one OF the pledges 1t made. upon which 1t
was intrusted with power, and In my own way
to the extent OF the influence am able to ex- |
ert will help to keep the wheels OF reform in
motion until all that has been promised is |
performed. This is my view OF the
duty Of democrats in this crisis both in and out
Of congress"