The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1894-08-03
GEO. [. LEDGERWOOD.
PROPHETIC WORDS OF BLAINE.

| L.
PROPHETIC WORDS OF BLAINE.
81 love my country and my country
man. | am an American. and re-
joice every dayof my life that | am. L
enjoy the general prosperity OF my
country and know that the work
| ingmen of this land are the best paid,
the best fed, and the best clothed of
any laborerS on the face Of the earth.
Many of them have homes Of their
own. They are surrounded by all the
comforts and many of the luXuries Of
| life. | shudder, however, at the
| thought that the time must come
when all this will be changed, when
the general prosperity of the country
Will be destroyed, when the great
body of workingmen in this land who
are now so prosperous, will hear their
wives and children cry for bread.
That the day must come when the
great factories and manufactures
of this land will shut down, and where
there is now life and activity, there
will be the silence of the tomb. And
the reason why this must be is this:
The great southern wing of the Dem
ocratic party are determined to es-
tablish the doctrine of free trade in
this land. They will be assisted by
their northern allies. There is a
great body of visionary but educated
men who are employed day by day
mentS in favor of the doctrines which
find their way to every newspaper in
this land. The great body of our peO-
| ,,1o l,nx nj r no oil VOC
the suffering with all it's results,
when the protective principles are
laid aside. Poisoned and excited by
the wild statements Of these writer's,
and the demagogic appeals OF the
| Democratic speakers. the result will
be that in the very near future, these
forces which are now working, will be
strong enough to defeat at the polls,
the party advocating the doctrine OF
protection. 1t must inevitably follow
that uncertainty and doubt will en-
sue. The business men of the cOun-
try, fearing the destruction OF the
principles of protection will decline
to engage in BUSINESS; consequently,
mills will shut down, and the work
ingmen will be thrown out OF employ
ment. The people will then see, as
they have never seen before, that they
cannot be prosperous and have work
while this principle is threatened. In
the midst of their Sutferings, they will
learn that the only way they can be
prosperous and happy is to vote for
the party that has built up the indus
tries by which they have gained a
livelihood, because they will then see
clearly that when the manufactures
shut down there is no demand for the
only thing which they have to sell,
and that is labor"
When Mr.. Blaine used this Ian
guage, the Republican party was
still in power, and the protective
policy was in effective force. 1t looked
to many as if nothing could throw
down the country from the pinnacle of
prosperity on which it stood. He
foresaw, however, the approaching
union of all the elements which favor
ed free trade, and were opposed to
protection; the result of the election
of 1892 is evidence of his clear-sighted-
ness. The Democrats carried it, and
they did SO for the reasons fet forth
by Mr.. Blaine. The condition of the
country at this moment bears testi-
mony to his ability to read the future.
That which he predicted would come,
as a result of free trade victory is
here. The factories are shut. The
workmen and their families are suf-
fering. Prosperity has fed, and Bit
ter urgent wants has taken it's place.
The people have eaten of the Dead
Sea apples of free trade, and have dis
covered that while fair on the out
side, they are but dust and ashes
within. Mr.. Blaine said also that the
lesson which the working people
would learn from their bitter expert
ence was that to regain their lost
prosperity and happiness, they must
vote for the party which has made
the protective policy it's own, and re-
place it in power. That prophecy is
being fulfilled. The wage workers
who voted for Cleveland in 1892 are
rapidly coming back to their senses,
as the elections last fall and this
spring clearly indicate. More of them
will have learned their sad lesson,
and by 1896, more than enough will
have finished their education to sweep
the Democrats from power. And I'M
til the memory of the miseries of 1893
and subsequent years has faded from
the minds of men, they will not be
put in charge of the government
again.
The Ortonville Star Herald cele-
brated it's 18th birthday by blossom
ing out as an illustrated paper on
book paper. 1t contains good write
up of Ortonville and Big Stone county
and Will prove most valuable adver-
tisement. Editor Whiteman is a