The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1894-11-13
Mr.. Wilson on the Elections.

Hon. William L. Wilson has sufi-
GENTLY recovered from the effects of last
Tuesdays cyclone to take his pen in
hand and indite few lines Of theoriz-
ing as to show it happened" Mr.. vii.
son is great theorist in all matters,
and in discussing the causes Of the
great protection victory he naturally
pins his faith fast to a theory. It is
that the people have not chastised the
Democratic party for what it did in the
cause Of free trade, but because 1t did
not 90 far enough and give the kind OF
tariff the Chicago platform called for
"a tariff framed whole on the lines of
Mr.. Wilson's free trade ideas.
Even go profound scholar as Mr..
Wilson ia may become so welded to
favorite economic theory as to be
blinded to the cause Of its repulse by tho
people, This blindness has led him
into the error OF thinking that the
people OF the United States are just
as anxious for free trade to-day as he
supposed they were in 1892 when they
voted the Democratic party into power.
Perhaps Mr.. Wilson has not been in
close enough touch with the masses OF
the people to know that such is not the
case. II it had been it is not likely that
the people would have repudlated the
party that demanded another trial in
order that the FREQ trade programme
might be carried out; if they were SO
intensely anxious to have the economic
policy advocated by Mr.. Wilson and his
colleagues carried out, they would have
returned him, and all tho others who
went down with him to defeat, to Con-
gross. They certainly would not have
elected Congress pledged to the very
opposite policy.
Mr.. Wilson's theory OF the cause Of
the defeat Of Democracy may BIO very
comforting to him but tits not practical,
nor is it based on facts. When
President Cleveland, William L. Wilson
and all the other free trade leaders de-
clared that the war on our protective
system had only begun-that the tariff
question could not be regarded as set
tied until the last vestige OF protection
was wiped out, they uttered their own
political death sentence. Tho Ameri.
can people had had their eyes opened
by the tariff tinkOring which had already
been done, and which had brought such
disaster upon the country. They
wanted no moro Of it, aud so said by
their votes.
But there ia also another cause for
the Democratic defeat-a cause which
Mr.. Wilson very naturally avoids dis
cussing. Tho Democratic presidential
campaign OF 1892 was conducted on a
system OF deception and falselood. Tho
New York Press, in summing up the
history OF that campaign, SAYS:
There Is not M Intelligent American citizen
oil amy party who docs not look back TO the four
years OF honor. peace and plenty under tho lIar.
ris0n administration Us a period OF unparalleled
prosperity nnd development Yet the men ut
the head OF the Democratic party In the conflict
OF lS9l deliberately attempted the task Of mis-.
representing the coalition OF this country, OF
intianing passion by appeals TO prejudice and
l.nf n
must shake the fabric Of the republcNtO It's
foundation. Wage.earncrS who were receiving
from twice 10 four times as much US labor In the
most prosperous European countries, were
assured that they were being robbed, impOvgr-
ishcd and ground down into Serfdom by the OK.
actions Of the graSplng employers. Farmers
were told that the one thing needed to bring
them wealth and prosperity was the leveling of
enable them to invade those markets of the
world which free traders are continually
printing about, but which they have never been
able 10 locate Those people-iOund In every
civilized conmunltv-whO, through their own
incompetence, Incidence or bad habits: fail To
seize opportunities for advancement and live iu
state Of tmprOvidenCe and ShlttcSsneSS. were
led 10 believe, by the most reckless promises,
That they only required an era OF free trade
"chCRpneSs" TO secure all the luxurics Of life.
This plan OF campaign was successful,
but the success was only temporary. 1t
was not long before the people began to
see how they had been taken in. They
reaped the harvest they had sown when
they cast their ballots, and the hun
dreds OF thousands Of Democrats who
voted the Republican ticket last Tues.
day condemned the trickery and deceit
OF the leaders who had misled them.
And so it was that the result OF the late
election was not only victory for pro-
lection. but was also a rebuke to politi-
cal hypocrisy aud deception.