Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1894-02-17

THOMAS u. REED.
man from West Virginia, who ought to
have been steadied by his sense OF respon-
sibility to the whole country, have one and
all, with but rare exceptions, placed their
authors uncompromisingly except for tenn
porary purposes, on the side of unrestricted
free trade.
The last Word Unsaid.
Il Is evident that there Is no ground for
that hope entertained by so many moder~
ace men that this bill. bad as it is, could be
a resting place where our manufacturing
and productive industries, such as may
survive. can re-establish themselves and
have = sure foundation tor the f.ture, free
from pSrsy bickeTinR and party strife.
Hence. also. there can be no foundation for
that cry SO insidiously raised that this bin
should be passed at once because uncer-
tainty is worse than any bill can possibly
be. Were this bill to pass both branches
today uncertainty would reign Just the
same.
This result was inevitable Although
this bill protested to open to the manufac-
turers n new era of prosperity and professed
20 be made In the interest OF some of them,
the moment it came to be defended on this
floor the great bulk OF 1t could not be de-
Tended on any other ground than the prin-
ciplcs OF free trade. Hence in this discus
sion the precise terms of this proposed act
count for nothing. and we are left to the
discussion Of the principles which underlie
the whole question. That question may
not be decided here aud now upon these
principles. bat the ultimate decision by the
people can have no other foundation.
After this statement it would be entirely
natural that feeling OF WEAKNESS should
come over this audience, for If anything
seems to have been discussed until human
naturs can bear IL no more IL is the tariff.
Nevertheless the fact that the subject is
still before % people shows that the last
word has not yet been said and that the
subject has not yet been exhausted or nm
derstood. -
Two Trying ordeAIs.
During that period Of growth which lifted
as from position SO low that we actually
had human slavery within our borders To
our present condition OF freedom and pros
perity we struggled through = dreadful
and so strained the resources OF the Other
half, both in money and in men, that it's i'm
press today is visible every year on our tire
nendous pension roll, although almost OBJ
liberated from our public debt. After tn,
war ceased our prosperity was clouded with
. six years struggle with q disordered cur
rency and the reconstruction of labor and
industry IN the south. No nation in tn,
worlds history ever passed through In 5.
short time two ordeals so trying and 50 se
we're.
In spite OF both these misfortunes no
only have we studded the country east o
the Bfississippinll over with mills and work
shops, factories and furnaces covered 7
9th railroads exploited the Oh fields o
=. *ennsN 'ysnia indiana and Ohio, and tuIl,
81. n rnRht heat and production the fierce
lrnpassioned energy OF a thousand mines O
coal, but beyond the Mississippi we hav
built four great transcontinental lines acros
the Rocky mountains and have driven tn
great American desert on the maps and OF
the face of the earth.
Nor have we In any way exhausted tn
future. The country is 10 times more capa
BILE today Of further development than
was In 1850. Let me state one little item
sample Of q Thousand. Only last year a
Rumfcrd, In my own state, was brough
under harness waterfalls which will CIV
to the productive energies OF this countr
10000 horsepower for every day in the yea
Three hundred and nifty thousand just sue
horsepower run to waste every day in Ne
England alone. Whenever our citizens al
rich enough to employ these great resource
my hope Is that they will be rich enouRht
consume their products themselves.
The country's Great Progress.
So utterly undisputed and so distinct
tisible to every human being I'm this aud
ence have been our growth and progress tn
this hasty outline Is all that is needed
remind you of one great fact-that whate
or the future industrial system Of this cou
try may be. the past system Is splend
monument to thgt series OF successf
statesmen who fo and the country bankru
and distracted and left it first on the list
nations
But we must not leave this matter to o.
own praises. Let others speak, and abo
all the citizens OF that land which is o
great rival, at whose feet American stat
ussn.nip In this house now sits.
have seen an article in The Fortnight
Review wherein Mr. j. Stevens Jeans,
British free trade writer, In December, 16
declares that @America has for many yes
enjoyed an amazing degree Of prosperity,
much so indeed that, to use the eloque
words OF Edmund Burke: 'Generalit
which in all other cases are apt TO height
snd raise the subject have here a tendency
sink il. Fiction Lays after truth. inyenti
ld Imagination cold
rrT~rr-r--'.'r't So .tt.-