The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-01-17
AN ILLINOIS DEMAGOGUE.

OF all the ridiculous demagogues that
have spoken the tariff question
Representative Hopkins OF Illinois is
clearly the greatest. His speech on the
subject is a tissue of misrepresentation
of facts that are known to thousands of
living men from actual experience. He
paints the condition of farmers in Illi-
nois from 1850 to 1860 in the these ex-
traordinary terms:
A farmer with 100 acres Of the richest
land that God ever blessed man with
would not produce enough, when re
duced 10 money under free trade prices,
to pay his taxes. support his family.
furnish himself with a new suit of
clothes and his wife with calico dress.
in those days there were no carpets
ON the floor. no pictures on the wall,
and no books in the home, and the
rudest kind of furniture was all that
could be afforded by even the most
fortunate ones among the farmers. The
soil yielded abundant crops, but there
was no market for The corn, wheat, and
other cereals raised. The stTictest econ
Omy was the order of the day. The
girls and boys in the family We're all re
uuired TO engage in the hardest kind of
manual labor 70 help their parents exc
out their humble existence; while three
months schooling I'm the winter season
at a cross-road school house, reached
sometimes by almost impossible roads,
was the extent of the educational adj
vantages that were given. The good old
democratic days, mentioned as so favor
able 10 the farmer, always bring TO my
mind the picture Of privatiOn and dis
tress through which the farmers Of Illi-
nois were compelled TO pass during the
period it was under democratic free
trade control.
This is downright falsehood. No such
conditions existed in Illinois at the time.
on the contrary that decade was the
greatest ever known in the history of
Illinois for advancement and develop
ment In that decade her great rail
road development was made and her
people were relieved of the narrow home
market they had and given access to
the markets of the world. In that de-
cade farming in Illinois received a ire
mendous impetus and the people ex-
perienced unbounded prosperity. In that
decade the population of the state doub-
led. rising from SOL, 47O In 1850 to ILL.,
919 in 1860. And Notwithstanding this
great growth of population the per
capita wealth increased from 1888 in 1850
to $500 per capita, a gain of nearly 800
per cent. The people of Illinois cannot
be deceived by any such preposterous
statements as these of Mr.. Hopkins IN
less they are sadly deficient in intelli-
gence.
Not satisfied with misrepresenting
we'll known facts, Mr.. Hopkins develops
his misrepresentation into an absurd
piece of sophistry by contending that
everything In the way of luxury or com
fort that Is now owned by farmers is
the result Of the protective tariff. The
tariff made ali the inventions and
cheapened all the processes Of produc-
ton Of goods whether protected or not.
1t built steamships in countries that
have no tariff and built railroads every
where. 1t discovered the Bessemer
process and originated the cultivation of
quinine. 1t invented gas and electric
lights II built school houses. It abol-
ished slavery. It explored Africa. 1t
will discover the north pole if the in
famous Wilson bill does not stop it. The
only things it did not make. according
TO Hopkins, are the miHionaires and the
farm mortgages. We presume he con-
cedes these to an all-wise Creator.