River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1894-04-19
DISASTROUS DEMOCRACY.
4 Showing of Nothing But Reduction
ard naAetfa


\ Showing of Nothing But Reductions
ard Deficits.
The democratic party was driven
from complete control of this govern
ment nearly forty years ago, when a
weak president and a traitorous cab
met left the country financially pros
trated and on the verge of bloody
civil war 1t is most remarkable how
the financial conditions have repeated
themselves after the lapse of SO many
years The panic years of 1857 and
1858, toward the end of James Blu
chanan's term, are being duplicated in
the beginning of Grover Cleveland's
term, at the close of which the demo-
Gratis will be again driven from
power There the similarity ceases.
There Will not be second civil war.
The democratic panic years, 1857 to
1858, eclipsed all previous records of
disaster the country bad known. The
panic of 1887 was bat a zephyr COM
pared to the democratic cyclone of
1857. But as the democratic panic of
1s57-s was to that of 1887, so Is the
democratic panic of 1884 to that of
1878 The country has increased In
POI u alton and magnitude, and the dem
ocratic party in numbers and in folly.
Hence is the panic greater ard the dis
aster more widespread. If that was a
cyclone, this is cataclysm.
The indemnity which Germany wrung
from France after the close of the
Franco-German war was five milliards
of francs. or one thousand millions of
dollars. This is an enormous sum.
But 1t is as nothing compared TO the
penalty paid by the American people
for placing the democrats in power. II
is in the nature of things impossible to
make accurate figures on such an
amount, but an attempt has been made
by statistician, Mr.. Joseph r. Blu
chanan, and he has published a series
of elaborate tables in New York pa
per. These tables fill columns of fine
type, and cannot be reproduced here;
but some of his totals are of interest
He gives the number of adult males in
the United States as 1900. 900; of
these, 9. ZOO, 900 are in agricultural pur-
suits, and 100000 are proprietors of va
rious establishments This leaves g.
600, 600 male wage-workers. OF these,
$685. 900. according to Mr.. Buchanan,
are out of work He gives his figures,
sources of information, etc, all care
fully classified according to various oc-
equations. He gives the wages of the
various callings percentage of loss
where wages have been reduced, and
amount of loss where men are out of
work. He thus figures up the loss of
wages to workingmen during the seven
months beginning with September,
1898, at the enormous sum of nearly a
billion of dollars-to be exact, $685.
516, 400.
The shrinlSage in wages alone is
about one-half the national debt. But
the tables go on. lie compares the
prices paid for last years crop of
wheat, corn, cotton, oats, potatoes and
rye; for last years output of silver and
pig-iron at present prices; for the
shrinkage in value of stock exchange
securities, mortgage bonds, etc; and
adding these to the loss in wages al
ready given, he makes total loss to
the American people, since the demo-
cratic party went into power, of near
~ three billions of dollars-to be exact.
e., III, 1875, SOS.
Democrats may sneer at these figures,
and call them mathematical romaucing.
But they are borne ont by the figures
of the United States government Its
decrease in revenue alone shows the
extraordinary diminution in the pur-
chasing power of the American peo-
pie. For the month of January, the
dutiable imports were So, POS, 1913,
against $50, 800, 525 for the same month
in 1898, decrease of about ~ per
cent. The customs revenue in Feb
ruary decreased 60, SAC, 900 compared
with last year, or IS per cent. In
articles of luxury the demand fell off
over so per cent; in partially manu-
featured articles, 40 per cent; and so
on down to dutiable articles of food,
which fell off about IS per cent
In the face of the fact that the pur-
chasing power of the American people,
and consequently the revenues of the
government, are falling off in this
enormous proportion, the democratic
president and his cuckoo" congress
are seriously attempting to wipe out
what revenue remains A few days
ago in the United States senate il was
shown by treasury statement that
there was deficit of SIS, 900, 900 for the
current fiscal year; in addition to this
the Wilson tariff bill, even as amended
by the senate, discards $40, 900, O1O of
revenue, making total deficit of
1854, 900, 600 To repair this hole in the
revenue the democrats who have
caused it-now propose to levy so
cialistic income tax, a tax which will
divide this republic into the classes and
the masses
Any thinking man, whether he be a
democrat or republican, must he im-
pressed by this colossal folly. The
most charitable view that can be
taken of the present democratic con-
gress is that its members are stricken
with a form OF acute dementia. 1t
would not be an uumixed evil for the
American people if, like a certain
other assemblage of demented animals,
they should be possessed of a devil and
run violently down a steep place into
the sea. San Francisco Argonaut