The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-09-26

with business ruin. and clamored to Mr..
C.eveland's administration for its instant
repea,.
The next great achievement Of the
democratic party, in the order Of events
as they occurred In the Fifty-thlrd con-
gress, was TO wipe out a system OF fed
eral election laws, fastened upon the
country by the republican party more
than a quarter Of a century ago-a sys-
tenn inimicsl 10 liberty, an Impeachment
of the peoples capacity for self-govern-
ment, an invasion Of natural and inallen-
able rights more OdlOus ard indefensibie
than the British stamp act against which
our fathers took up arms more than
hundred years ago. l will not dwell at
this time and pace on the repeal Of the
federal election laws further than to re-
tOice with you that the gleam of the
bayonet, nor the threat that IL is coming,
will ever again be seen or heard in the
sacred precincts of the American ballot
box. We may also rejoice with an eX-
ceeding great joy that corrupt judges on
the federal bench, partisan marshals and
their disreputab.e deputies, with inclden-
tai straw bail, will never any more in
Indiana, or in any other state. polute
popular elections or overthrow the funda-
mantal principles OF free government.
When some one again asks what the
democratic party has done in the past
year IL can be answered that, amongst
other great deeds AZ has restored the
OF the elective franchise. In fact the
whole body Of the pubic service was so
filed, crammed and choked I'D with par
tisan, corrupt and unpatriOtic legislation
during the long ascendency OF the repub-
lican party that the task OF reform APP
pears on every hand and wherever we
turn. When / look out on the vast and
difficult work 10 be done, the extensive
reformations required before the govern
ment can again yield harvests of pros
4
sometimes reminded OF an old farm
which for many years has been in bad
hands and has ceased to be productive
| of wholesome crops. It's fields viii be
found breeding briars, branbles, poison
vines, thist,es. cookie burs, heggar lice,
gympson weeds, dog fennel, smart grass,
skunk cabbage and yellow-jackets' nests.
| Old snags and ugly stumps also cumber
| such fields and hinder the work of the
| plow and destroy the patience Of the
| plOWman. When a farm in this condition
has the good fortune to get a change OF
| ownership and 10 pass into the hands Of
a slillful and honest farmer, you would
| hardly expect him TO clean out all its
noXious Instructions and put ii In per-
| feet order for corn, wheat, oats, hay and
| clover in a single season. You would
grant him at least two or three years to
| overcome the evils with which his farm
| was afflicted before he took possession.
| The benefit of this Illustration, and the
| same Indulgence you would extend to the
farmer in his work of agricultural re-
form, are all ask for the democratic
party in its present attitude. We have
| begun our work nObly and we'll; much
| has been done and yet much more re-
mains for us to do before all the foul
| growth in the political fields for more
! than thirty years past can be entirely ex-
| tirpated.
| gJ,ou 4al-,
! for consideration the last and most de-
termined work Of democratic reform.
! The repeal OF the Mckinley act, when
all the circumstances and conditions are
calmly considered, will be found to have
been the most stupendous struggle
| against power and consolidated capital
| ever made before in American history.
| Protected millions without limit rallied
| to the defense of that infamous act, as
| troops rally at the call OF the buge when
/ a fortress, or a ciddel is in danger.
| Never did the greatest gamblers in
human events play. for bigger stake in
actual money and in the power Of money
| for future domination than the robber
! barons of protection and their henChmen,
! the leaders of the republican party, in
their free, undying opposition TO the re-
| peal Of that colossal engine of fraud pre-
pared for them four years ago-for their
| Of every honest principle known to free
| government. The accused sptri. of
| avarice was aroused and alarmed as
never before in American history. The
| love OF riches, as an exclusive pursuit, Is
| the strongest, well the basest pas
sion of the human soul, and danger or
| loss has more of terror in IL TO sordid
| avarice than an assault on life itself
! The whole doctrine Of protection was at
stake in the movement for the repeal Of
the Mckinley act. and 1 here proclaim
I that the backbone OF the protective Fys-
| TEN IS broken in this country forever,
that It may drag itself along in a crippled
and lingering condition yet for a short
| time, but it is doomed to a speedy and
| total extinction. The passage of the Nc
| Kinley act In 1890 was the elimination
! of that system by which taxes are levied
| on one class Of people for the benefit Of
| another class, and IL was so shameless
! arrogant and insolent in al its features
so revolutionary, unjust and oppressive
| in it's exactions on labor and the fruits
| of labor. that it became at once a
trumpet call to battle for its repeal. ana
| for the final overthrow of the lideOus
| principle of legislative piracy which
| ii was based. Popular resentment arose
| like a spontaneous flame against meas
| ure so unrighteous. so subVersive of the
| inherent rights of man. No enactment in
| American history has ever been more
| odious to the American people than the
Mckinley law of tariff taxation. Not
| even the fugitive slave law OF 1850 was
| held in greater adherence and detesta-
| ton throughout the North than this
| measure of wickedness and extortion
| throughout the whole country. TIE
provocation given by the Mckinley en-
actment broke the patience Of the Ameri-
| can people, and in attacking and destroy
| ing the measure itself, they demand that
| the doctrine Of its construction shall be
| wiped out and come back TO trouble them
no more. The great and primary object
| of tariff reform is the abolition of tariff
duties OF the wants and necessarios OF
| life as far as can be done with safety to
| the revenues for the support of the gov
eminent. 1t follows therefore, that legis-
| lation which from legitimate sources sup
| plies revenue and furnishes the treasury
with funds for public use, without laying
| taxes on the wearing apparel of the plain
| people, increasing the cost Of the beds
| they sleep on. or of the knives and forks
with which they eat, must be hailed as
| wise craftsmanship. genuine reform, and
! a rich benefaction to the laboring classes.
| In view of this fact, universally conceded,
I do not hesitate to declare that the bin
| which passed both houses of congress.
| and became a law on the 2Sth day Of
August, 1894, whatever its other merits
or defects may be, will do more in the ag-
gregate toward the inevitable reduction
| Of duties, and consequently viii make
! longer stride in the direction of freedom
| in trade and commerce than any other
| measure ever enacted into law by the
| American congress. While repeating the
Mckinley act we provided that at least
thirty millions a year should be col