The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1894-08-22

Try but their own. AS it has
been the fashion to ascribe our growth
and prosperity to the tariff, SO 1T has
been the fashion to ascribe the higher
wages paid labor in this country to
the protective tariff Worthier,
better and juster, it seems to my
mind, would it be to give our people
the tOiling maSSeS-cheaper food,
cheaper fuel, cheaper clothing and
cheaper shelter, cheaper because re-
leased from the heavy and unneces-
sary bondage of high tariff taxes"
There spoke the honest heart of the
man. He went out of congress and
almost left his party on that issue.
We have great charity for the weak
ness of human nature, "caught 'twixt
the dread extremes of mighty op-
posites." Able men have right to
rise: and Gov. Nelson is an able man;
but his political fortunes are unfor-
tunately tied to the chariot of the Re-
publican party, and Plutocracy drives
the chariot, and hence he is compelled
to crush his instincts and convictions
or go down;
Like to a noble horse. fallen in front
Ger run and trampled by the abject-
rear.
He hears the snorting stallion,
Washburn, with his plunder on his
back, rushing fast upon his heels, and
he must dash forward to victory over
the breasts and homes of his country
men, or sink under the hOofs of his
rivals.
However attractive the Protection
theory was to the large heart of the
liberal West, as long as the farmers
possessed abundance. and were ready
to feed the whole nation out of their
vast largess, they have now reached
point where they are compelled to
halt, to save themselves and little
ones from pauperism. They behold
nine millions Of mortgages saddled
upon the lands of the country during
period Of ten years, (1SS0-1e90), repre-
senting an incurred indebted of
trelre billions of dollars. (See Census
Bulletin No. II, page l, issued June 2,
1S94) They know their own condition.
They know that the fat, black, virgin
soil of the West has raised the greater
part of tho nations wealth, and they
have seen that wealth transferred to
the East. Their oppressors could not
cart the soil Of the Mississippi Valley
to the Atlantic coast but they are do
ing the next best thing, they are
taking possession of it. under mort
gage foreclosures;-its still sticks where
God put it, but the ownership
is elsewhere, and the people are rapid
ly being driven off the face of the
earth, to those wretched shelters for
the poor, called cities, which swallow
and devour them.
Never in the history of the world,
since NerXes marched his hordes into
Europe: since Caesar carried the eagles
of Rome over the known world. has
there been such a vast tranSference of
wealth, from conquered provinces to
cOnquering capitals, as that which
has taken place. during the last thirty
years, from the fat lands of the West
to the barren lands of the Atlantic
slope. Many causes have conjoned to
produce these results, and among
them is this so-called Protection.
And now our governor, who de-
nounced it, in unmeasured terms, on
the floor of congress, is pleading it as
proof that our people have not been
unjustly treated. Knee-deep amid the
very ruins of his section, he stands up
to defend the men and the measures
which have wrought the havoc around
him. Dreadful are the obligations of
party fidelity.
We do not mean to say that the wis
dom OF the nation may not yet devise
scheme, reasonable and just in all it's
parts. that will give uniform pros perity
to all sections; but it must be a scheme
that will bring its blessings to the
humble homes of industry, and not to
the palaces of the rich and great.
The governor then proceeds to show
how beneficial the railroads are to the
people. We all understand that-no
one better than the farmers. But we
do not owe their advantages to the
men who supervised the construction
of these especial roads. The iron
tram way with the steam motor is part
of that marvellous civilization which
God has conferred. in these latter
years, upon his human creatures. To
the brains of Watt, Stephenson and
others, under Providence, we owe this
mighty gift, without which these
inter-continental regions would not be
habitable. The governor need not tell
the farmers to be friendly to the rail
roads. They would fight and die for
them, if an enemy sought to tear
them up. They would resist any un-
just legislation which might be aimed
against them. What they object to
is not the railroads, but the watered
stock" They are willing to pay lib
cral interest on the money invested in
their construction. The railroads of
the United States are bonded and
stocked for ten billions Of dollars : Three
billions would probably cover their
actual cost. Hence the people are pay
ing interest on seren billions of bogus
capital, for which they never received
one penny. At 6 per cent this would
amount to 1920, 100000 a year. Nearh
as much as the achole cost of our national
government But the national govern
ment pays back to the people many
millions of dollars for pensions to the
soldiers; many other millions for in.
4 ,c1 fc. I.