St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-10-11
ADLA| ON The TARIFF
flee President States Some
Facts in Defense OF the
New Bill.
fHE CURSE OF M'KINLEYISM
conclusively Proven to Have
Been the Cause OF Finan-
cial Depression.
fHE CURSE OF M'KINLEYISM
PLEDGES NOBLY FULFILLED.
People Not Liable to Desert
Tariff Reform Until 1t Is
Given Fair Trial.


LINCOLN, H., Oct. 10.-In point of
Numbers the demonstration of the DEM
ocracy of Logan county here today In
honor of Vice President Stevenson was
a keen disappointment. The day was
raw and chilly, high wind setting in
early, growing more violent as the day
progressed. The vice president spent
the night here as the guest of friends.
He was escorted 10 the leading hotel at
10 a. M, and held reception until ~
o'clock. The outdoor meeting, which
had been arranged on an enlarged and
complimentary scale, was Abandoned at
noon and hall resorted to. The city
was profusely and suitably decorated
with flags and banners and bunting.
The vice president was Introduced at 2
o'clock by DR.. Ambrose NJ. Miller. Gov.
Altgeld'S main manager. Mr.. Steven.
son said:
In the presidential contest of 1892 the
battle was fought and won by the DEM
cratic party almost upon the single issue
of tariff reform. Upon the issue of re-
duced tariff taxation upon the neces-
sarles of life, as against high protection.
Ism, Mr.. Cleveland was elected and the
Democracy restored to power. For the
fist time within third of a century the
Democratic party Oh March 4, 1898, con-
trolled the presidency and both houses
of the congress. Under these conditions
the country had much to expect OF the
great historic party now restored to
power. How has the party kept faith
with the people? What steps have
been taken along the pathway of tariff
reform? Has the Democratic party but
"kept the word of promise to the ear
and broken it to the hope;;'' or has it
made an earnest effort to make good
every promise made in its platform and
upon the hustings? This is the ques
tion now submitted to the peaceful ar
bltrament of the ballot.
1t must not be forgotten that at the
close of Presidents Cleveland's first
publicans came into power the bene-
ficiarles of four years of wise and eco
nOmical administration of the govern
ment. Business conditions were favor
able, the country was prosperous, and
the annual revenues were little less
than sl00,000,000 in excess OF its expend-
itureS. The question. as you will re-
member, then was: "W hat shall we do
with the surplus?' All this was the
and methods of President Cleveland
and his political associates in cabinet
and in congress. Four years later. when
the Republicans retired from place and
power, they left no such vexatious
question as "WiIat shall be done with
the sutplus?" to torment the incoming
Democratic administration. Had the
Republican admins tration continued a
month longer, the necessity for issuing
bonds in order to meet the cur
rent expenses of the government
would have been imperative. There
could have been no possible es
cape from it. AS it was. the evil day
was only tided over by postponing the
payment of matured government obi
cations. The present chairman of the
committee of ways and means of the
house of represent atives has publicly
made the statement that the last Repub-
lican secretary of the treasury stated TO
that committee just prior to the close of
the Harrison administration that addi-
tional income of S50,000,000 year was a
necessity. l beg you to
Mark the Contrast.
The Republican party at the inaugur-
alton of President Harrison WAS the
heir to all that Cleveland and his party
had achieved during four years of sue
cesstui administration. AS | have said,
they found business conditions every
where favorable, the treasury overflow
ing, the country prosperous. Four
years later, on the 4th of March. 1898,
the Republican administration retired
from power, leaving a depleted treas
ury, governmental obligations pndis-
charged, and the country upon the
verge of bankruptcy.
This was the logical, the inevitable re-
suit of the enactment of the Mckinley
tariff law, law that will take its place
In the history as the crowning act of
''The BiliOn-DollarsC both
branches of which, as you know, were
under Republican control. The Nc
Kinley law increased tariff taxes upon
the necessarieS of life to point far
beyond the highest rate hitherto known
to our history. In its effect upon foreign
importationS, it was, ina large measure,
pTohibitory tariff. The intention of
its authors was to give the market 70 the
home manufacturer and allow him, at
his own sweet will, to increase to the
consumer the cost of all the necessaries
of life. The Mckinley law not only
largely Increased to the consumer the
cost of articles that enter into daily con-
sumption. but it deprived the govern
ment of its accustomed revenues
revenues absolutely necessary to meet
the daily and hourly expenses of the
government. The importations being
cut off, of necessity the
Revenues Were Cut Off.
Is 1t to be wondered, then, that under
the operation of the Mckinley law the
surplus left by the Cleveland admins
tratiOn disappeared and deficit threat
ened our national treasury? Thus, as
you will see, the inevitable effect of the
Mckinley law was, first. to increase to
the purchaser the cost of his goods, and,
In the second place, to deprive the gov
ernment of revenues absolutely neceS-
Bary to meet IFS current expenses.
You cannot have forgotten how ear
nestly President Cleveland and his DO
Iitical associates addressed themselves
to the task of making good their prom
ises to reduce taxation, nor can YOU
have forgotten the unfortunate cOndi.
.ions prevailing at the time this great
work was ihaigurated. Business was
DaTalyZed. the workshops were closed