The Dickinson press. (Dickinson, Stark County, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1883-1927, 1894-12-29
TALK TO DEMOCRATS,

TALK TO DEMOCRATS.
AN ADDRESS ISSUED TO DEMO.
GRATIS OF MINNESOTA.
The Democratic AssOcIutiOn of Min.
nexHtn Inxucs nn Address, in Which
Protection In Declared u Fraud
and Free Trade Is Favored.
st. Paul, Dec. %. - The executive
committee of tho Min,c:'o'a Demo
craft: association has issue,l the fol-
lowing address:
ITO the Democrats Of minnesota:
A magnificent victory has been turned
into an astounding defeat. A grand
opportunity has been worse than
frittered away. A great party sits to-
day in humiliation because its repre-
scntativeS refused obedience to Its
commands. When VIC measure per-
fOrnance 10y promise we of the great
rank and file, the helpless victims Of
timidity. cowardice and trcachery OF
handful unfortunately placed where
they could manipulate the helm. must
not admit tine justice of the punish
ment. rough and intliscriminately APP
piled as 1t was. We promised and our
leaders would not perform, and the
people cast us out.
"lt is well to accept facts because
they teach, and it is useless to in
dulge in recriminations which teach
nothing. 1t is only useful to trace ef-
fectS back to causes if we would Use
the knowledge gained for further eff
forts.
We face the future. not tho past.
Democratic principles are not de-
stroyed. The great mass of the party
is more loyal than ever before. The
nation never saw the day when there
was greater need OF the asccndancy
In government Of Democratic policies
based on Democratic principles
amid the causes OF defeat three
stand out prominently. the panic, the
failure to relet M promises SOlcmnly
made and bOSsisn. For the first we
are without fault or responsibility; 1t
was tho child of Rcpublicanism laid
6n 0nr doorstcps. and its paternity
maliciously charged on lis. That has
passed. The other two causes remain.
II Democracy is to regain its lost sta
tion 1t must address itself to the task
OF removing the causes for which it
Is responsible. 1t must be honestly
Democratic, and being SO, will remove
both.
why was the pledge made Mt Chi
cago not redeemed: What was the
pledge: TO eliminate protection from
our tariff system and lay taxes for
revenue only. We attacked protection
and Won by convincing the majority
of Its wrongfulness. We did not
win because we had presented and ex-
planned and defended our policy of
revenue tariff. We had no Drccisc
policy to offer; we simply attacked IT, .
other position. We could offer non
because Il revenue tariff is incapabl
OF precise limitation. Consepts of /.
are as various as the men who forI
them. 1t Is IL vague. misty, me:n-
tnSless expression.
'Tllat is why the pledge made could
not he redeemed. We were a party Of
aggressive opposition without an az
gressivc, definite policy. When con-
gress met to reform the tartfr thrr.
was no unanimity Of purpose OF ac-
tioh. tariff for revenue covered the
IDEAS OF men as far apart as our own
Free Trade Hal. and Colla,s-and-
Cuffs llaines of New York. This was
inevitable. a revenue tariff IL IL pro-
tective one as far as it goes.
Ihc virus Of protection turks in
the system and il intcradusi d,le. The
result of all this diversity was the
hagglins Of compromise. ahd moral
mtcllincss Of concession The out
come was a protective tariff act en-
acted by party pledged TO destroy
protection. 1t burned our candle ut
both ends. 1t drove away the protnc-
tionists in our party and the free
trade Republicans we had converted,
and 1t attracted no one
what lesson does this teach? Is 1t
not The danger OF an indefinite policy.
one incapable of precise definitions; the
absolute need of adopting one that is
both precise and Democratic: We
cannot again win by merely opposing
protection. That is dead Republic
ans Will not dare make its resurrection
an issue. We have got to present Il
policy of our own, one xe can :,rsne
and explain and defend as Democratic
and right. A revenue tariff is not
these or either of them. 1t is not
Democratic to tax men on what they
consume and exempt all other forms
of property.
''There is but one thing to do. We
must declare openly and boldly for
free trade under Which no import will
be taxed except its like is taxed for
internal revenue. We must accept
frankly the resultant of IA direct tax
levied as provided in the constitution
OF the United States sufficient to COM
penS;lte for the tax removed. We
must take UP the work of education
again. cW taught the people that pro-
lection is wrong: we must teach them
that free trade is right. 1t will he
the easier task. 1t will he an apppal
to the conscience of the. nation to
recognize a right so inherent in any
conception of freedom that it is a
marvel that 1t can be doubted or de-
nled-the right of Il man WHO earns a
dollar to buy with it what hc will.
where he will and of whom he will.
without It's being tolled by or through
the government.
1T offers to the manufacturer ma.
terlals at their normal cost: to til,
business man cessation of injuiioLr
agitation that attends changes in the
tarlc rates; to the farmer the purchase
or what he needs in the same opon
competitive market in which he must
sell, and to the labOrer for wages the
right to buy in the same free market
IN which he now sells his labor. 1t
breaks away the barriers which SHUT
our products III more than tiicy keep
foreign products out, and relieves the
home congestion that results in shut
downs and combinations. But above
these considerations of policy stands
out the simple truth that freedom of
trade is rs rigln and essential as
freedom Of speech.