Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1894-04-13
Ing words defined his position in I'M
equivocal and forceful language.

aug WoIuS ueHneQ n10 pOS1t1On In un.
equivocal and forceful language.
against such a scheme" he said,
Unnecessary, ill-timed and mischievous
suddenly sprung upon the country in
the hour of its distress, un-Democratic
in its nature and socialistic in it's tend
encies = enter the protest of the people
OF the state OF New York. They utterly
dissent from any proposal to get revenue
Tor the general government by taxing
incomes. Their dissent is practically
unanimous and altogether implacable."
An Anomalous Condition of Affairs.
He intimated that the tariff bill was
constructed on lines laid down by the
administration; that it was an anomal-
Jus state of affairs when the president
should be able to give congress informa-
ton as to what had occurred IN a COM
mittee of the house, and said that ''in
these latter days the distinctions be-
tween the functions and prerogatives of
the executive department on the one hand
and the legislative department on the
other do not seem to be always observed.
The truth is that the first information
which congress had of the alleged de.
tails of the proposed bill was in the
message itself.
"But the strangest part Of this un-
~precedented proceeding was that in fact
that very date of the message, to-wit,
Dec. IA, 1893, neither the full committee
of ways and means, nor the Democratic
members thereof, had agreed upon any
income tax or upon other internal taxa
ton.
Is a Populist Demand.
Inquiring as to the source of the de-
mand he said that nothing was heard
in its behalf on the part of the two great
political parties in the campaign of
1892. Neither the Republican or Dem
ocratic platform proposed any such
method of raising revenues. No prom
inent Democrat or Republican sug-
gested any such measure. It's approval
was limited to the platform of the
newly formed Populist party and it's ad-
vocacy was restricted to Populist ora
tors"
He protested against the Democratic
party being made a tail to the Populist
kite, and denied the right of a Demo-
cratic congress to make new principles
for the party not sanctioned by it's rep
resentatives in national convention duly
assembled.
''The substitution of internal or direct
taxes for custom house taxation meant
the reduction of the wages of American
workmen to the European standards.
1t meant the degradation of labor; 1t
meant the deprivation to our workmen
OF the comforts and luxuries of life to
which they have been accustomed"
In outlining his position he said that
not n dollar of tariff taxation should
be imposed above what is necessary for
the needs of the government economi-
cally administered, but whatever those
needs are, the necessary revenues there
for should be supplied from
Tariff Taxation and That Alone,
save and except the taxes upon liquor,
oleomargarine and tobacco, to which
the country has long been accustomed,
and, which for obvious reasons need
not be disturbed.
In conclusion he defined his position
in these earnest words:
81 stand ready to support any reason
able measure for tariff reform framed
within the lines and based upon the
principles which I have here partially
indicated, and which were fully set
forth in my speech in opening the
political campaign iu Brooklyn on Sept.
10, 1892. I stand today where I stood
then. I have nothing to add and moth
ing to retract.
II will cheerfully vote for the Mills
bill and join with you in making II
material reductions of duties therein. I
am ready to waive all minor difference
of details which do not involve a cues
ton of principle.
An Important Crisis.
''Mr. President this is an important
crisis in the history Of the Democratic
party. The failure of the tariff revision
mean the defeat, the Generalization, if
not the division AM" the humiliation of
our party. Moreover it means, as we
believe, injury to the best interests of
the country. Let those who insist upon
injecting into this bill this odious and
un-Democratic feature of an income tax
X relic of war legislation-pause and
reflect upon the possible consequences
of their unwarrantable demands.
''They should realize that it means
the loss of the control Of this senate now
nearly equally divided between the two
great parties; it means the loss of the
next house of representatives; it means
the loss of the electoral votes of New
York, New Jersey, Connecticut and
probably of every Northern state, and
finally it means the
Loss of the Next Presidency
and all that it implies. They should
recollect that the income tax feature is
justly regarded in New York and MANY
other states as q scheme Of spoliation
and unwarranted sectional attack upon
their citizens or means.
They shonld consider whether there
is anything about an income tax SO
sacred, SO desirable, SO popular, SO just
and SO defensible that its maintenance
il worm the risk which thew a~o -ro-