Birmingham age-herald., 1894-09-08
stand the question fully in all its bearings, 1 have always been in favor Of the
 FREE COINAGE OF SILVER.


 FREE COINAGE OF SILVER.
 am in favor of it now. believe the fears of our friends who oppose it are largely imaginary, and believe the enact- meut of such law would afford great relief to the people of the country. So feeling l need not say to me personally the result of the vote on free coinage of silver was a great disappointment. This question is not settled.
 With our great struggle for tariff reform you are familiar. Thirty years of class legislation had built u1 in this country large trusts, large monopolies ano large com binaIions of capital. All these interests were arrayed against us, and in the bitter contest through which we passed were earnestly and actively aided by compact republican minority. All that wealth, all that energy and all that great intelligence hourly done to defeat the cause of the people. Under these conditions our progress was slow. The house framed and passed tariff bill. This went to the sen- ate; after long and tedious struggle the senate passed this bill with amendments. The house was not satisfied with the amendments; the bill went to conference; for more than a mouth, with daily meet ings, the conferees failed to reach an agree ment. Finally the question was presented in such a fashion that we must either ac' cept the senate amendments or have DO bill, thus permitting the odious Mckinley law to remain upon the statute books. When we were convinced such was the true situation we did not hesitate moment; we accepted the senate amendments, aud so
 THE BILL BECAME LAW.
 This bill is not all we hoped Tor. It con- tains provisions we eplore-provision which the house by separate bill immedi- ately repealed-and yet, taken as whole, it goes further in the direction of relief to O tax-r ridden people than any bill that has been considered in any congress since the war. It's reduction of rates are greater than those proposed in either of the Morr- son bills or the Mills bill. It places wool, copper. tin, lum Der, salt, binding twine, bags and bagging, agricultural implements and many other articles on the free list. In nearly every schedule there are large reduc- tions. In the iron steel and woolen sched- ules there are many reductions exceeding 75 per cent. On the basis of the importa- tion of 189293 on wooen manufactures alone there is a reduction to the consumer of more than S163, GOO, 900. On cotton, on felts, on common velVets and on hundreds of other articles the reduction is greater than 50 per cent. The bill places tax on sugar. large majority of the democrats in the house opposed this, and as the bill passed the house sugar in all it's forms was made free. 3rhe canegrower got no aid from the government; the sugar trust got no aid from The governm ment. The bill as it became law places an ad valorem of 40 per cent on sugar, leaves the sugar re- finer little more than one-half of what he got under the Mckinley law, and repeals the bounty of 2 cents a pound. This pro- vision wifi pay $40, ,OOo ,ooointo the treasury, and save the $12, ,000, ,000 we paid last year as bounty. I he bill contains provision imposing tax of per cent on all incomes in excess of $4000.
 I have thus outlined merely the provi- sions of this great reform measure. 1t afrikaq at fruata and m0n0n0llea. It duces the cost of the necessaries of life. It to some extent opens our markets at home and
 ENLARGEs OUR MARK EFT ABROAD.
 It promotes agriculture, it encourages manufacturing, and it will add to the com fort of millions of our fellow citizens. We voted upon a proposition to repeal the tax upon the circulation of state bank cur rency. l believe that our people will derive more immediate benefit from the repeal of that law than from almost any other leg islation that could be had. Against us on the question were found many democrats, all the republicans and all the populists; a majority thus constituted dreaded our efforts and the repeal bill failed. This question is not settled.
 FEDERAL ELECTION LAWS.
 We have repealed all federal election laws, laws which permitted the inter- ference of outsiders with our domestic af-
 
 will Of the people. Henceiorth Georgia, as well as every other state, will manage elections in accordance with their own laws, and elections will be free and fair. We have passed a law which subjects to taxation by the states more than S5U0, ,000, 900 of money, which, under republican laws, was exempt from taxation, thus relieving to some extent the burdens of the tax payer. We have reduced public expenditures some $40 1000, GOO for the current year. With this record who can assail us?
 THE PoPULISTS.
 Our ancient adversary, the republican party, though not strong in this state, is the enemy we must meet. When democ- racy suffers defeat republicanism will be triumphant. Here at home we are chal- ganization has candidates and it has a platform of principles. or its candidates I shall say nothing. They are presumed to be as good, and l hope they are better, than their platform. That platform con- tains some blanks which are new aud some which are old. Those which are valuable are not new and those which are new are not valuable. Our populist friends want to buy the railroads, the telegraph lines and the telephones. The thousands of millions of dollars necessary to do this does not stagger them. The great army of office holders necessary to manage and op- crate these enterprises does not smbarrass them. The populist leaders deal with millions as ordinary people do with dol lars, and as for offices, they all want them. This party has about dozen members in congress only, and yet the bills they have introduced in congress propose the ap-- propriation, or rather the printing and issuing, of two or three times as much money as there is in the wide world.
 The democratic party enters upon it's contest with republicanism and every other temporary issue which may present itself with encouragement and confidence. While we have not done all we hoped to do we have done something in the past year to redress the wrongs of the people. We have done more for their relief than was ever done by any party in the same length of