The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1894-10-12

their wages? How many men. who were
employed in 1892, are idle today? How
many men are receiving che wages today
they received in 1892? Workingmen of ST.
Paul, answer me. Workingmen of Min
nesota, how many of you who were en-
ployed at remunerative wages, are idle to-
day? A voice: 1.-TWO thirds."l IAN
other voice: more than that."] And.
my fellow countrymen, whether it be one
third or whether it be two-thirds, let me
submit another question: 'How many OF
you who have employment are getting as
good wages today as you got in 1892?
Many voices: Monet 1 venture to
say not 10 per cent of the workingmen Of
Minnesota, or of the cities of ST. Paul or
Minneapolis, are getting as good wages
in 1894 as they got in 1892. Voices:
"You're right.''l
Better than the law of 1890? Why,
under the operation of that law every in
dustry in this country was working to its
fullest capacity. Not only was every in
dustry working at it's fullest capacity, but
every man in this country who wanted
work could get work at remunerative
wages. New industries were builded up
under that law, and they were built up in
the United States.
Under the stimulus of the law of 1894, if
the representative of the Commercial club
of London, that banqueted Mr.. Wilson,
can be relied upon, the law OF 1894 has
stimulated English industries.
The Dinner Pail Incident.
While on this stand a workingman
brought me this tin pail-this bucket. He
told me it was American tin made from
American steel, and that steel made by an
American workingman, and this tin pail
made by an American citizen here, in the
city of St. Paul. One week ago today
every tin-plate factory in the United States
closed down. Why? Because the tariff
law of 1894 had SO reduced the duty upon
the foreign product as to make it impos-
sible for those manufactures to produce
and pay the scale of wages they had been
paying under the law of 1892, and 10000
men last Saturday night were put out on
the streets as the result of the law of 1894
Not only the 10000 men engaged in the
immediate industry, but the 10000 more
men that were making the steel ingOts and
rolling them into the sheet steel to dip
them for tin plate were reduced in their
employment by reason of the shutting
down of those mills.
) When was in the city of Lincoln, Neb.,
| day before yesterday, in the great street
parade there was the representative of
what was said to be the largest brick COM
| pany in that state, and the head of that
firm WAS a Democrat-NOT NOW-and
| printed across the banner carried by the
| idle workingmen was this inscription:
twenty-five million brick in 1S92-not
one in 1893 or 1894"
And that is the story of every city of this
country, and in some line of industry or
| another.
Better than the law of 1890? Why, un-
| der the law of 1890 we collected from GUS
toms and from internal revenue enough
! money every day of the two years and a
half it was in operation to pay the eX,
! penses of the government, the interest on
the public debt and pensions to the sol
diers of the country. And since 1892, when
| the new administration went in, and the
| decree had gone forth that the policy that
had been in operat on for thirty years
under which our industries had beer
| builded up and to which everJ delicate
| fabric of enterprise has been adjusted
from that time down to this hour, the gov
eminent of the United States has not col
lected, any day of any week of those IL
months, enough money to pay the every
day expenses of the government. And il
has been compelled to go out and borrow
| $5O,0O0,0O0 and issue the bonds of the
government-which has not been done
since the days of resumption. Not only
been compelled to go out and borrow fit J
millions of money, but it has drawn upo1
! the gold reserve in the treasury-that ha:
been sacred ever since John Sherman es
tablished it down to the Inauguration o.
President Cleveland and fifty millions Of
that gold reserve has gone, to meet thu
current expenses of the federal govern
| ment.
Democratic Times of Long Ago.
; But it is only history repeating itself
The last Democratic administration be
fore the war was an administration o.
loans and deficits and distress in business
! and the first full Democratic administra
ton since the war is an administration o.
/ loans and deficits and of universal distres.
to the country.
Better than the law of 1890? There were
mistakes in the law-no great bill will
5000 items could be passed without hav
ing some mistakes my countrymen
whatever mistakes were in the law, what
ever errors crept into that law, every ont
of them was in favor of the American
home, the American citizen, the American
| factory, Uu0 AueflCdu ldfn. buU OF INT
$50 blunders discovered in the law of 1897
not one of them is in favor of the Ameri
can people. They have not even, by acci
dent or blunder, made any mistakes il
favor of American enterprise, American
| Industries or American homes.
All, but they say: "Our tariff law il
better than the Republican law because il
/ reduces duties" So it does reduce duties
Governor Mckinley then explained
clearly and simply, that reduced duties
meant greater imports, and every article
imported displaced homemade article
and when home production decreased
workmen became idle, business became
stagnant, and hard times speedily re
! suited.
When you diminish the tariff you do il
| for only one purpose-that is, to encour
age importation. That is what it is done
for. That is the objection they make tc
| the law of 1890, that we discouraged inn
! portation. Well, we did. We discour
aged the importation of every product
that we could produce at home that we
might find employment for our labor al
home, and give to the farmers of the
United States consumers of the products
of their farms.
Cheap Things and Cheap Times.
/ All, but they say we get things. little
cheaper. Is there anybody in this country
! who wants things any cheaper than they