Bennington semi-weekly banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 1894-1902, 1894-10-05

had that reciprocity which nearly broke
us down at the end of the war. Imme-
diately our trade with Cuba increased
enormously, not to the injury of single
producer in the United States, because
things were admitted free which we
could not produce.
Now comes this Democratic perform
ance [laughter], and with this dead and
alive bill, which the President of the
United States, the head Democrat, de-
clares to be perfdious, with one dash of
his pen sweeps it all out. What is the
consequence? The consequence is that
the Cubans, the Spaniards and the Bra
zilians, the whole set all round immedi-
ately withdraw from their undertaking
made automatically, and put themselves
on the same footing they were before
and American -four, American cloth,
American hams, American cured fish,
pay the old-fashioned duty, while the
generous Democratic party says to them:
You may bring all your things into our
country without paying any duty at all,
and the consequence is that the price of
coffee in Rio, which furnishes seven
tenths of all the coffee sold in the United
States, went up as quick as the teles raph
could flash, by just the amount that Con-
gress had taken off, and $4,000 a year
dropped out of the treasury, and not any
of it into any American pocket.
If there be any man calling himself
Republican here who likes that sort of
thing, then he had better vote what is
called the Democratic ticket, but if there
be any honest man who calls himself
Democrat, and does not like that sort of
thing, he had better vote with us.
Laughter and applause.
l do not think it would have been pos
sible for any administration that could
have been put together by all the COM
petitors and rivals of the United States
in the trade and operations of men to
have framed law, which is called this
tariff reform bill, which would have
worked more adversely to Americans,
and more favorably to foreign interests
than that Renewed applause.
Immediately the certainty of this
Democratic performance was made man
ifest, the price of wool in the London
market rose and rose largely. Is that
for the benefit of the American wool
manufacturers? Is that for the benefit
of poor men? Every country with whom
we have had reciprocity which was equal
and fair on the principles l have stated
has gained by just that much on its side
by our making free trade for them, and
the breaking up of these reciprocity ar
rangements which we provide for in the
Mckinley bill, has enabled them to tax
our producers and exporters by just that
amount.
Suppose all of us can buy our goods
cheaoer from abroad than we can buy
them here, and suppose you do not pro-
duce them, what are you going to do
with the workingmen of whom the Dem
ocrats claim to be so fond? What are
you going to do with the people out of
employment? What is going to send
them out West and increase farming
production, and where is to be your
market for pigs and poultry and the
ikeP And if you are all turned into
farmers, will that be an advantage?
We have had a spectacle unique in the
history of every country of the world.
Here we have constitution of the
United States which commands the Pres
ident to sign the bill, if he approves of
it, and if he disapproves, to return, with
his objections in writing. Now, why
was this bill allowed to become law with
out his signature?
l have great respect for President
Cleveland, but believe he failed griev-
ously in his manful duty in no. treating
that bill, as he stated repeatedly it de-
served to be treated applause by
veto. Here we are, and that has become
a law, and no one can tell-for it has not