The Lafayette gazette. [volume] (Lafayette, La.) 1893-1921, 1895-01-26
THE PART OF WISDOM.
How the Democracy May Most Speedily
Achieve y Return Victory.

D0mOCEoCY
Achieve - Return Victory.
Last summer our republican conten-
poraries were giving thia advice to
the contending democrats in congress:
ut is utterly impossible for you to sue
coed in harmonizin@ your differences
on tho tariff, aud, therefore, the best
thing that you can do is to cease max
ing the attempt, adjourn congress and
go home" The democratic party has
been t,isastrously defeated in the re-
cent election. but If it had adopted a
its OVID the policy so gratuitously rec
commended to it by it's political oppo-
nents the defeat that has overtal>en
it would not be- circumstance COM
pared with that which would have
overwhelmed it.
The party has not done all that it
should; it is chargeable with sins OF
comm ssion nd sins of omission SO far
as tariff legislation goes, and yet tho
gain that has been made by the tariff
that has been adopted is one of tho as
surances of its future success. Take
tho matter Of wool. In less than two
years time this change in the tariff
will have demonstrated as signally as
any object lesson can the fallacious
been made concerning the effect OF a
radical change in our tariff laws. One
has only to turn back to the files OF
any of our Boston republican con-
tenporaries or has only to read tho
speeches of any of the republican
orators to find up to a very recent
period the statement made over and
over again that the placing Of wool
upon the free list would destroy the
entire sheep industry of the United
States; that it would no longer be
possible to raise wool here; that our
manufacturers would be dependent
upon. the pauper-grown wool of for
~, ~,,1 %1,nt aS
these shrewd paupers succeeded in
driving the American sheep out of eS-
istence they would corner the wool
market and compel the American
wooden aud worsted manufacturer to
pay them whatever price they wanted
for this raw material
1t is probably true that in conse-
quence of the fear which these COM
ments engendered there has been an
entirely unnecessary slaughter OF
woolbearing animals in this country.
and 1t will proba bly, be shown when
the next annual sheep census i'll this
country is estimated that the number
OF sheep has undergone some di1ninu-
ton. But inside OF two years there
will be & marked Improvement in trade
and a marked increase in the number
of sheep. This we have little hest
fancy in predicting. More than this,
there will be great improvement in
q word, it will be de1nonstrat ted that
under this new system trade will
greatly prosper, while wooden and
worsted goods will be sold at lower
prices.
We hold that this object lesson viii
be sufficient to materially affect the
vote that Is to be cast in November of
1896. The fictitious gain which came
from a wool tax was the one sop that
was thrown out to the farmers. These
were led to believe that the protective
tariff was necessary for their continued
existence. The object lesson of free
wool will show them that they are not.
and never have been, true benefciaries
from the protective system, and that
instead of supporting this method of
trade obstruction it is for their inter-
est to thoroughly oppose it. This was
what was gained by passing the much
decried present tariff law, and in our
opinion 1t is the one thing that will
bring relatively speedy victory to the
democratic party, while it will prevent
the republican organization from ever
going bacl1 to the mon strosities of the
Mckinley law.-Bos.on Herald.