New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-09-16
OHIO AND MK1NLEY.
REPUBLICANS HAVE ONLY ON
CANDIDATE. i~s,AA
RAG THEY WOULD LOYALTY SUI
PORT ANY CHOICE OF THE NATIONAL CON-
vrNrroN-coNsIsTENr PROTECTION
Isr PRINCIPLES or THE


vrNrroN-coNsIsTENr PROTECTION
Isr PRINCIPLES or THE
OHIO LEADER
o.o,,rau Sept. 12.-Tt is unfortunate, perhaps
M, tho American people never get away ver3
,,r from, the discussion OF politics. Our nurner
-. a,ac,ions state and municipal, keep the POI
,,I,rg Then we have Congress on our haDds
.,,arv war and state legislatures every other
war ca tina. little time Is found for rest Bu'
tho main point to which desire to direct atten.
,,on "a the Presidential question. No sooner 10
o nev President inaugurated than speculationf
beein as TO his successor, and tf"s men are DIS
cussed in advance and criticised In advance ane
specuIated upon as to their chances ana qualih-
cations long before the holding OF National
convention For almost year now haf dozen
Presidential candidates have been in the Hello
on the Republican side as available IL hap
mems that they not only available, nut Wen
fitted for .he high position OF Chief Executive
of this great Nation; and these six by NJ means
exhaust the number Of those worthy OF nomina~
ton and election.
Ohio has a candidate IN the person OF Cow
ernor William Mckinley and II has no other
candidate Ohio Republicans, as matters now
stand will go into tn" convention united
for him; he will secure the solid vote OK
obio.s delegation. and this vote will be more
enthusiastic than that % Ohio In former con-
ventions This will be an advantage to Govern
or Mckinley in his contest. IL would seem UNI
fortunate. nevertheless. that the agitation began
so soon Being discussed so much and 80 long,
It produces among the people a sort Of tired feel
ing Ii is still the better part Of year until the
convention. yet one hardly pick up A paper
a. he
to be found.
The readers of The Tribune may ask why the
Renublcans Of Ohio have selected Mckinley
their first choice for President. This it is not
hard to answer Mckinley entered the war for
the Union when under age and stayed in the
Army until the close Of the war. He distin-
guished himself for his patriotism, although he
did not rise above the rank OF major, whhe
many men far inferior to him reached the top
round OF the ladder. He has since been prom
inenty before the public As member OF Con-
gress he proved industrious and effective. His
greatest prominence perhaps, resulted from his
connection with the tariff Of 1890. which bears
his name although he was only one OF those who
were foremost in it's preparation and its passage.
NOT A MAN OF ONE IDEA.
You know that one idea is more likely to
dwarf a man intellectually than to expand HIM
But while Mckinley is identified with the tarfr
OF 1890. he has other ideas. and many or tnem~
There is question National, local or social
which he has not studied, ard he is quite capa~
bic Of grasping and discussing every measura
that may come before and interest the public
As regards the people os Ohio. they 90 noe
worship Mckinley or. rather they do not sups
port him chiefly because his name IL so prom~
inenty connected with the tariff OF 1890 nor do
they pretend to say that that act Is so sacred
that 1t should be re-enacted as whole. but they
do believe in the principle that the measure reps
resents; that is to say. tariff for revenue. with
resultant protection TO home industries. The is>
sue, therefore. is squarely between protection on
one side and free trade on the other. The outs
come OF the present tariff is plainly observable.
While protective in spots 1t is largely destrucI
tive because II does not afford sufficient protecs
ton and does not produce the revenue necessary
for the support OF the Government But We live
In a progressive age conditions are constantly
changing and II would therefore be folly 10 pre-
tend that tariff in all It's schedules enacted IN
1890 should be continued for any length OF time.
Had the Republican party remained In power
the Mckinley tariff in many particulars would
no doubt have been changed. and when the Re.
publican party is again restored to power We
may be sure the Mckinley tariff az whole VIII
not be re-enacted and fer the very good reason
that changed conditions make necessary changes
in schedules But these would undoubtedly be in
the line OF all Republican tariffs. looking TO thu
advancement Of the industries OF the Nation ir"
respective of classes and a revenue sufficient "a
support the Government without resorting to the
sale Of bonds or increasing or reimposing wa,
taxes In times OF peace.
AN ILLUSTRATION OF PROTECTION.
As an illustration, / call attention to the fact
that twenty years ago the city of Cincinnati
paid $50 ton for steel rails To be used in the
construction OF the Southern Railroad and pro-
portionatey high prices for iron rails. At that
time the duty on rails very high, it's purpose
being to encourage capitalists in the construction
of rail mills in this country. 1t had that effect
At that time there were few steel rail mills In
the United States; the whole number might
rave been counted on the fingers of one hand
How Is it now, and what is the result? The in
dustry has grown inside OF twenty years to enor-
nous proportions and now. instead OF $50 ton.
steel rails OF home manufacture are sold from wv
to $34 a ton This is the result of protection. Az
a matter OF course, such tariff as existed
twenty years ago is rot now necessary is not
desirable and would not be tolerated. for the
reason that such protection is not needed and
would produce revenue.
These remarks apply to many features Of the
tariff and show that Americans who favor prac-
teal protection must keep in the line of intelligent
and legitimate progress. The time may come
when the United States will be able to compete
with Europe In the manufacture OF iron. II that
time should come. It would be necessary proper
to modify the tariff. Furthermore in so far as
tariff may be used to build up trusts monopo-
lies it should always be modified in the interests
OF the people and in the line OF public policy.
Thus revenue could be secured the one hand
and protection for American labor on the other,
while the difference in prices would be only that
marked by the difference in wages paid in foreign
countries and i'm the United States The working