The Lafayette gazette. [volume] (Lafayette, La.) 1893-1921, 1895-09-07

Mk'nLEY As i Ohn5ibArE.
little Prospect 81 : Revival Of tse Ultra
frstesfioa Law:
If the fate of William Nc * ia ley; IT,.
AS Il candidate for the repu blican presi-
dental nomina ton should depend on a
:,c,itpafsern tt tbs agsratent results Of
his tariff and those of the present
tariff, he would get left by a large ma
iority. a few weeks ago the McIxin::
ley organs were disconnected to f.td
that the silver question was the upper
most thought in the public mind, be-
cause it had a tendency to hide the
benefhctiots Of this taritf Of 1890. and
the calamities of that of 1854. Eo%
the danger is that the contrast be-
tween them will bec0iae too glaring,
and that the offenses of Mckinley, as
the chief engineer of the republican
defeats of 1890 and 1892, will be too
freshly Brought TO mind. For it. is not
to be denied that the con trast is very
great: We publish elsewhere d care
fully pre- pared statement Of the show
ing in a large number of protected I'M
dustries, telling US how enploytn ent
has increased and how wages have adj
~a1ts,d Ill protected t11anu factrriDa In
dustries since the Wilson bill became a
sa6se shops after the Mckinley tariff
went in force.
We shall not take an unfair advaii@
tage OF tho McKinleyites, however.
We do not accept the fnG<ir,, Post hoe
ergo propter hoe. These figures do not
prove that the Mckinley tariff was
worse than the Wilson tariff, or that.
the latter was better than the former.
The fact is that the difference best~esn
them was not sufficient to account Tor
the Industrial changes here recorded.
There were other overriding causes.
and among these the currency, ratn=
er the credit question as dependent
upon the currency question, was by far
the most Important. The Sherman act,
so-called. by which four million five
hundred thousand ounces of silver were
bought each month and added to the
fiat money of the country, shook con-
fdencc on both sides of the ocean in
the standard of value. Gradually, but
with increasing volume, capital was
withdrawn from the country, taking
the form of gold exports. which be-
came SO large that after this act had
been in force two years and Il hcsf q
genuine alarm filled the public mind.
The panic of 1893 was the conse-
qu<nce. 1t came just at the right time
to enable the McKinleyites to say that
it was caused by the election of Cleve-
land and q democratic congress. They
availed themselves of the maxim Post
hoe propter hoe to the fullest extent,
and they persuaded the workingmen
OF the country, who had lost employ
ment and had had their wages cut
down, that this was the true cause OF
their sufferings The workingmen
could not understand the mysteries of
finance, and although the democratic
party, under the lash of President
Cleveland, actually did the only thing
that could possibly restore confidence
and revive business, by repeating the
Sherman act, they voted by over
whelminR majorities for a republican
congress.
1t takes time to bring prosperity
back after so rude a shock as that
which the business of the country re-
ceived in 1898, but the true remedy was
applied and the result was sure to fol-
low. 1t has now come. The AlcKin-
lcyites are trying, in feeble way, to
play their old trick over again. AS
they said before that the panic was
caused by the apprehension of what
the democrats would do, although they
had actually done nothing, so they are
saying now that the good times are
caused by the hope Of what the re-
publicans will do, although they have
actually done nothing, and there is no
chance of their doing anything tariff
wise for two years to come.
This is an argument that will not
bear close examination. It may serve
for next year. Long before the autumn
of 1896 it will have worn out. Most
likely the campaign Of 1896 will turn
on other questions than the tariff, but
if the tariff is then uppermost the
most effective battle cry will be to
''let it alone" That will be the fetch
ing argument with the workingmen,
and to a large extent with their en-
ployers also. In that case Mckinley
will be unavailable because he stands
for change-the same kind of a
change that he made before. Is
pecially will he be committed to re-
store and even increase the duties on
wool, in accordance with the demands
OF the wool-growing triumvirate,
Lawrence, Harpster and Delano And,
of course, any change in reference to
wool must bring in corresponding
changes in woolens, vvorsteds, mixed
goods, textiles of all kinds; in short,
every thing that anybody wants if he
has pulp with the committee of
ways and means. Does the republican
party want to wake up the spirit that
smote it in 1902 If SO, it can be
pretty sure of doing it by making Nc
Kinley its candidate next year.-N. Y.
Post.
Another Nail.
The increased number and prosperity
of the tin-plate mills drive another nail