The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1896-03-20
BAYARD,s GREAT SPEECH.

address OF lion. hos. I. ID " 81 - :" Aii~Ai
brought forth the resolution of censure
in the House. 1t is one of the abiest
ever delivered by ourdistinguished Am
bassador, and his declaration OF the
evils of protection carries conviction to
every unDreiudiced mind. 1T will be a
standard authority among men who
are combating the stealthy growth of
socialism that is making it's way to
favor. 1t was against every encroach-
ment upon individual liberty that Mr..
Bayard was inyeigRing when he used
the words that made the Protectionists
writhe as if in pain. 1T was centre
shot that struck the weak place in the
armor of those whose class legislation
had impoverished the many to enrich
the few The appositeness of the illus
tration and the truth of it made those
who upheld the system rage with inn
potent fury
We print below that portion of Mr..
Bayard's address on individual Free
DOM which has created a worldwide
sensation. Whether it was delicate or
indicate to speak the truth at the
time it was spoken. is matter too
small to be considered in comparison
with the question, Was it the Truth?
If true, there is no time or place too
sacred for Truth to be spoken. In
deed. so universal has been the sup
preston of Truth by many in high
places. that it is positively refreshing
to find one public man who puts Truth
above the petty matters of propriety
or etiquette. Nowhere outside the De-
cIaration of independence is there
more political truth than in the follow
ing words of Mr.. Bayard:
I'm my own country have witnessed
the Unsuitable growth of that form of
State Socialism styled Protection"
which believe has done more to foster
class legislation and create inequality
of fortune, to corrupt public life, to
Danish men of independent mind and
character from the public councils, to
lower the tone of national representa-
bIOH. DJu1b DuDlIC IOuSNIC1lCCs u CEbbI
false standards in the popular mind, to
familiarize it with reliance upon State
aid and guardianship in private affairs,
divorce ethics from politics, and place
politics upon the low level of a mercc-
nary scramble, than any other single
cause.
''Step by step, and largely owing to
the confusion of civil strife, it has sue
-, cI1+ Of ha Cow
ereign power of taxation, never hesi-
tating at any alliance, or the resort TO
any combination that promised to as
sist its purpose Of peryerting public
taxation from its only true justifica-
ton and function, of creating revenue
for the support of the government OF
the whole people, into an engine for the
selfish and private profit of allied bene-
ficiaries and combinations called
TRUSTS" Under its dictation indi-
vidual enterprise and independence
have been oppressed, and the energy Of
discovery and invention debilitated and
discouraged.
1T has unhesitatingly allied itself
with every policy which tends to com
mercial isolation, dangerously de-
pletes the treasury, and saps the popu-
At1i N1iADtAtAi~t ~ @@14SAiS~9 W ~ ~
ing favour and largesse to special
classes, whose support is thereby at
tracted.
''Thus it has done SO much to throw
legislation into the political market,
where iobbers and chafferers take the
place of statesmen. The words of
Lewell's warning well apply:
Rough are the steps, slosy-hewn in
fiptiest rock,
States climb to power by; slippery
those with gold
Down which they stumble to eternal
mock:
No chafferer's hand shall long the
sceptre hold.
Who, given rate to shape, would sell
the block
Gradually the commercial marine Of
the United States has disappeared from
the high seas, with the loss of the car
rying trade, and the dispersion of the
class of trained seamen and skilled
nayigators; the exceptions, that only
prove the rule, saTe the few vessels
lately built, and only by making a
breach by special contract in the gem
eral tariff and navigation laws, a re-
luctant confession of the policy and
unwisdom of both, but an object lesson
from which valuable instruction may
be drawn.
''More than seventy years ago, when
this practice of the substitution of
State interference for free individual
enterprise and energy was first mooted,
and before the destructive policy of
protection had struck it's roots in
American legislation, my great coun-
tryman, Daniel Webster, had siad
How, do shipowners and navigators
accomplish this? How is it they are
able to meet and in some measure TO
overcome universal competition? Not,
sir by protection and bounties, but by
unwearied exertion, by extreme econ
omy, by mistaken perseverance, by
that manly and resolute spirit which
relies on itself to protect itself.
I" j need not say the navigation Of the
country is essential To its honor and its