Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1896-10-23


upon which to base It's claim for cou-
siGeration. y brief references to tie
periods Of protection and free trade. it
seems to us. is timely and may throw
some light to some voters in deter
mining whether the tariff question is
an issue or not.
The first free trade period ended in
l1S9, during which We find IA condition
described in Bancroft's history very
lully, from which we make this brief
extract:
"It is certain that the English have
the trade of these states almost wholly
in their hands; and constantly in
creasing scarcity of money begins to be
felt. The scarcity oi money makes the
produce of the country cheap, to the
disappointment of the farmers and the
disbursement of husbandry. Thus
the two classes, merchants and farm
ers, that divide nearly all America are
discontcnte,i and distressed"
Mason says of that same perion that
depreciation siezed upon every species
of property
Then the country enjoyed seas, n
of prosperity under the protective pol
icy, from 1889 to 1916. after which an
other free trade season hit it. and of
the results of that change Carey says:
"Great depression in all branches of
business ut once followed. Bankrupt
cy soon became general and financial
ruin is everywhere present"
Thomas III. Benton, the great Mis-
souri, democrat aud statesman. said of
the last four years of the free trade
period:"
"No price for property; no sales eX-
ccpt those of the sheriff and the mar
shal: no purchasers at execution sales
except the creditor or some hoarder of
money; no employment for industry;
no demand for labor; no sale for the
products of the farm; no sound of the
Hammer except that Of the auctioneer
knocking down property. Distress was
the universal Cry of the people; relief,
the universal demand, was thundercd
at the doors of all legislatures, state
and federal"
Horace Greeley says OF this period:
sour manufactures went down like
grass before the mower, and our agri
culture and the wages of labor speedily
followed. Financial prostration WAS
general. and the presence of debt was
UNIVERSAL
Those expressions sound rather nat
ural during these Wilson Gormau
times, even though they did not have
the "iaoNey OF the constitution" IN
those Iays. That dcporabe ;.,se trade
ceu hon existed 'utl ehe protective
policy ot s2} WAS adopted, which was
continued nnti. ls.'s3 Prosperity then
cemc su'ci.i.- mad! 80 spei. IA, e,.tont
t'at AtlrvW jackson III his annrs..l
me-saea III December is39. said con
cG4,illg tbe heneticial results Of that
protective policy:
''Dur country presents on every side
marks OF prosperity and happiness
. nneIiallcC!. perhaps. in any other pui+
tion of the world.
Webster said OF the same period:
1.-The rclief to tine country attained
: through these tariffs OF lS.i and 1928
+ was profound and general. reaching all
classes the farmer. the manufacturer
the ship owner. the machanic and the
day laborer. The change was as great
as was wrought when Hamilton smotc
the rock of public credit and abundant
streams of revenue gushed forth"
Mcnry Clay, speaking in the United
States senate. in 1892, about this
period. said:
"On a general survey we behold cul
tivation extended; the arts flourishing
"a
! people fully and protitably employed
the public countcnance exhibiting
, tranquility, contentment and happi
, ness: it's public debt of two wars near
ly redeemed; and to crown all. the pnb
, lie treasury overflowing. III the term
of seven years we're to be selected OF
greatest prosperity which this people
has enjoyed since the establish
ment of their present constitution il
: would be exactly that period of seven
years which Immediately followed tht
passaged of the tariff of lS24.''
Notwithstanding the great prosperi
ty and happiness that pervaded the
: whole country as described by those
l great historians, the people seemed tc
5 be just as colossal chumps in those
, days of ''free silver" as they were il
1892. for in the year 1898. just yeal
after Andrew Jackson's message upo1
$ prosperous condition of the country,
: the democrats wanted IL change, and
| adopted "A revenue only" policy. which
: continued until 1s42, during which W.
I find that the country got the worst o.
, it by long odds. OF this "revenu.
g only"-free trade period Cotton says
: in his life of Henry Clay.
: "Again financial depression followed
assignments and bankruptcies resulted
. everywhere; manufacturers suspended
operations. and business grew wors,
= and worse, till the elimination wa
A reached in the financial crash of 1881
!, one OF the most appalling and disas.
trous financial revolutions ever known
e The whole country went into liquida
i ton and discounts fell off more thar
ono half. fho ,Nn7ay- lncS fo &bo cn,,n