New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-04-06
Tile TiRIEE OLE 1900.

II has taken Americans some INN" 10 NdIH
the lesson put by President Harrison In the
tcrse remark that a cheap coat must nave
cheap man behind IT, There has been scarcely
any reduction In the cost of woollen clothing
such rs the millions wear. But for that insignih-
cant gain they have paid in the stoppasc of
more than half the wool cloth machinery In the
country and necessarily more than half the
hands engaged in making such cloth are Idle
This is but one Of thc many facts which millions
OF voters know infinitely better than any pollii-
cal orator can tell them They find il does not
pay TO do dollars worth Of work for eighty
cents in order 10 get dollars worth Of clothes
for ninely-hve cents II does not pay 10 have
thousands Of shops closed in which voters or
their wives and children were able To get en-
ploymcnt under 4 Republican tariff. II does no,
pay the farmers t. find manufacturing works
idle and their hands dispersed. 50 that they n"
longer buy NJ nearby markets the mcl:, and
dairy and garden products If the farms.
In the face of this experience. General Clark
son thinks II cxpcdicnt 10 attack Govcrner Ne
Kinley rs tie champion OF IN extreme ultra
high protective tariff 4 ll'tle thought would
have convinced him that he could not help any
other candidate In that way. The people have
vivid recollection Of the unprecedented pros
pcriy which they enjoyed under III" so-cnllcd
Mckinley tariff and 81 the astonishing strides
made by the industries during the two years OF
It's uninterrupted operation. The high water
mark Of wages for the workers, and OF pros
pcrty for manufacturers. mechanics and farm
ers was reached In October 1892. as all com
mcrcial records prove and that was the month
before the foolish vote for "a change II VIII
not help any candidate 10 have his friends assail
the act OF 1890 as an ultra or extreme measure
1t went out Of House led by Reed and Mex IN
ley. and ont Of a Senate led by Allison and Shcr-
man, and had the signature OF Nicc-Prcsidcnt
Morton and received the signature Of President
Harrison. and all of them approved It heartily.
1t Is an astonishing blundcr for Republican
TO speak Of that act az one OF extreme protcc-
ton The average rate OF duties on imports In
the three fiscal years fully under the operation
Of that tariff. 1921 was n GO per cent. Under
the preceding tariff Of 1883 In the first three full
years the rate was Us per cent. In the years
1SG9-lS71 the average was 41.94 per cent. Al
most half the duties imposed after the war 10
defend and build mp American Industries were
thus repealed by succc isivc changes which Re
publican Congresses made. and nearly half Of
that great reduction was made by the single
act Of 1890 Indeed, It's principal object was 10
reduce revenue which had been larger than
the Government needed, and yet TO do so with
out removing dcfenccs needed by any industry.
Experience proved that the work was done on
the whole astonishingly we'll 1t was the lowest
tariff the Republican party had ever framed. II
was the first for more than seventy years under
which more than half the imports were made
free of duty, and at the same time II did more TO
establish new industries and encourage Indus
tries that had been depressed than any other
ever enacted for at least thirty years
IT sounds strangely TO hear any Republican
speaking In n tone Of c,nsurc or fant-hnding
about the best revenue measure ever passed by
Republicans the lowest In rates and ut the same
time the most effective and benehcent in proec-
ton II It were TO be understood that any Re-
publican candidate would seek support on the
ground that he does not want to protect as much
as Mckinley did. the chances are that the pco-
pie would not prefer him. for that precise rca-
son. The sad experiences Of the past few
years have not inclined Americans to favor any
body who wants 10 get halfway between the
two parties on the issue Of protection, and rs
General Clarkson Is nsSlircdly not Of that mind,
his reported remarks are all the more strange.
The one force which is winning for the Rcpubli-
can party unprecedented mnjorilcs IL the pro-
found belief OF the people in the Republican
policy The one force which has won for Cover
nor Mckinley vast support. which he might
never have secured In merely personal competl-
ton with some other candidates, IL that attach
mcnt Of the people to the policy with which his
| name has become Identified.
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