Morris tribune., 1896-06-17
SPEECH OF FAIRBANKS.

am profoundly grateful Tor this OK
I preston of your generous confidence.
/ AS citizens we were never called upon tt
discharge more important duty thar
| that which rests upon us-the nomination
! of president and vice president of the
| United States. This duty is peculiarly
impressive one at the moment for it is al
ready written in the book of fate that the
choice of this convention will be the next
/ president and vice president of the great
| republic.
Three years of Democratic administra
I ton have been three years of panic. OF
wasted energy, of anxiety and loss to the
American people, without parallel in
our history. Today the people turn to the
Republican party hopefully, confidently;
and it is for us to meet their expectations;
it is for us to give them those candidates
upon whom their hearts have centered,
and to give them clear straightforward,
emphatic expression of our political faith,
The Republican party
Is a Party of Convictions:
and it has written it's convictions in the
history of the republic with the pen and
the sword; with it the supreme question
always has been not what is merely
''politic," but what is everlastingly
right" The great men we. have given to
the nation and to history, the mighty dead
and the illustrious living, are our in
spiration and tower of strength. If we
are but true to their exalted example we
cannot be false to our countrymen,
For third of a century prior to the
advent of the present Democratic admin
istration, we operated under laws enacted
by the Republican party. All great
measures concerning the tariff and the
currency originated with it. Tariff laws
were formed upon lines which protected
our laborers and producers from unequal
and unjust foreign competition and upon
the theory that the best market in the
world is the home market and that it
should be enjoyed by our own country
men.
1t Struck Down Reciprocity.
The bill struck down reciprocity, one of
the highest achievements in American
craftsmanship. No measure was ever
enacted which more directly advocated the
interests of the American farmers and
manufacturers than reciprocity. With its
destruction fell advantageous commercial
agreements, under which the products
foreign markets, and without the surren-
der Of their own.
To meet the money deficit and protect
our credit and save the government from
protest, the president has has been forced
to sell bonds; in other words he has been
obliged to mortgage the future in time
of peace to meet the current obligations of
the government.
How the Country Prospered.
Under the currency laws our currency
was made national. The wildcat state
bank money of the Democratic party was
wiped out Of existence. The unprecedent-
ed demands growing out of the war were
met by a paper currency which ultimately
became as good as gold.
Under the operation of these honest
tariff and honest money Republican laws
the country grew in wealth and power
beyond precedent. We easily outstripped
all other powers in the commercial race.
On Nov. s, 1892, there was work for every
hand and bread for every month. Foreign
balances were largely in our favor. Euro
pean gold was flowing toward US But all
of this is changed. The cause is not hard
to seek A reaction began when it was
known that the legislative and executive
branches of the government were to be
Democratic.
The Democratic party had at Chicago
condemned the protective tariff principle
as unconstitutional and solemnly pledged
itself to the overthrow and destruction of
the Mckinley law and to the adoption of
free trade as the policy of the United
States This bold, aggressive attack upon
the long settled policy of the Republican
party bore it's natural fruit in shaken con-
fdence, unsettled business, and we were
soon drifting against the rock of destruc-
ton
Could Destroy but Not Rebuild.
The Democratic party was harmonious
upon one subject and that was the de-
struction of the Mckinley law But when
they came to the exercise Of the creative !
faculty, the enactment of a great revenue
in it's stead, there was discord !
The imperiled interests of the country
and waited through the long and
anxious months for some settlement of
the important question. They wanted an
end of uncertainty. At length the Wilson
bill was adopted and it was characterized |
by Democratic president as the child of |
''perfdy and dishonor' 1t was so bad |
that he would not contamlnate his hand |
by signing it,
Some Things the Law Lacked.
This important law was wanting in the
primary purpose of a revenue measure;
for it failed to provide adequate revenue |
bomeet the requirements of the govern
ment. The deficiency thus far amounts to
some one hundred and fifty millions of I
dollars. The end is not yet, for the de
dciency grows day by day.
The sectional favoritism of the Wilson
law was one of its marked features. Its
blow at sheep husbandry was an unpar-
1onabIe offense; it was fragrant wrong
% the farmers of the United States This
great industry had developed and grown
lnder Republican protective laws until it
vas one of ourgreatest. We are now send
ng abroad millions of dollars for wool
which were paid to our farmers under the
Mckinley law.