The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1896-06-26

1t may be a little ungracious to crit
icise too closely the speeches at such
a meeting:as that of Saturday night, sc
soon after the convention had told thu
orators what to advocate and before
they had had time to clarity theil
thoughts. Rut perhaps il may assist
in the latter needed process to direct
attention to some of their arg
uments.
First. Fits let off statistical state
ment that from 10000 to 60. 900 men
were walking streets out of employ
ment because of the amount OF fore ign
goods imported more than were i'm
ported under the Mckinley bill. Now
the fact is that importations are and
have been almost uninterruptedly for
"A year past, much less than under the
Nc Kinley act. Last month they were
S 10, 600, 90 less and the trade balance
30. 1913, $50 more in our favor than it
was in MAY, 81, when1the Mckinley law
was in full operation In April they
were $40, 300, 900 less than in the last
April under Mckinley legislation and
in March $40, I16, 032 less. AZ it is
running now-the natural result of
hard times and enforced economy,
however it might be in normal times
the trade balance is at the rate of
nearly $500, 900, 600 year better in our
favor than under McKinleyism. The
trouble with Fits was that he gu iped
down without thinking, figures disin
genously connected, comparing i'm
ports for the period just before the
passage of the new tariff, when.they
were of course held back, with those
just after when they came in double
quantity to make up for the time held
back
NJ. Martin. following the line Of
Hanna and Mckinley in endeayorlng
to push the currency issue to the hack
ground, advanced the proposition that
there would be no trouble from the
silver question but for the free
trade policy of Democrats, ana that
as result of that spolicy and the
threat of il, silver had deprecated Just
as farm values and all other values had
done. The fact is that silver began its
in "A, 20 years before
the tariff was touched or could be
touched by Democrats, and lin truth
almost simultaneously with the pass
age of Republican bill raising tn
steadily while the tariff was
it reached its lowest point in the early
summer of '19, full year before the
tariff was changed and since the pass |
age of the Wilson German bill has |
risen "A little in value. 1
Then Col. Haskins capped the eli |
max with the assertion that never under /
rule since the war until |
1882, had the laboring men Of America
had to work on short time and reduced
wages as now under Democratic rule.
II he did not forget himself he expect
I'd his hearers to forget lS73.T9 and
1884 with its paralysis of business,
that ended about the time of the in
of Cleveland, though we
will not initiate Republican stump
speaking by claiming that the latter
went had anything to do with ii as
cause.
well, there won't a quarter of them
snow the difference, was the comment
If a lending Republican later in dis.
,ussion OF these points. There
vas whole volume in that sentence.
The reliance Of this campaign is on
men mot knowing the difference. or
heir refusing to stop and think or
eason, or their voting blindly against
lard times 1t is true that this has
Ilways been a safe reliance IN the :
past, and hard times have always
wrought political revolutions, and it
nay do so again this year. with the aid
+ Democratic folly but, with the
pread of intelligence and the loose
ing of partisan ties. such reliance is
teadily becoming a more unsafe one.