Mexico weekly ledger., 1897-08-12
Mr.. Cook EVades The Facts.
To the Editor of the Ledger.


two columns of his personal organ In
evading the cold statement of facts,
presented by me, proving the falsity
of his assertion that Mr.. Cleveland
favored the tariff policy of a ''high
duty on manufactured goods" Con-
fronted with proofs he cannot refute
he falls back onto the cry of discour-
tesy, and armed with a cunning in
misstatement and with a hatred of
the facts of the history he helped to
make, he attacks the truths of that
history with a hypocritical outburst
for an application of the rules OF
courteous discussion. He admits that
he is unable to produce any %utterance
of that statesman In support of his
charge, and he is equally incapable of
truthfully stating any act Of MIR.
Cleveland to support it. Never fail
ing to make a statement for lack of q
fact upon which to base it, he under
takes to relate some "inside history
of the Democratic National conven-
ton of 1892 in support of his charge,
and in SO doing says, "that Senator
Villas and Senator German, as the
authorized representatives of MIR.
Cleveland, succeeded in having the
committee adopt a tariff plank that
was a cowardIy surrender to the
irNn onI onnl aud nfhnr nrntarfan
interests of the East" etc. This is
simply the revival Of an old
exploded statement never found
ed on fact or intended for the
truth; as the idea that Senator Cor
mar ever represented Mr.. Cleveland
in anything, or that Mr.. Villas was
ever otherwise than true to the DEM
ocratic doctrine of a tariff for reve-
nue. only is equally as absurd to the
intelligence of the country as the
statement that Mr.. Cleveland ever
favored a high duty on manufactured
goods.
If the editor of the Intelligencer were
as candid as he %pretends, he could
quote that plank of the platform in
stead of leaving the reader to accept
his construction of it. In this he is as
utterly helpless for an item of proof
as in anything he has stated.
His resort to the ssinside history" is
exemplification of the famil-
lar adage that one false statement al
ways and Immediately calls forth an
other for its support. Consistent with
himself, for three days he says that
free raw material is not a Democratic
doctrine, and still insists that a duty
upon clothing and shoes requires q
duty also on wool and hides. In other
words, the editor of the Inteltigencer
now completely repudiates the DEM
ocratic doctrine of free raw material
and a traiff for revenue only,and if he
Is now right the Democratic party has
always been wrong in its tariff policy.
But, did the editor of the IntelIigen-
Ger ever speak upon this subject be-
fore? Has he, in common with Mr..
Cleveland and other Democrats, ever
advised the people upon this subject
at any timer This very 'courteous"
editor, always courteous and agree
able to what he supposes the MAORI
ty, in the In~teiligencer of June %, 1892,
in answer to the following questions:
"Who demands free wool, and why?
And who would be benefited there
by?" and propounded him by the
Mexico F. & L. u, wrote very length
lily upon the subject of free raw ma
terial. He began his answer as fol-
"We accept in good faith the
spirit of candor evidenced by the
Mexico Union in asking the questions
and shall endeavor to answer them
with equal candor and without parti-
san bias" AS the authors say, the
italics are mine. Then this courteous
editor continues, and with other things
says: "There are two classes speci-
ally demanding free wool, chief of
which are the consumers or the
0earers of woolens and the manu-
facturers.
Why2 Because the removal of the
duty on raw wool is coupled with q
provision for reducing the duty on
manufactured woolens. The wool sup
ply of the United States is not suffi-
cient to meet the demand of the home
manufacturers, nor does it include ali
which manufacturers use.
Hence the removal of the duty will
u manufacturers to dispose
of their goods at reduced prices with
out suffering any reduction in their
profits.
Who would be benefited?
Botn the consumer and the manu-
facturer. The former would get the
benefit of the reduction in duty on the
manufactured goods, while the manu-
facturer, by reason of free raw mater
ial, would be better enabled to COM
pete with the trade of the world. We
have nc figures at command which
give the number of people interested
in. wool growing, but large as that
number is 1t is a very small per cent
Of the whole people. In the State of
Ohio, which is among the leading wool
of the Union, only three per
cent of the people r interested in
wool growing. This will serve to give
you some idea of the number of wool
growers compared with the number of
who have to buy woolens.
Not content with combining himself
% Stree wool" and bubbling over with
aud freedom from party bias he
reaches out in the interest OF the
MASSES" dilating thus in favor of
free hides"
"There are individual interests
which suffer from free hides but the
masses should not be deprived OF
shoes and cheaper leather
merely to enhance the profits of the
,attle grower"
SO loyal were his expressions then
the Democracy and the tariff policy
If the party, and SO perfectly in line
vas this candid editorial with Mr..
tariff message of 1887 and
he speech by him then recently de-
on the tariff that one is re-
minded of the school boy who, on
'peech day, delivered as an original
the Declaration of Independ-