The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-08-18


! Convention; we stood for the platform
made In a Democratic Convention and
we would be false to all party tradition
| were We to yield one iota. As you ac.
your church and conform yourselves tc
| those teachings, so / accept the dictates
| of my party and conform myself to them
upon the pTincple suggested Sds by Senator
the interests of the whole people of this
! country"
| That same party which we so gallant
| ~ stood for reaffirmed the time-honored
| principle of Democracy: that tariff du-
| ties should be levied for the purpose OF
revenue; that such duties be SO adjusted iss
| country without distinction TO class OF
| section, and that taxation should be
limited TO the needs of government M ,ss, eco,
| of that proposition we denounce the &C
| ton of the last Congress in imposing
upon the people the Dingiey l., nili' wnicn me :
| ton that has ever been placed upon the
| statute books. In framing this law but
one class was CONSIDERED. ana that aais elass
| to control every article consumed by the
mechanics, the artisan and the profess
sional man.
new tariff every article of necessity is
taxed at an increased rate. The cost of
living is increased thereby to every
The burden of protection, after twice
being repudiated by the votes of the
people, is again laid l., upon @ the , people IN
Is it not the height of folly TO suppose
| that tax upon every article of necessity
win benefit those who are m con Gompelhled ht 70 i
| done by the new tariff. Meats are raised
| five per cent, so that the great Beef
| Trust which long ago forced the. indi-
| viduai dealers to the wall can extort a
greater revenue from the. people. Salt,
which was free, is now Z cents per 10y
poundh rhat nse is eothne
| increased 10 per cent; hosiery is increased
| Is per cent; collars-and cuffs are in
| creased Is per cent; carpets are increased
! from IS to 60 cents per yard; boots.
| shoes and umbrellas are advanced per
cent; eggs increased cents dozen ;
| gloves are advanced from ~ 10 on per
! cent: books, 10 per cent
The Sugar Trust, about which we have
heard SO much. received protection at
| the hands of congress-zo per cent. on y,
| sugar cane which was free before, and
| one cent a pound on the manufactured
Offensive as the Mckinley law was,
| the present law is worse. AS just as sure
| as the former law relegated the RepuD-
| lican party to defeat win the present law
relegate. dts trainers and the. party that
| Take the duty upon hides and leather
and this State Of ours furnish so per
cent. of the patent leather and furniture
| two dollars has been placed upon hides,
so that the Beef Trust now has the Amer
ican manufacturers of leather completely
ait their mercy. There can only be one
result. The people must pay more for
| their shoes, and it practically excludes a
| kind of leather which enters only slightly
| into competition with the American pro-
| duct BY no means will the American
| farmer receive any benefit; he cannot
compete with the Beef Trust, for he, too,
| is at it's mercy. And II is significant that
during the past five years hides have been
| free the Importation of that article
steadily decreased; whereas in So we ex-
worth sgs tn of these products. This law in
one stroke has assailed the external ano
| the internal trade of the country in this
| article and 1t is estimated that the Amer
ican laborers and wage-earners will lose
| five millions thereby.
The Democratic party is and always
| has been in favor of so much protection
| as is necessary to produce revenue for
| economical government. The Republican
party says to the giant corporations:
1 Here is market of 10000, 600 OF people
| the richest in the world. 1t is yours ia
| reap the benefit without any competition;
| Search the present law and you win not
| find single imported article which the
| farmer desires for his benefit or comfort
| that is not taxed. You all remember
| how the corporations swooped down OF
| were heard every time The operations
| of the Sugar Trust are fresh in the minds
price of their product to the wholesaler
| from one-sixteenth to quarter of a cent
i a pound and the retailer must and does
| exact from the consumer from one-hal1
| to one cent pound more than he die
| before this law was enacted.
Our Republican friends say that oul
| markets were flooded with European
! products under the Wilson tariff. but
would like to say to them that our ex.
port trade for the year ending June 3
4 was the largest in our history. The in.
/ crease over the export Of the year be
fore was nearly s169 100000. And in this
| connection 1t is Republican doctrine thai
imports must always be kept below ex
was in cereal products. Exports OF y bar, ar,
| ley doubled; corn rose from s37 7oO0,0 ,0O(
to s54 900, 600: rye oats and wheat almost
doubled. This ought to have resulted II
great benefit to the farming classes, bu
| you know what your condition is today
| and what it was ten, fifteen and twenty
i We saw no signs of prosperity until {
| Metropolitan daily announced it in these
glowing headlines =" Business boom.
than an'h half IL million shares sold, .sugal
leads the way and whiskey active and {
few days later the same paper chroniclet
hunger in the city Of New York and tn,
i distress of the miners families in Penn
sylvania and West Virginia.
With the most stringent enforcement Of
the new law the excess of expenditure:
| over revenue has been at the rate O
over $4,000 daily, or $10,000000 month
since its enactment.
| When the weakness of this tariff as {
revenue producer becomes apparent, an6
| 1t should become necessary to issue more
bonds, condition which we hope will
not arise, what can they say? Who
last year voted for this very condition
They might have recalled the lesson @
the Mckinley tariff, of which Senator Tel
Ter said in the United States Senate abou
4 year ago: 1.-THE Mckinley law did no
4 provide sufficiency of revenue; every
body knows that it did not In each o
the four months preceding the incoming
i administration of Mr.. Cleveland ther,
4 was a deficiency in the Government re
ceipts amounting on an an average to owe
blunder was not enough to warn them
and we are compelled to submit to great
er injustice than we did under the Nc
Kinley law.
control the price of the necessities of lif
i is one of the alarming outgrowths of th
Republican principle of protection. The.
cannot truthfully dispute the charge
cities all over the land are now considered
by the trusts to be their natural prey
You all know that this Is SO, but you ar
powerless to combat them under tn
your hope lies in the Democratic party
which has always stood for popu1a
rights and against corporate oppression
The State as well as the city is at th'
mercy of these unscrupulous cOmbina
tions; corrupt corporations dictate poll
cies to be pursued, laws to be enacted
and even those who shall fill the publ
offices. Their power Is felt In the high
ging the mouths Of the leaders Of edu
catfonal institutions who differ from then
in opinion. ! do not hesitate to say tina
their power has reached far enough t
clergy. It is serious matter to con
II tpr1Dla te and to consider whether tn