The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1897-05-28
PROSPERITY DELAYED.



When the election was o yer last
November rhe country looked for
prosperity. IL had been promised.
Sir. Mckinley had been heraided as
its advance agent" The opportunity
20 secure IL was at hand. The means
were perfectly obvious
The prosperity has 20. come. The
revival that might have been wrought
has not been wrought. A new paral-
ysis has been inflicted upon industry
ard new barriers have been erected in
the path of IN
The fault lies solely with republic
an encouragement. with the willfui
~perversion OF power from the pur-
poses for which it was conferred TO
purposes of partisanship.
All conditions were favorable TO a
great revival of industry. We had
been for many months exporting in
enormous excess Of imports. The
trade balance was heavily in our
favor. Every condition was propitious
except one The revenues were not ade-
quate to meet expenditures
To remedy this one adverse condi-
ton was manifestly to give the u
try the rest il needed and TO bring
about an era of prosperity greater
than had been known since tariff
tinkering for political purposes be-
gan. 1t was only necessary for the
republican congress to pass bills.
which the democratic president
would gladly have approved. imposing
O small extra tax on beer and possibly
some irconsidcrable stamp taxes on
transactions involving the transfer of
wealth.
Had that been done the revenues
would have been adequate There
would have been no occasion for an
extra session and the country would
have had a badly-needed period of
rest for re~cuperation until December
next.
But the republicans feared that II
revenues should be made adequate
without tariff tznkering there would
be DO excuse for q new tariff. no op-
p~ortunity TO reward compaign con-
tributors with benefits and ~gratuities
10 DG DaA4 OuL VI Alt HN%ntAc "a "a
people. And SO they refused TO pass
my revenue bills They deliberately
adopted the extra session for tariff
ripping purposes as a policy-resolved
to give the country the fourth tariff
In seven years
Instantly when this was under
stood the activities of the country
l-T.- r.. -- --- e.
order goods. not knowing what duties
he might have TO pay upon them. The
manufacturer curtailed his operations
not knowing under what conditions hii
products were TO be marketed.
Then came the worst blight Of al
the threat of retroactive duties
For fear that merchants might impor
goods or manufacturers bring in raw
materials heavily in anticipation O
a new tariff bill with enormously in
creased schedules. the house decree
that all goods imported while the &c
was pending should be subject later 4
the duties imposed.
The result was in part that com
merce stopped. and in other part tina
the importers of goods under the exist
ing tariff felt compelled to add Il
their prices all that the new duties
threatened. The manufacturers who's
free raw materials were threatened il
the same way had TO raise theil
prices accordingly. The people wer,
thus forced TO paw a tax not one dol
lar OF which is likely ever TO find III
way into the treasury
Thus. instead of the prosperity thai
was so easily within grasp. we hav,
an industrial and commercial paralysi.
forced upon Us solely for partisan pur
poses.
1t is a betrayal Of a .rust which thu
people have already resented in the
spring elections. and which they vii
surely punish with blasting severity in
elections vet 10 come.
The republican promise of prosperity
was an easy one TO fulfill. 1t has been
deliberately withheld. and the Ameri
can people perfectly know why.-N- \,
World.
POINTS AND OPINIONS.