The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-06-03
TITS A GREAT CURSE.
PROTECTIVE SYSTEM ARRAIGN-
ED BY FRANKLIN PIERCE.
Pampers and Enervates Industries
and Debauches Folitics-With Free
Raw Materials Our Machine Made
At Free Trade League Dinner.

dinner of the New England Free Trade
league, held on May s, was Mr.. Frank
lin Pierce of New York He handled
his subject without gloves. He said in
part as follows:
"Not only are the farmers beginning
to appreciate the truth that protection
robs them and their families, but our
manufacturers, as the products of their
looms exceed the demand of the home
market, are understanding that pro-
tective tariff, especially upon their raw
material, is against their interests.
1.-The present population of the world
is about / 400, 600, 600, and only 4OO,-
600, 900 use machinery at all. The rest
do their work by rude tools guided by
the hands, and we, the Yankee nation,
who have revolutionized the world by
our inventions, who use machinery to
greater extent than any other people,
we refuse to allow the raw material
which these 1000, coo, 900 OF nonma-
chine using people create, to enter our
| ports in exchange for machine made
products, except upon the payment OF
| excessive duties, while the more lntelli-
! gent of our manufacturers are clamor
| ing for free raw material and saying,
Give US free raw material, and we
will conquer the markets of the world.
"Instead of seeking the markets of
the world, employing millions OF men
now lying idle, making the margin of
| profits less but the output several times
greater than at present, getting thereby
steady market and continued service
for our laboring classes, our trusts and
combinations are hiring their competi-
tors to close their factories and throw
| tens of thousands of laboring men out
of employment.
eve have only to get freedom of
trade and we can capture the markets
of the world in many lines. What the
Englishman is to the German the
American is to the Englishman, and
Just as the German is crying out against
competition with the machine made
goods and high priced labor of England,
just so would England cry out against
competition with the machine made
goods and the high priced labor of
America, We're duties upon all raw ma
terials removed.
"We Americans walk faster, talk
faster, work faster, do everything fast
er than any other people on the face
of the earth. A people of the greatest
natural vigor and the greatest enter
prise in the world, we have pampered
our life and emasculated our strength
and largely impaired the virility of our
national life by a protective tariff.
Manliness asserts its mastery in the
same way III manufacturing as it does
in every walk of life. The men in pro-
fesslOns who ask no favors, but get out
upon the dusty arena and fight for a
lead, are the men who gain strength by
every effort. Give US 10 years of free
trade, and we would capture from Eng
land one-fourth Of her vast trade. Give
US 20 years of free trade, and we will
lead the world as exporters.
"The protective system has debauch-
ed public men and corrupted public
life. Give any body Of men, however
pure, the power to take 100000, 600
from the pockets of the millions and
transfer it to the pockets of few men
through an act of legislation, and you
have created corrupting power which
will destroy the virtue and the patriot
ism of that body of men.
1--WE shall never get rid of the evils
which [ have described until every dol
lar raised by taxation is paid into the
national treasury; until we stop entire
ly this practice of allowing the right of
government to tax property to be used
for the purpose of allowing the manu-
facturer to prohibit importations, form
trusts and rob our people of hundreds
of millions Of dollars each year.
The remedy is in direct taxation
Every man has right to know exactly
what he pays toward the expenses of
government, and direct taxation is the
only means of stopping the lavish ex-
penditure of public money.
''For a period of ten years between
1871 and 1900 inclusive, with tariff
of S11a per cent upon foreign imports,
and at the very time when we were 60
ing to the great expense of establishing
our government, the cost of government
was only $1S.6S per capita for the ten
| ySils. IIOlu lCCl W lOOU
der tariff for revenue only, the cost of
government was only $21. So per capita
for the ten years. From 1871 to 1880
inclusive the actual running expenses of
government had risen to $136 Al per
capita, more than six times the amount
required under tariff for revenue only,
and during the last ten years the cost
of government has been increasing.
GAS a nation we can stand this lavish
expenditure of the peoples money, but
we can never stand the Injuries, the
iniquities, the lack Of patriotism which
great wealth, quickly acquired, is sure
to bring.
''We can be robbed by a protective
tariff and still live, but when the rob-
Der takes the money and buys special
legislation and turns it over to cam
paign committees to buy votes with,
the very life of free government is as
sailed. Nations do not go down to death
in the momentous sweep of battle. They
| rather die from the poison which the