The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1897-03-31

administered our expenditures, in.
GLIDING liberal pensions for the
soldiers of the late war, ought not
to, and would not, exceed the sum
of $3.50, 100000.
"The friends OF the protective
system know that to keep the tax
es high they must tind some way
of spending the money which has
been collected. 1t is therefore the
inevitable consequence of collect.
ing more than is proper that i'm.
proper ways should be devised for
spending it. The sextravagance
which necpssitates the billion. dol.
lar appropriations which have be.
come such q scandal upon Con-
gross bad its origin in the nl,jnst
system Of lesyiag taxes for the
purpose Of allowing private inter.
rsts to prey upon the public
Through the favoritism st the law.n
1 "If the system of unnecessary
taxation is indefensible because Of
the extravaganza which it encour-
ages, it is still more 80 on account
of the trusts which it fosters and
promotes. 1t is not more certain
that protection encourages extrav
agance than it id that it breeds
unlawful combinations of capital.
Indeed, protection is justified up.
OH the avowed theory that compe-
tition should be restricted. True
enough, it assumes the patriotic
pretense that foreign competition
ought not to be permitted against
our home industries, but they lit.
tie understand the selfshness of
human nature, and especially they
little understand the seltishness of
that human nature which relies
upon the favoritis,n of the law to
increase its fortune, if they sup
pose that those men, having Sc.
cured themselves against for.
eign competition by the favor Of
Congress, will fail to secure them.
selves against domestic competi.
ton by voluntary. combinations
among themselves. 1t is an old
ada &c, and it is as true as it is old,
that competition is the life OF
trade and that whatever tends to
restrict competition tends to re.
strict trade. The majority of the
committee seems to think it au
easy matter for us to build q tar.
if wall about our borders, aud
thus prevent the foreigners from
trading with US, but they forget
that the same wall which shuts
the foreigner from trading with us
must at the same time prevent US
from trading with the foreigner.
owe believe in the principles of
competition, and we believe that
the people of the United States
can successfully compete against
all other people of the world, and
We denounce as a crime against
the best interests Of our people
any law which leaves the consum.
ers of this land subject to the OK.
actions of reckless and corrupt
combinations formed to destroy
competition and control prices"
''rhe report of the committee on
ways and means is singnlarly 81
lent upon the old pretext that
these high taxes are imposed for
the benefit of American labor, and
the silence may be taken as cou.
ceding the Democratic contention
| that the American factory is all
the protection he needs or desires.
"The labor argument Of the pro.
tectiouist can be reduced to AN alb.
sur'iity, which makes it amazing
that it should ever have been Sc.
riously advanced. To say in one
breath that the welfare of labor
depends upon it wages, and that
its wages i'll turn depend upon it's
skill and intelligence, and in the
next to say that the very intelli.
gent and highly skilled laborers of
this country cannot successfully
compete with the iguorant and un-
skilled laborers Of the Old World,
is equivalent to saying that skill
al d intelligence are not Of great
adva, t,ge to the laborers who pos.
sess them"
"To our minds, it involves q
contradiction in history, and is
| xuall in ooouon,io fhaorv r. Loll