Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1897-05-29
WAY pRospERlrY DID NOT COME
Failure OF In Republicans to Keep
Their Promise.

WHY PROSPERITY DID NOT COME
Failure OF the Republicans to Keep
Their Promise.
When the election was o yer last
November the country looked for
prosperity. 1t had been promised
Mr. Mckinley had been heralded as
Its "advnnce agent" The opportunity
to secure it wus at hand. The means
were perfectly obvious.
The prosperity has not come. The
revival that might have been wrought
has not been wrought. A new parai-
ysis has been inflicted upon industry
ard new barriers have been erected in
the path of commerce.
The fault lies solely with republic
an mismanagement, with the willful
pervsrsiou of power from the pur-
poses for which it was conferred to
purposes of partisanship.
All conditions were favorable TO n
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 n adverse condi.
ton was manifestly to give the coun-
try the rest it 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
a small extra tax on beer and possia'y
some irconsiderable stamp taxes oil
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 bndly-needed period OF
rest for recupcration until December
next.
But the republicans feared that II
revenues should be made adequate
without tariff tinkering there would
be no excuse for u new tariff, no OPP.
p%ortunity to reward compaign con
| tributors with benefits and gratuities
to be paid cut of the pockets of the
people. And so they refused to pass
any 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
halted. The merchant refused tc
order goods, not knowing what duties
he might have to pay upon them. The
manufacturer curtailed his operations
not knowing under what conditions his
products were to be marketed.
Then came the worst blight of al
the threat of retroactive duties
For fear that merchants might import
goods or manufacturers bring in raw
materials heavily in anticipation OF
a new tariff bill with enormously in
creased schedules, the house decreet
that all goods imported while the act
was pending should be subject later te
the duties imposed.
The result was in part that com
merce stopped, and In other part thai
the importers of goods under the exist
ing tariff felt compelled TO add tt
their prices all that the new duties
threatened. The manufacturers who's,
free raw materials were threatened il
the same way had 10 raise theil
prices accordingly. The people were
thus forced to pay a tax not one dol
lar of which Is likely ever to find it,
way into the treasury.
Thus, instead of the prosperity tina
was so easily within our grasp, we hav'
an Industrial and commercial paralysi.
forced upon us solely for partisan pur
poses.
1t is a betrayal of a trust which TIL
people have already resented in TIL
spring elections. and which they vii
surely punish with blasting severity il
elections yet to come.
The republican promise of prosperit.
was an easy one to fulfill. 1t has beer
deliberately withheld, and the Ameri
can people perfectly know why.-N. Y
World,