The pioneer press. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 1893-190?, 1898-09-29

! n.spupican way. The Mckinley bill
cn became law in October 1890, was
'aIkeiy based on this Republican ide, Of
hs our revenues by increased uro-
lection. On many lines and /, many
ways IL gave more protection and while
IL removed the tariff on sugar, vet II took
care 10 AFFORD the sugar planter fair and
| ample protection bv means of bonptias
ANA the stimulus IL afforded to orr sugar,
rdisers, as well as other industrial enter
became apparent after a fair trial.
ana tlme demonstrated that, under nor
ma conditions. not aggravated nv undu.
,i'ahclai commissions, or q want of conf
uence in the government, il
Afforded Ample Revenues
TOT the wants of the government. During
Inc. fiscal years ending June 20 1891
1872 and 1893, there was a surplus every
year and the aggregate surplus for the
three years was $40, 49, 100 over and
ABOVE the expenditures of the government
"A fair working balance under normal
conditions But the Republican tariff
pollcy. under which the country had been
working and prospecting so long had ulti-
mately produced a boom in the business
ana industrial world which led. to some
extent 10 undue and excessive produce
tlon' while the high wages paid our labor
ing men and the large amount OF lands
thrown open to settlement under our lib
eral land laws had attracted an army of
immigrants to our shores, giving us an
oVerabundance of labor. This Industrial
Doom and boom in immgration-like all
booms-had its reaction and so II came
TO pass that by the fall of 1892 the re-
acton from an excess Of prosperity had
set in and we found ourselves i'm the in
ciplent stages OF n period of stagnation.
Under these conditions the Democracy
again Joined issue with us on the tariff.
while on the financial question they
Nia hn In
plete accord with us. ........,
Tarif reform. tariff reduction, was the
chiefnn not the only remedy prescribed
by the Democracy for the ncipient and
threatened hard times. Idle or poor paid
labor. redundant or non productive capt.
tai was told in fervid language I'm the
press and on the stump that our indus
trial and economic ills all came from a
too highly protective tariff, and that the
remedy lay in reaching II and bringing Ii
to a mere revenue basis. A sinking man
Is apt. to grab at a straw, and so II came
to pass that majority Of the people. in
a mood of discomfort. grabbed at this
Democratic straw and again elected
Cleveland president But the election was
scarcely over before the people seemed
stunned and appalled, by their own rash
ness. The nation seemed, all at once, to
shiver at the thought OF tariff reform.
More mills and factories and more me
came idle or barely existed. The very
vision into the Canaan Of tariff reform
aggravated and prolonged the distress.
At this time. too. the nation was threat
ened with--nay, suffering from-another
evil.
The SiIyer-Purchnse Law.
In 1890 the solid South. reinforced by
Democrats and Republicans from the So
called silver states. had forced through
congress the law requiring the govern
ment without any regard for our cur
rency wants, to purchase every month
100000 ounces OF silver, and to issue
treasury notes for the purchase price
thereof redeemable in coin. BY the end
of June. 1893 156. 49, .023 ounces Of silver
had been purchased. under this law, at a
cost of STAT 2l5, 49, for which treasury
notes had been issued. Our total stock of
silver money at this time. exclusive of
subsidiary silver. was S536."O0,II6. as
against 1907 .607 GS5 o. gold and S34G, 0OO,-
GOO of greenbacks. At this time the com
mercial ratio of silver to gold was 20 40
to I, and silver was still steadily falling
in value. At the time of the resumption
Of specie payment in 1879, a fund or Sloo,-
600, 900 i'm gold had been set apart as
redemption fund for our greenbacks, and
from that time up to Clevelands sec
ond term this fund had remained IN
tact and undiminished
Aside from confidence in the govern
mcnt. II was the maintenance OF this gold
redemption fund. undimintShed, that
served TO keep our silver and paper cur
rency on a parity with gold. The election
OF Cleveland and a Democratic congress,
with the promise and prospect Of tariff
reduction and so-called tariff reform, be.
got no alienation nor confidence. but, on
the contrary. seemed to breed greater
stagnation and distrust.
The senator Went on to show thar dur
ing the cleveland administration there
was great deficiency In the treasury ana
a rapidly sinking gold reserve neccesSitat-
ing large issues of bonds. He then con-
t,nuCd
This brief. plain and unvarnshed state
ment of facts shows how sCant ana futile
were the blessings of reform promised US
by the Democratic party in the fall or
1892, and how utterly incompetent that
party is to guide the destinIes of our
country, especially in days Of trial.
Cleveland was not to blame for the ad-
vent Of hard times. but he was to blame
for giving us no other relief than large
Issue of bonds, and a tariff law hostile To
the productive interests OF the country
aud insufficient in revenue. the Democrat
ir masses were sadly disappointed with
tariff reform" They learned by expe-
rience that it gave them no relief from
the hard times. To their minds, evident
w. some new remedy was needed, ana III
casting about for a cure they came TO
the conclusion that the whole trouble
came from the scarcity and dearness OF
money. and that the proper way to make
money abundant and cheap was through
the free coinage of silver at "A ratio OF 10
to l. The masses became so fixed and
enthusiastic with this idea that, win
the force Of almost whilrw!nd, they
forced their party in 1916 10 make TINS
the chief issue of the campaign and To
nominate the most pronounced and ag-
gressive advocate Of the theory their can
didate for the presidency. Reinforced by
the Populists-who were the original free
silver men--on this issue, as well as issues
not written in the platform, Jealous
and