The Elbert County tribune., 1899-09-14
DEMoCRACY'sCHANCE
CAN GET FREE TRADE w,rurx
PANSIoN.

'Arp Seems to n. Ar.i,.,
s'rieted Foreign comp.,,,,.
!" Advance the Opportunity tn r,,,,
' Years Campaign on Old Lines.
New York Tribune: This is iu., a..
,raS ali others. cries a stalwart free
''auer' Tor the democratic party to ac-
sJ.npilsh I'm, the overthrow of protection
WIN ease. After battling for genera
.,'ns on that issue. Is IL conceivabl,
mat the party will run away from 1,
reciseiy when the best opportunit, Of
.ss Nnoie history comes? This was
'he one question on which II won sur-
cess with Cleveland. and IL would he
anlaHlns folly now to abandon It for
.ue one question on which It sustained
~ most complete and humiliatinr de-
ieat with Bryan. With new posses
slohs which produce sugar largely.
some radical alteration of the tarif
VIII be unavoidable. and II will be all
'he more easy Just now to oyerthrow
protective duties. because the great
industries have gained a hold ON for.
.Ish markets, and want protection no
ionser' Such, in substance. is the
reasoning OF sundry democratic Jour
nals which seems to have been sug-
sested by certain pithy remarks OF
senator Morgan In the same vein.
ihat senator will be treated with re-
spect by all who appreciate a genuine
Americanism, but II this particular
suggestion were found afioat without
MS name attached It might be attrib-
uted to those. whom that senator holds
IN deep contempt as enthusiasts Of
Things foreign. Where has the senator
learned that American industries no
longer want protective duties, unless
from foreign journals printed on both
sloes OF the ocean, He would not find
his constituents about Birmingham Of
mat mind nor the sturdy wool-g grow
ers OF the west. who have done at least
their full share in maintaining the
honor Of the flag. Nor have the wool
manufacturers made so much as a re-
spectacle beginning In the way OF in
Fadlng foreign markets, and they well
Know that another Wilson tariff would
mean for them, and necessarily for
wool-growers, another four years OF
extreme prostration. But the question
VIII, In fact, be decided, not by the
manufacturers but by the millions OF
workers who knew what II was to hunt
In vain for work at low wages under
Cleveland. 1t is exactly because the
democratic party did succeed once on
that Issue with Cleveland that It was
ready TO run away from il. even into
populism. defeat and disgrace.
The idea that the tariff must be re-
constructed because new possessions
grow sugar is presented by Senator
Morgan with his accustomed zeal, but
not with his usual studious examina-
ton. II he had reviewed the history
OF his country with reference to this
question he would have found that 1t
had been decided before. and not as he
supposes. Possessions of the United
States do not become part of the
United States until they have been
brought within the union as states or
territories. The tariff Is to-day en-
forced respecting imports from Porto
Rico and the Philippines exactly as II
they had in no sense become property
of the United States. President Nc
Kinley is we'll advised in declining to
abrogate law on the supposition that
congress will make such disposal OF
new possessions that the tariff will no
longer apply to them. 1t is a marvel
that Senator Morgan seems ready to
assume that Americans will request
the mixed and colored races of the
islands to help Americans govern this
country.
Were IL determined on any ground or
for any reason to admit the sugar OF
Porto Rico free. as the sugar Of the
Hawaiian Islands has been admitted.
1t does not follow that the conse-
quences would be of large Importance.
Porto Rico is not OF unlimited size, nor
has II such a supply OF unoccupied land
and available labor as would promise
any vast outcome OF sugar. The sup
ply from that island has fallen OF ma
terially. TO this country more than half
since 1872, and was never large enough
to all countries to compare with the
quantity received by this country from
Hawaii. But II may be added for the
OF ee-traders that any
reduction in the revenue derived from
Of sugar would assuredly
be followed by heavier duties upon the
articles which this coun-
try is able to produce for itself. in or
der to secure further development of
home industries as result OF the col
lection OF higher revenue for time.
This country has not done growing yet.
is not inclined to stop developing its
industries and is not in the humor to
return to the theories which brought
disaster under democratic rule.