The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-06-20

/ Old dtu uCtp- ~ . ~ AOIEtI WIFI uS
in the body, but his influence still perme-
ates the Senate and will for all time make
better and kindlier the sons OF men, and
he lives in the hearts he left behind.
There is
One great society alone on earth
The noble living and the noble dead"
So many events of great portent have
been ramme into the past months that
We are apt to judge and measure the work
OF this administrator chiefly by the oc-
currences since the outbreak of the Span
ish war 1t is worth while for US to recall
earlier days.
When Mr.. Mckinley became President he
took the reins OF government after four
years of Democratic administration For
the first time in more than a generation
Democracy had full sway, with both houses
of Congress in party accord with the exec
utive. No summary of the unmerciful dis
asters of those four years can convey an
idea of a 1.-THE of the ruin they wrought
WHAT CLEVELAND DID.
In the four years preceding Mr.. Cleve-
lands administration we had paid two
hundred-and-sixty millions of the national
debt; he added Notwithstanding mil
lions to it's burdens. He found a tariff act
bearing the name of his successor and our
President. fitted to meet the requirements
Of our necessary expenditures. to furnish
the needed protection to our farmers and
manufacturers, and to insure the steady
and remunerative employment Of those who
labor. Instead of permitting manufacture
and that repose and stability of
law which are essential for working out
economic conditions he at once recommend
ed violent and radical changes in revenue
and tariff provisions. communications
which his party in Congress proceeded par
tally and disastrously to execute.
The appalling result of his policy is still
fresh In the memory of millions who suf-
fered from it. In four years the country
L rrtf-4ozA -4-oA en 400 sl,.-
with liabilities aggregating more than nine
hundred millions of dollars. One hundred
and seventy-seven railroads, with a mile
age of 5000 miles, or twice the circle of
the globe, and with securities amounting TO
nearly three billions of dollars, were I'M
able to meet their interest charges and
passed into the hands OF receivers. More
than 40 national banks closed their doors,
with liabilities reaching seventy millions;
wool and all farm products which tariffs
could AFFECT, lost tens OF millions In value;
farm mortgages were foreclosed by thou
sands throughout the great West; our
agricultural exports shrunk in value; the
balance of trade which had been In our
favor turned ruinously against US; the
the national treasury was depleted Of its
gold reserve; our government bonds were
sold TO syndicates at far below their mar
ket value before or since, and our steadily
declining revenues were insufficient to meet
the necessary expenses of conducting the
government.
WORKINGMEN SUFFERED.
- NolAtd q "a tiO AOoo
would have been great. but not irremedi-
able. Unfortunately, those who rely upon
their daily labor for sustenance, and their
families dependent upon them. constitut-
ing the great mass of the American peo-
pie. were made to feel heaviest this bur-
den of disaster. Nearly one-third of the
laboring population of the United States
were thrown out Of employment. and men
by thousands, able and willing to labor.
walked the highways of the land clamor-
ing for work or food.
Four years of commercial misfortune en-
abled our industries to meet, in a meas
ure, these changed and depressed condi-
tions, but when President Mckinley was
inaugurated the country was in a state
more deplorable than had existed for a
generation.
Facing these difficulties the President,
Immediately upon his inauguration, con-
vened Congress in extra session, and in a
message of force and lucidity summarized
the legislation essential to our national
prosperity. The industrial history OF the
United States for the past four years is
the tribute to the wisdom Of his judg-
ment. 1t is quickly eptomized.
The tariff measure, under which we are
an unusual volume of importations based
upon common knowledge that certain du-
ties onr, were to be ,L raised; the bill met the
necessarfes of life should be lowered and
not raised; advances in invention and new
tIduc COUulUOnS mace IL unnecessary and
unwise to revert to the higher tariff pro-
visions of the law of 1890; the increases
In the revenue provisions were slight. Yet,
notwithstanding all these facts, tending
to reduce income, the revenues from the
Dingley bill marched steadily upwards un-
til our normal income exceeded our normal
expenditures, and we passed from a condi-
ton of threatened insolvency to one of ma
tional solvency.
PROSPERITY STILL GROWING.
This tells but a small fraction of the
story. Under the wise provisions Of our
tariff laws and the encouragement afforded
to capital by a renewal of public confidence,
trade commenced to revive. The looms
were no longer silent and the mills de-
serted; railway earnings increased, mer-
chants and banks resumed business, labor
found employment at fair wages, our ex-
ports increased, and the sunshine of hone
Il again llumined the land.
The figures that illustrate the growing
prosperity of the four years of Republican
administration well nigh stagger belief.
There isn't an idle mill in the country to-
day. The mortgages on Western farms
have been paid by the tens of thousands,
and our farmers are contented and pros
porous. Our exports have reached enor-
nous figures: for the last twelve months
our exports of merchandise will exceed our
imports by $50 millions Of dollars. Our
manufactured articles are finding a market
all over the world and in constantly in
credSlng volume. we are rapidly taking
our place as one OF the. great creditor ma
tons of the world. Above and beyond all,
there is no man who labors with his hands.
in all our broad domain, who cannot find
work, and the scale OF wages was never in
our history as high as now.
Passing over, for the moment, the events
associated with the war, let me refer
briefly to other legislation OF the past
four years. We passed a national bank
rupt act, a measure rendered essential by
four years of Democratic rule, and under
its beneficent provisions. thousands of
honest men who were engulfed I'm disaster
because of the blight Of the Democratic
policy. are again enabled to transact busi-
ness and share the blessings of Republican
prosperity.
ANNEXATION OF HAWAII.
For half a century the Hawaiian islands,
a menace TO the long line of coast which
skirts our Pacific slope. have been knocking
for admission as part of our territory, and
during that period the publicly expressed
opinion of both political parties favored
their annexation. Four times nave they
been occupied by European powers. and as
often have we compelled their abandon
ment because IL was essential that they
should never be occupied by any foreign
power. Finally, after years of misgovern-
ment by native rulers, the gallant descend
ants of American merchants and mission
aries made prefer again of these valuable
| possessions TO this country. asking only IN