The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1902-11-04
HsTERICAL PROSPERITY.
The Fake Arguments OF Republican
Politicians.

There has always been an amusing
touch of Birdofreedom Sawin in Sena-
tor Hoar, and in his speech yesterday
at Boston he fairly scared X Milton
eagle, full in the eye of the sun. The
particular thing that fired his fancy
was the greatness of his countrys COM
merce and the pitch Of colossal pros
perity which she a cached. he
gloried in our enormous manufacturing
dc Ielopment. The sight of our export
ers dumping their surplus, at unheard-
of low prices, upon the covering inhaDl-
tants OF doomed Europe filled his soul
with joy. He e1ulted as the ~"conster-
nation OF English capitalists n Oh Ger
man EmperOrs," caused by the snip
pine combination of Mr.. Morgan. HIS
soul waz thrilled by the nations "cour-
age, and strength, and growth ana me-
and success" Webster TO Hulseman,
Blaine TO Lord Salisbury, never let the
eagle scream with a more plerclnsiS
triumphant note than lid the impul-
siye old Massachusetts senator, ever Il
youth in the ardor of his rhetoric.
But. alas, a breath may destroy all
this grandeur. Elect a democratic
OOuRTSSS, dnu llSh "hoS
Hoar's vision for his beloved and IN
yincibIe country? Nothing but calaml-
ty. disaster, hard times, violence, social
ism. fraud. is not this great BABY
lon'' which a high tariff has bullded!
Touch one schedule, shave OH the small
est fraction of a single duty, and ruin
will befal the whole. ena Hoar
seemed almost to feel himself In lmasl-
nation another observation-disclosures, turned
out in want under the dew or heaven,
as a result Of tariff reform. His propne-
cies of woe were truly a dying fall with
which to close q speech that began win
a long Rlerification of our triumphant
~sperit They gave the Irresistible
impression OF a giant shrieking in terror
at a mouse.
senator Hoar, in all this, but follow
ed the fashion set by almost all repuD-
Iican orators in this campaign. Their
cue ia to magnify prosperity, n to
cali upon the people to bless the part
that has given them u~nequalled natural
resources and undan harVeSts. 80
the statistics showing our vast d
ton and our gigantic trade roll trip
pingly from their tongues. They mouth
millions from every stump. They dem
onstrate to their gaping hearers IN
we now lead the world in the
ture OF steel and of textiles, that our
coal and iron are the most plentiful ana
the ~cheapeS on earth, our labor the
most skilful, our inventors the most fer
tile, our merchants the most alert, sc |
that no rival can stand against US,
We are certain to go forth into the mar
kets of all nations, ~conquering and to
conquer. Then comes the anti-climaX. |
The orator remembers that he is lax |
ing a political speech. He has got to |
turn the point somehow against the
democrats, and so his paean sinks at
once into a jeremiad. Only one thlng
oan DIM tho futurp or shake the I'M L
rock of our unparalleled
prosperity, and that is the horrible pos
sibility of a democratic house that
might venture to take off a tenth here
and there from tariff duties.
There is q comic confession about this
line Of argument, yet it is inherent and
unavoidable in the position OF repuo-
Iicans. They are compelled to max out
this country a perfect athletic OF indus
trialism, rejoicing as a strong man 10
run a race, yet at the same time as
nervous as an anaemic child, and the
prey of fantastic fears. We meet ana
defy the world, yet We go wild With
fright at a DOGGY in our oack yard. OUR
enterprising manufacturers 60 out TO
seek conquer the foreigner on ms
chosen feld-spap up contracts unusr
his nose in the Sudan or in Burman,
I'LL the world with their engines, their
tools, their mining and agricultural ma
S&AAAA$ "AAAA 49, Z
ing to feed all Europe-yet we are ask
ed to belief that one more change IN
a tariff which has been changed fifty /
times will instantly check all this won-
derful activity, will nullify all our nat
ural advantages and acquired skill, and
will fll the land with banked furnaces
and eiamorous beggsrS. If SenatJ
should sit down In cold blood to
PROFOUND this screaming ~~bsurdity to a
Yankee neighbor. We can guess the re-
Spouse he would get. 1t would be that
sneering drawl in which New england
has of old been accustomed to express
her skepticism, "Du tell"
II prosperity is to be thus hystericai,
ever dreading the unknown, its value
is sensibly diminished. If our giant
industries are to live in a state OF con-
tfnuaI funk-the bigger and more pros
porous they are the more timid some
thing is certainly rotten in their sys-
tenn. E.t every sane and Impartial
mar knows, of course, that the whole
thing is a huge Misrepresentation. Our