Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1903-09-29
A. B. cuMMlNs OPENS
THE IOWA CAMPAIGN
(Continued from Page ~

the purpose of eliminating unfair COM
petition in labor, he is excluded from
our shores. do not believe that our
immigration laws are perfect There
remains still much to be done in order
to limit the men and women who come
hither to those of whom it can be said
they will become good citizens; but
the suggestion that we have not been
as careful to protect labor as we have
to protect manufactured comm ODDITIES
is so unwarranted that it is overthrown
by the most casual reflection. If there
is any logical deduction from the dem
ocratic position, it is one which will
hardly commend the party to the wage
workers of this country. 1t means, if
it means anything, that it will be the
democratic policy not only to create
free competition in our markets for
manufactured products, but free COM
petition in labor as well, and that
means the repeal of the statute for
bidding the introduction of contract la
Dor and the removal of the prohibition
against the Chinese. When these
things are done the democratic party
will have free trade, and have it with
a vengeance, and the whole people
will have free ruin, and have it in plen-
ty. l marvel at the audacity of a dem
ocratic speaker proposing remedies for
the relief or the promotion of the well
fare of the laboring man. 1t had the
president when it elected Cleveland in
1892, and year after his Inauguration
it had both branches of congress. 1t
thus had the government complete,
and what did it do for the betterment
of the wageworker? To reply graphic
ally and feelingly you have but to sum-
mon your memories of the years be-
tween 1898 and 1897 1t has been said
that the people naturally hunger for a
change. do not believe this is true,
but if it is, for the sake of humanity,
let the change be made by some other
power or some other party than the
democrats, whose whole history is one
recurring round of folly and failure.
The Farmers.
turn now to the farmers for whom
the tears of the free trader flow so
copiously. Mr.. Sullivan declares, and
apparently with the utmost sincerity,
that the system of protection not only
does not benefit them, but destroys
and impoyerishes them. Without an
alyzing the statement, as | presently
shall do, but taking it up by it's four
corners and looking at it broadly, and
then looking at the farmers knowing
what they are, what they have done,
and what they are doing, it is incon
ceivable that any serious man should
believe that they are the victims of
dishonest and vicious economic sys-
tenn. How emphatically they will re
pei the charge will be seen in the
coming November. Before they speak,
say for them that they are the hap
piest, most prosperous, most progress
the borders of the republic. They
have their ups and downs, their high
prices and low prices, their good years
and bad years, but taking all times
and all conditions together, they have
accomplished more than any other
class, and | congratulate them most
heartily upon their brilliant success.
The democratic candidate for governor
seems to be of the opinion that be-
cause the duties levied upon agricul-
tural products do not materially en-
nance the price of these products, that
therefore the protective system robs
them of the amount of the duties col
lected upon manufactured importa-
lions and otherwise saps their vitality
and hampers their progress. pro-
pose to deal with this subject from
my own point of view, which may
not be that occupied by every advo-
cate of protective laws. | believe it
to be true that, with the exception of
sugar and cattle, the duties levied up
on the principal agricultural products
have little or no effect upon their
prices; that is to say, under the
present conditions the right of free
importation of agricultural products
would not materially enlarge the COM
petition of our own markets. Mr.. Sui
livan will unquestionably take this
statement and proceed at once to
the conclusion that the farmers are
bearing the burden of protection. If
he does, he will disqualify himself as
man of thought and convince his
hearers that he takes the most super
fetal view of economic and industrial
affairs. My proposition is, and l shall
establish it, that of all the classes in
to which people are divided no class
has been more benefited by protection
than the farmers.
The first thing that the farmer wants
to insure his prosperity, is large pop
ulation not engaged in agriculture, who
will consume the things that he pro-
duces. We have such population,
and it's growth has been the wonder
of the world. Would we have had it
under the influence of free trade? The
second thing he wants is that this
population shall be able to buy and
consume what he has to sell. We
have such a population. Would we
have had it under free trade? The
third thing that he wants is transpor-
tation from his farm to the market.
We have in this country, besides all
our waterways, 100000 miles of rail-
way. Would we have had these miles
of railway under free trade? Fourth,
he wants all the inventions which ge-
MUS can discover, to aid him in plant
ing and harvesting his crop. Would
we have had these inventions under
free trade? The truth is that with
our vast regions of territory, the far
mer, without the development which
can be imputed to no other cause than
protective duties, would have had both
inadequate markets and inadequate
accass Tn than For i11I1ctration fake