The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-11-05
MIGHTY CHEERS GREETS CLEVELAND
 AS HE LAUDS ALTON B. PARKER
tcontInue4 from Flrat Paae)


 have seen list of leading corporate lns dustrial combinations numbering zi' o4 which I could count only B exlstms ae the time this law became operative. on- der the stimulus of increased pIoteetitoH afforded by the Mckinley tariIl they pc gan to multiply. The statenene nes .9t,a- 9se made that under this tarln UT fas.et prior to the passage of the Dingley Ia" in 1S97 only 80 of these trusts ana coIh- binations had been formed. It must pc noted, however, that during about three years immediately before that aate' lne Wilson tariff law was In force. ms was democratic measure which repealeu the Mckinley enactment and lowered duties While the Wilson law prevailed, the creation of trusts ana complnauons almost entirely ceased as was naturally to be expected in view of the raet that the atmosphere of democratic tarln leg islation and the policy of the democratic party is unfavorable to the growth and development of these particular infant industries.
 Raised to Over SO Per Cent.
 .The Dingley tariff law of 1897 raised the average of import duties to some thing over 50 per cent and made the high water mark in our. countrys tariff legis- lation. Its fond parents have placed upon the family record contained in their bible entitled Republican Campaign Text Book 1904 the following mention of the child's birth and It's lovely traits:
 Went into effect July 24, 1897, known as the Dingley act-thoroughly protective and stated in it's title that it's purpose was to provide revenue for the govern ment and ito encourage the industries of the United States."'
 Has Burdened the People.
 Tt has indeed provided revenue for the
 .s-Irr l.ra,-- dened the peoples put public economy to shame and invited extravagant schemes and wasteful expenditures and among the industries of the United States which 1t has encouraged-the promotion of trusts and combinations stands high on the list In the month of March, 1903, distinguished republican member of con- gress on the floor of the house of repre- sentatives presented a carefully prepared list of industrial combinations existing on the 1st day of January in that year. They numbered 453, more than four-fifths of them apparently organized within six years under the thoroughly protective Dingley act. To what extent this num- Der has been increased since that time do not know; but the work has gone merrily on. Whatever the number may be, we only have to compare the general situation and known facts now existing with those existing when the Dingley law took effect to see how prolific this most exorbitant of all schemes for tariff protection has been of these industrial contrivances.
 Is Parent and Accessory.
 T ought net to fatigue your intelligence by detailing further facts showing that the protective policy which the republi- can party has imposed upon the country and which that party in the pending cam paign nosily defends not only has some thing to do with trusts but that by it's very nature as well as by it's na- tural results it is the parent and access sorry of the robbing marauderS which vex and afflict our peoples life and de- mand tribute in every home of our land. They dictate the prices we shall pay for the food we eat, the clothes we wear and the habitations in which we live. We are within their shadow from the cradle to the grave. Even beyond the grave they follow us. We hear of tombstone trust protected by tariff duty of from 33 to 60 per cent; and the newspapers in- formed us only a few days ago that a convention of associated undertakers was thrown into consternatlon by the non appearance of it's treasurer
 You cannot wonder that I am startled by the difference between conditions now and thrse that prevailed when visited Newark in the Pra@deptial cam- palsn or loof lheh the t#S49 were nut in the letters of trussA ILL combina- tions; the expeneitux - esNhe govern ment were careful and E9zzHical as com pared with the extE<ezSHnce of these later days; and the fareN of tariff taxa tion which the democracy then condemn- ed as yielding more than sufficient rev enue for government needs, was moder- ate as compared with present exactions. l come again after twenty years. The rate of tariff taxation has increased by one-fourth the expenditures of the gov ernment have more than doubled; and hundreds )f industrial trusts and com binations, tha vicious progeny of extreme tariff protection, openly or ssealthily search the pockets of our people. Again l use my words of twenty years ago; srhe right of the government to exact tribute from the citizen is limited by its exact necessities; and every cent taken from the people beyond that required for their protection by the government is no better than robbery
 Do the People Realize?
 .As I repeat those words, the question is in my mind whether the startling charges we contemplate will add force and emphasis to this sentiment which in 1884 was endorsed by our countrymen, or whether with these changes another of deeper and sadder significance has taken place in our peoples modes of thought and their conceptions or Ameflcan SluTul- ness of citizenship. Has the steady growth of public extravagance been so artfully concealed by glorifieation of their country's progress that they no longer consider public frugality as a funda- mental element in governmental duty which they cannot remit either With safety to our institutions or justice to their own best interests?
 Have our people been so misled by the glamor of unsound prosperity and so de- ceived by the pretense that an exorbitant protective tariff in some mysterious way assures their happiness and easy exis- tence, that they are willicg to accept blind faith in a prosperity which the masses of our countrymen neither see nor feel, as against the tangible evil dence supplied by increased cost of every necessary of life enforced self-denial In every home and everywhere curtailed op- portunity for remunerative employment?
 Will They Abjectly Surrender.
 Has the pressure of trusts and monopolies become so familiar and has their pretense to benevolent purposes so to abjectly surrender their claim to equal ity before the law and to support a pol icy which to their undoing makes these aggregations of riches and power more rich and more powerful? Have the plain people of our land-independent, proud Americans-so degenerated that they do not resent the humiliating suggestion that those made rich through unjust favorit-