St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1904-08-24
FOL -RoL ABOUT 1893 PANIC
Statement of Cannon and Littlefield Com
pared with the Cold Facts of History

It is pity that such able men and
attractive orators as Speaker Cannon
and Congressman Littlefie4d should put
forth such campaign rot as they have
bssn doing on the Vermont stump to
the effect that the panic of 1893 was
due to the Democratic victory of 1892
because OF fear of lowered tariff. "The
people wanted change, and got
it, they say, and so on.
Both these gentlemen know, as every
ordinarily, intelligent citizen knows,
that the 1893 panic and its following
hard times were part of worldwide
business storm, that swept over high
tariff and low tariff countries alike,
that it Frustrated South America, Aus
tralia and India before it reached here,
that it began several months before the
Republican party went out of power and
two years before the tariff was touched
by the uilson-Gorman bill, and contin-
ued nearly two years after the Repub-
ican party returned to power and
over year after the restoration of the
highest tariff we have ever known in
the Dingley bill
They know, as does every American
school-boy, that whatever the tariff or
party in power, financial revulsions have
come almost regularly once in 10 years,
and once in 20 years /, with great
severity and long duration; and that
the only exceptions are in favor of low
tariff. Thus we had one, long and
severe and chief factor in leading to
the formation of the constitution:
Before there was any tariff at all in 1855
temporary one under per cent
to 10 per cent tariff ............ .1793
Another, under embargo and high
Il 4
Another, following the first distinct
lively protective tariff that of 1915 1888
Another, though the tariff had been
twice increased dn 1924 and '2s) ..1827-2s
Another, long and severe, beginning
four years after the tariff was low
cred Cby the bill lof 1887 ......... 1887
The next came four years after the
high tariff Of 1912 and was soon
ended after the enactment of the
Democratic tariff of 1916 enacted
after it had begun ..................1 s46
The next lasted but few months
Though almost simultaneously was
enacted the lowest tariff ever
had) 1887
The next came under the Republican
war tar1n $1,000. .1ooo-i
The next, the longest and hardest we
ever had was under the highest
tariff we had ever had up to that
time .1Sf5-S
The next followed close upon the 1882
raising Of the tariff ............. .1SS4-5
And. the next close upon the enact
ment Of the Mckinley tariff, the
highest up to that time ........... 1890
The next, as above explained in 49,. 1898
And under the highest tariff of all has
the regular decennial depres-
sion OF .1SOo-7
These dates disclose what is plain to
any thinking man, that while high
tariff, by over stimulus to speculation,
may hasten and intensity panics and
as a consequence lengthen the ensuing
hard times, and while low tariff may
alleviate and shorten them, they will
come about once in so often, regardless
of either, as they have always done in
this and all other countries. That OF
1898 was longer and harder here than
anywhere else because of the Mckinley
tariff and the Sherman silver purchase
act, passed by Republican bargains and
votes. The exceptional degree of sever
ity of that of 1889 was also due to Re-
publican policies.