Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1901-1906, 1904-08-26
FOL DE.ROL ABOUT 1893 PANIC
Statement of Cannon and Littlefeld Com
pared Nth the Cold Facts Of History

1t Is a pity that such able men ana
attractive orators as Speaker Cannon
and Congressman Littleiie.d should put
forth such campaign rot as they nave
been doing on the Vermont stump TO
the effect that the panic of 1893 was
due to the Democratic victory OF looz
because OF fear Of lowered tarili. line
people wanted a change, ana goe
it," they say, and so on.
Botn these gentlemen know, ms every
ordinarily, intelligent citizen knows
that the 1893 panic and its following
hard times were part OF worid-wide
business storm, that swept over hlgh
tariff and low tariff countries alike,
that il 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 ,,lson. German bill, and contin-
ued nearly two years after the Repub-
lican party returned to power and
over a wear after the restoration of the
highest tariff we have ever known in
the Dingley bill.
They Nnow, 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 a chief factor in leading to
the formation Of the constitution:
Before there was any tariff ut all In 1855
A temporary one under per cent
TO 10 per cent tariff ...li9J
Another, under embargo and high
war-tariff prolonged ............ .lsoi-is
Another, following the first distinct
lively protective tariff that of 1916 1sls-l9
Another. though the tariff had been
twice increased lin 1894 and 2s) ..1S2I-2s
Another, long and severe, beginning
four years after the tariff was low
cred DIV the BIZ lof '33) ............ 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 (enactei
after II had begun .............. ...Iofo
The next lasted but few months
Though almost simultaneously was
enacted the lowest tariff we ever
had NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. .Aoo'
The next came under the Republican
war tariff .................... - 'io"o-'
The next, the longest and hardest we
ever had was under the highest
tariff we had ever had up to that
time ................... = :. i0'' =
The next followed close upon the lSs2
raising OF the tariff .............. .loo4-o
And the next close upon the enact
ment OF the Mckinley tariff, the ~
highest up to that time ....'...'...de 'o y
The next, as above explained in ...'loso-o
And under the highest tariff of all mas
come the regular decennial depres- 800
sion Of .................... '''' 'Aooo
These dates disclose what is PLAIN 10
any thinking man, that while high
tariff. by over stimulus to speculation,
NAV hasten and intensity panics ana
as consequence lengthen the ensuing
hard times. and while low tariff may
alleviate and shorten them, they VIII
come about once in so often, regardless
of either, as they have always done IN
This and all other countries. That OF
1895 was longer and harder here than
anywhere else because of the Mckinney
tariff and the Sherman silver purchase
act, passed by Republican bargains and
votes. The exceptional degree OF sever
itv OF that of 1889 was also due to he
| publican policies.