Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1904-08-19
AN APPEAL TO FACTS
GRAVE QUESTION TO BE DECIDED
BY THE VOTERS.
The Conflict IL Between the New
Civilization and the OId-For and
! Against the rphoIdina Of the
American standard OF Living.

Aghinst the Uphoidina OF the
American standard OF Living.
Peace hath its patriotism
No less q. be reyered than that Of war.
a savage is patriotic. But his pa
triotism Is chiefly evidenced by willing
use OF spear and club against defend
ing or offending foe He exemplifies
a current definition. MY country, right
or wrong" by fighting with his tribe
IN any cause. Civilized man has other
foes than those who come with spear
or club. rifle or cannon, and his pa
triotism, because he is civilized and has
advanced from the crudeness OF the
savage, should impel him to confront
these other foes as readily as he leaps
at the military kind.
Tribe against tribe and nation
against nation keep the world in a
state of perpetual war. The weapons
vary, and the warlike objects vary.
Sometimes land conquest or land de-
Tense Is the object. Sometimes COM
mercial conquest or commercial de-
Tense is the object. But the United
States is engaged In n war peculiar, 1t
being a defensive war, waged on be-
half of its workingmen against the
workingmen of Europe. 1t Is a war of
the new civilization against the old.
1t is a war for the maintenance here OF
comfortable homes supported by larger
than mere Giving wages" for the edu-
cation of the children Of the tollers. for
the independence of that great body of
our people who create those American
products that have stormed all Of
earth's countries. In short, 1t is a war
for the unfolding Of that state and
style Of everyday existence which is
denominated American
Some conditions are las they are"
and cannot readily be mended. Not
even Democratic stump speakers or
demagogues can mend them. The So
cial condition, that one man is called
capitalist and another Is called
''workingman," is of this at present
Interchangeable kind. Possibly the time
may come when both of these desig-
nations, with the classes that they
represent, will be swept away. But
certainly not yet for awhile will
money thrive without a handler nor
will machinery produce without a
guiding hand. Things are as they
are In that respect. Here in Ameri-
ca, however, they could be made much
worse for the workingman, whereas
now he Is at the summit of labor's at
tainment. And they may be much
worse unless he fights for his home and
fireside against q foreign foe who Is
aided by an American political party.
'My Countrywide whole worldr' is a
noble sentiment, but as yet it is but
sentiment. Happy it will be for all
mankind when, in the good coming
time, there are no national boundaries.
But that day has not risen, and we
must wait little longer, acting in
the meantime as nation should that
would keep from entrance that which
is harmful to 1t. And harmful and
disastrous would 1t be to this country
were its workingmen reduced to the
condition of those Of Europe. What
prevents that disaster2 What else but
protective tariff! Remove 1t, and
quickly the whole land would be food
ed with European goods, sold Mt q
price with which we could not COM
pete, because the American working
man receives, and must receive, larger
wages than the European. And 1t
matters not to our workingman that
he himself might buy these goods
cheaper than his own employer would
sell to him, for If the competition has
closed his factory and stopped his work
and income, wherewith shall he buy 2
Let an appeal to fact be made When
political campaigns threaten the SUBJ
stitution Of free trade for tariff, the
business interests, long familiar with
the aims and powers Of their foreign
rivals, take fright and curtail in
every possible way. Surely the men
at the compass and helm are more to
be trusted in so vital a matter than
men whose lives are spent in talk,
talk, talk, and in fruitless fight for
Office.
Under any tariff there will be Unequal
tiles and injustice, and this is special
ly true in the United States, where
there are so many conflicting COM
mercial interests. Some men will grow
richer than they ought, and others will
gain less than their due. Corruption,
too, will here and there be manifest.
But, taking things as they are" the
American tariff is the finest creation
Of our legislators. 1t has enriched and
exalted the nation while providing con-
tinuous remunerative employment to
our ,workingmen. Once again the cam
paign for its permanency Is rising to a
crisis, calling once more to its support
millions and millions Of patriotic Amer
leans. Patriotism's test Is being pre-
Bented to the nation 1t demands that
factions in party subside, that class
warfare be truced in presence Of a
common foe, that every patriot be upon
the ballot firing line on voting day and
that, by every lawful means, kepub-
lican victory, an American victory, be
assured against European invasion.
Peace hath its patriotism
No less to be revered than that Of war.