The Saint Paul globe., 1904-05-22

3Cc(-U--p H-,1-)p- -u-)o+ q
They have a right to know and desire
to know what a particular law enacted
by congress will do for the country. They
see the effect of such law and on this
effect they determine whether or not the
American people shall stand by a certain
policy. They are concerned very little as
TO what theory produces legislation,
whether it be protection or free trade 1t
Is the result of the application of that
theOry That concerns the actual welfare,
prosperity and happiness of a great peo-
pie.
Results Quickly Seen.
There is no legislation whose results
are so quickly and plainly seen by the
people themselves as that affecting the
American system of protection. And it
is on this legislation th&t the Republican
party stands as a general principle with
1tS feet planted firmly upon the rock No
theory can long stand, no matter how
correct as a theory alone, that cannot
stand first the test of the stern and in
eXorable logic of events. And results
alone, as seen and felt by the people
themselves, determine that test Bis
marck said, Il base my opinion on the
practical experience of time l see coun-
lIles under protection prospering, and
countries under free trade decaying''
far-seeing men like Bismarck, who pre-
1erred fact to theory and no less upon
the observation of the wage worker and
capitalist who also prefer fact to theory
that the Republican party rests its cause
before the people. The tariff was made
Ior man, and not man for the tariff, and
that party alone is useful to the people
which will make changes when changes
are shown by results to be necessary
results up to the present time have only
proved cOncluStvely, one year upon an
other, that the principle of protection as
announced by the Republican party is
the pest for all the people Of the United
States.
In the application of the tariff principle
legislation for that purpose NAV simnIv
degenerate into a selfish scramble between
o1Herent interests that may be able bv
reason OF their power and control of mem
Defs OF congress to obtain by combination
ana log rolling the schedules which these
complnatlOnS desire for their own pecuI-
lar purposes. But the Republican prin-
clpIe OF protection is to legislate for no
one locality The center of political in
nuence and power of this country is hun
dreds of miles west of its business and
industrial center. We find the former
west OF the Ohio, while the Industrial
center is found in Pennsylvania, New
ork' New Jersey and New England.
SCAtAoll COulDlIldIIOn between
the various sections of the country seek
TO legislate on the tariff for themselves
alone, New England, New Jersey. New
York and Pennsylvania would be power
less TO protect themselves. If selfish CON
SlderauonS, as distinguished from gem
eral principle, We're to govern such leg
lslatlve efforts, these great industrial cen
ters might easily be driven to the wall.
Signs Of Prosperity.
eral tariff principle the ordinary citizen
looks out over the country at large and
ascertains whether or not prosneritv
piesses all the people, by observing the
condltlon or wage earnerS: whether mills
are moving and whether business as A
whole Is profitable. If the wage earners
are proftably employed and money and
products are being accumulated and dis
tributed, then we have prosperitv Rut
my very good friend Mr.. w. Bourke Cock
ran. of New York, in the closing hours
OF congress, during a tariff speech. said:
NOW, If this definition of prosperity be
correct it follows that any system that
tends to swell the production of commodi-
ties Is the system that produces for the
happiness, welfare and prosperity of a
people"
Let US even take this conditional def
milton and try on it the results of pro-
lection.
In 1890 the amount of annual production
of this country, agricultural. mining and
manufacturing. aggregated $I2. .452. 1873. .662
In 1900 it aggregated $17. SCI, ,076, ,272. And
l wish to call attention to the fact that
this vast amount of production was be-
yoRd all question largely consumed in our
own country, because our exports during
the last few years have been only about
$1,000 100000, and our imports something
like $S0O,000 900, making the balance of
trade in our favor some five or six hun
dred millions, as the case may be: SO
that of this vast amount of production.
seventeen billions is consumed by the
people.
1t is not boarded; it is not piled up In
the banks; it is not stored away. 1t is
machinery; it is agricultural product: II
is the product of the mine. The gold and
silver amounted to only about $173, 900 900
1t must have been distributed among the
great mass of people. as they, as dis
tinguished from the wealthy few. are the
consumers of these products. This shows
an increase of production during that
period of $5,414,SS2. .610. This extraordi-
nary increase has taken place notwfth-
standing the fact that the years 1894.
1888. 1896 and into 1897. years of Demo-
cratic administration, were years of def
lett IN the treasury, accompanied with q
paraiyzlng panic that threw labor out of
employment and arrested the development
OF production. which makes the increase
all the more remarkable
Now, how does that indicate any nrae-
ress and development? The percentage of
Increase of production from 1899 To 1000