Mountain Home maverick. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1906-1911, 1908-10-08
THE PANIC FALLACY.

and hard times during Democratic
incumbency is being worked again
for all it is worth this year. We
cannot but admire the nerve of
Republican orator who, in the face
of the sevcrest stringency the coun-
try has ever experienced, uses this
old, worn out saw in the expecta-
tion that it will be as efficacious
as it was twelve, eight and four
years ago. Reasoning people al
ways have questioned, and most
others now are questioning, the
selfish assumption of the Republi-
cans that they can control the open
sesame to prosperous conditions.
You will be told many times before
election day that the panic of 1898
was brought about by Cleveland's
election and that the panic of 907-
Oh was precipitated by small
coterie in Wall Street for selfish
purposes. This is magnificent
logic, but what are the facts
Grover Cleveland retired from the
presidency in March, 1889, and
during the four years of his incum-
bency there had been material pros
perity and great development
throughout the country. There
was surplus of close to 500, o00,-
600 in the national treasury. Ben
jamin Harrison was the Nations
head for the next four years, dur
ing which time the Mckinley tar
iff was enacted, and we all know
how high protective tariff has
been the Republican fetch all these
years. He made way for Cleveland
in March, 1893, turning over as
eagcv a treasury deficit of owe r
$4,000, 600 and such conditions of
unrest as the country had not ex-
perienced since the civil war. The
great Homestead riots and other
equally serious disturbances had
occurred during Harr ison's admin
istration and had left an imprint
which required many years to eff
face. The Republican press of the
country, and the Republican lead
ers, took advantage of a condition
which they themselves had brought
about, and assaulted Cleveland as the
harbinger of disaster. This was
before any Democratic policies
had been enacted into law and
while the country was supposed to
be enjoying the benefits of Re-
publican legislation. 1t should be
recalled thet the Wilson-Gorman
tariff bill was not enacted until
October, 1894, almost two years af
ter Cleveland election, and all
the bank failures, of which the
republicans made so much CAPT.
tai, occurred prior to the enact
ment of that law. We who have
seen the Western country develop
since 1892 recall how sparsely
settled the country was at that
time; how many were just then
commencing to make their homes
and in most cases had them mort
gagged and we're working day and
night to make both ends meet.
Mckinley was elected in 1896.
Shortly after that the marvellous
gold discoveries were made in AL
asks which brought such an influx
of wealth into the country. Then
the Boer war and the Spanish
American war developed a great
market for our products and every
one prospcred. In the meanwhile,
Western lands which had been
productive were brought under
cultivation end the farmers who in
1892 were just commencing to
make homes had products to sell.
They were enabled to pay off
mortgages and build good homes,
but does any sane man undertake
to say that conditions would have
been any different under a Demo
cratic administration. We pro-
duced the stuff that the world