The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1908-10-02

should be placed upon the statute
books, and as soon as 1t was determ-
ined in November that democratic
majority existed in both houses, with
q democratic president in the chair.
| their threat well-sustained of a change
from the protective system to the rev.
enue tariff ysstem brought on the pan
ic, and the democratic party proceeded
to carry out Is promises
The Panic of 1892.
The German Wilson bill first went
through the house. It received 600
amendments in the senate. The 600
amendments were sent back to the
house Of representatives, and by force
of those rules introduced by Speaker
Reed, and taken up by the democratic
members of that house, and now held
up by Mr.. Bryan as a means OF defeat
ing the rule of the people, those 500
amendments were adopted In the
house, and Mr. Bryan and another
| gentleman Of his side carried Mr.. Will
son, the author of the bill, on their
| shoulders out of the house of repre-
sentatives in joy and jubilation that
the bill had passed. What followed
the passage of that bill you know. Such
depression in our industries, such a
disaster to our business, such an In
i reference with the prosperity of the
! farmer has never been seen in this
country in its whole history. Wheat
went down below so cents corn went
down to 21 cents, oats went down to
/ IL 1-2 cents, and potatoes down to 27
/ IL cents. The farmer was loaded with
| mortgage and debts, and those four
years were burned into the hearts of
the farming business and working COM
munity by the suffering that they
brought. When at the end of that ad-
ministration the question came on as
\ to how or what party the American
people were to elect, Mr.. Bryan, seiz-
ing the democratic party from the con-
troll of Grover Cleveland, announced in
the democratic convention that while
protection had destroyed its thous-
ands (that did not seem a very appro-
pirate time to talk about what protec-
tion had destroyed in view of the fact
that just before the whole country had
been destroyed by free trade), the gold
standard had destroyed its tens Of
thousands, and therefore that the only
hope of the American people was to in
troduce an act providing for the free
coinage Of silver. The Inevitable effect
of which would have been to reduce the
value of the yard stick and the value
Of the dollar to so cents. In other
/ words, what he was preaching to the
people of this country was reputation
by legislative act, and never to any
people was there presented such an al
Turing bait.
It was dishonest, but the pin was
sugar coated by the statement that the
gold standard had been too high. That
!, was back in 1898. A crime had been
committed and that although your debt
might have been contracted year be-
fore because silver was worth more
in '73 than gold, therefore you were
justified in paying off a debt that was
a year, old in coin that in '73 was equal
to gold but year ago was equal to
SO cents. Now that being the attitude
of the two parties, and Mr. Bryan hav-
ing for the moment passed away from
protection and free trade and substi-
tuted another nostrum, another pana-
cea, the American people arose and
stamped on that proposition.
Bryan's Silver and Wheat.
II 'But Mr.. Bryan said the gold stand
ard-you remember about the crown
of thorns and all that imaginary
which he used to describe the awfu
destruction on the gold standard. YoI
remember the promise he made to yol
with his prophecies of ruin that we
J were going to come to IL we continued
the gold standard. He said that sill
J yer and wheat went together, that
silver was worth so cents on the dollar
and that proved 1t, and that therefore
you would keep wheat down to 81
J cents on dollar or less as silver went
down. It was hardly no time before
, silver went down and wheat went up
And wheat has been going up ever
since, until now. / don't know what
i 1t Is here, suppose it Is 81 cents (somt
one said 1t was 80 cents) and other
! products have gone UP in proportion
The truth is that the last IL years has
done nothing so far as Mr.. Bryan has
! been concerned but refutation of ev-
cry prophecy that he has made. But
: the republican party is not subject tc
: protection as fetch. 1t is not tha,
! the name protection so attracts ii .that
1t cannot get away from 1t, but 1t is be-
! cause 1t believes In the principle OF
) protection as means of supporting
| the industries of this country and Of
! furnishing a market to the farmers o1
Z this country so that they may get good
/ prices for their products. The theory
/ OF protection Is this: That when yor
!. put on customs duties equal to the diff
, ference in the cost. of production be-
tween this country and the countrie:
/ abroad. you Will enable the founding
: Iof manufacturing establishments and
3 the establishments for producing things
! In this country, which by competition
/, between them, by the Inventive genius
!. of American workingmen and Ameri.
G can business men, by the economical
Z and business ability of American man.
c ayers, you will be able so to reduce the
] cost Of production that In the compe.
4 tition prices will go down behind ths
$ tariff law and people will get the bene,
!. fit of that reduced cost Of production
: That Is the normal operation or th,
\ tariff, and 1t operates that way unles,
: there Is combination between ths
: producer which creates a monopoly ant
4 the monopoly, reducing the cost of pro
duction it may be taken advantage b,
: reason OF the control of the output anl
e | the control OF prices, OF the rates i'm
Q posed by the protective tariff Now /
: becomes important, therefore, that tn,
: measure of protection should be KEEP
: down to what Is really the differenc,
= between the cost OF production abroad
: and the cost OF production here. In th
3 course OF years by the normal opera
q
4 1 Y(sonfinfseza ~, Pare t7l.ux,ase