The Mankato free press., 1912-07-26
THOSE DEMOCRATIC DAYS,

THOSE DEMOCRATIC DAYS.
The Heron Lake Times, with it's
characteristic display of facetious-
ness and unbridled sarcasm, says that
it just knew some "damphool' stand
| patter would refer to the good old"
days of 1892, 1898 and the g. years
thereafter that made up Grover
Clevelands administration, and adds
that it required three years of the
Cleveland administration to get
things back to normal, sa.a s.ae
| But did the Cleveland administra-
ton .get things back to normal?"
Hardly. Confidence was not restored
| in the public mind until after Will
| liam Mckinley was elected presi-
dent in 1896. Then it was that
business conditions were bettered,
workshops were opened and the
wheels of industry began to revolve
after prolonged idleness. The world
looked brighter to everybody. Mr.
Mckinley was rightly called 1.-The ad-
vance agent of prosperity" ..
The editor of The Times should
recall that very soon after the cleo
tion of Grover Cleveland in 1892
fear took possession of the country
Both houses of congress were demo
cratic and with a democrat about
to be inducted into the office of
president, a panicky feeling seized
hold of the people. Trade began to
sag, there was tightening of the
purse-strings, manufacturers began
thrown out of employment, and con-
ditions were going from bad to
worse. ....
The climax of trade, industrial and
financial depression was reached soon
after Grover Cleveland was inaugu-
rated president, and an unsatisfac-
tory state of affairs continued up to
the day on which William Mckinley
was chosen the nations chief eXecu-
tive. However, his election was fol-
lowed by a restoration of trade and
industrial conditions that prevailed
previous to the Cleveland democratic
reign of disaster, which has not
faded from the memory of man.
Throughout Grover Cleveland's
democratic administration this coun-
try was in the throes of panic
that caused no end of grief and suf
fering. Thousands of honest work
men were cast out on the streets to
wear out the soles of their shoes
in search for employment which
they could not find Armies of the
unemployed marched on to Wash
ington to appeal to the president
and confress for relief, and they were
met with the curt answer: Keep off
the grass, ~. ts-..s'- ,
s. The fears of the business and in
dustrial world were fully realized
when a democratic congress COM
mitted malpractice on the tariff. This
had been predicted by no less a per-
sonage than Henry Watterson, edi
tor of The Louisville Courier-Jour-
nal, who, in an. article some time pre-
vious to the convening of that con-
gress, advised caution, but expressed
his doubts that the democrats would
be competent to handle the situa-
| ton.
Tariff for revenue only was the
democratic party shibboleth then and
! it is their slogan now. If they are
successful at the coming election
and the country is turned over to
that organization, the protective pol
icy that has been in vogue in this
country for more than fifty years
will be destroyed, and the very
foundation of our prosperity will be
shattered. ....... T. ...s. ......
The Free Press does not believe
that the farmers and the men who
work in the shops are going to lend
their aid to any such disastrous pro-
gram They will not care to pass
through the awful experience which
they were forced to undergo during a
previous democratic administration,
when the prices for farm products
were low, and at that the working
men had no money with which to buy
served. to warn the people against
the falsity of policy of tariff for
revenue only. s.....-....- .,.s.a... ..
The Free Press is not "yelling''
calamity, neither is it opposed to a
proper and scientific revision of the
tariff. There undoubtedly are some
inequalities in the schedules, and
they should be corrected, but the
protective feature should not be lost
sight of. With all the evils that are
charged up to the Payne-Aldrich law,
it can never be accused of having
foisted a panic on the country.
It's adoption by congress was not
followed by the closing of mills and
factories, throwing men out of en-
ployment, the organization of Coxey's
armies, the creation of free soup
houses, depreciation of prices for
farm products, and number of other
things that are born out of misery
and discomfort. The law may be
i faulty, but it has not made hard
times and sent honest workmen into
i the street to become objects of
charity.