The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1912-04-13

a speech in the House of Representa-
tives, on February 10, on the tariff anC
republicanism, from which the follow
ing are extracts:
But the present peculiar condition
of the public mind is only an illustra
ton of the fact that history repeats
itself. In 1888 on the floor of the
Senate Of the United States, Daniel
Webster, after picturing the prosperi
ty of New England at that time, used
these words:
"Mr. President, such is the state
of things actually existing in the coun.
try, and of which 1 have now given
you a sample. And yet there are per.
sons who constantly Clamor against
this state of things. They call II
aristocracy. They excite the poor to
make war on the rich, while in truth
they know not who are either rich OF
poor. They complain of oppression
speculation, and the pernicious in
fluence of accumulated wealth. They
cry out loudly against all banks and
corporations, and all the means by
which small capitals become united
in order to produce important and
beneficial results, They carry on a
mad hostility against all established
institutions. They would choke UP
the fountains Of industry and dry all
its streams. In a country of unbound
ed liberty they clamor against oppres
sion. In a country of perfect equality
they would move heaven and earth
against privilege and monopoly. In a
country where property is more equal
ly divided than anywhere else, they
rend the air with the shouting of agra
rian doctrines. In a country where
the wages of labor are high beyond
all parallel and where lands are cheap
and the means of living low, they
would teach the laborer that he is but
an oppressed slave. Sir, what can
such men want? What do they meani
They can want nothing, sir, but tC
enjoy the fruits of other mems labor
They can mean nothing but disturb
snce and disorder, the diffusion OF
corrupt principles and the destruction
of the moral sentiments and moral
habits of society. A Righteousness OF
feeling and of action is sometimes
produced by prosperity itself Men
can not always resist the temptation
to which they are exposed by the very
abundance Of the bounties of Provid
ence and the very happiness of theiI
own condition; as the steed full Of
the pasture will sometimes throw him
self against it's Enclosures, break away
from it's confinement, and, feeling now
free from needless restraint, betakt
himself to the moors and barren'
where want, ere long, brings him tc
his senses, and starvation and death
close his career"
Did the orator have in mind in thi;
last illustration the fact that some
times hunger is the only thing thaI
will bring the wild-eyed agitator anc
his followers to their senses? Can Il
be possible that seventy-flve years age
they had in this country calamity
howlers" of the same brand as those
of our day? Those words of the greai
Webster would certainly lead us tC
conclude that not all the demagogue'
and preachers of discomfort live II
our time. [Applause.l
In what | have said, Mr. Chairman
I do not wish to be understood as con
demning radicals in politics, much les'
those who honestly strive for real re
forms. Radicals in politics, as in othe
lines Of social and human activity
have their uses, for they often attrac
the attention of people to faults whicl
otherwise would escape public atten
ton.
Their very exaggeration of the evil
of their time may help to do this Ihe
are one extreme, and the nonprogres
sive conservative, or as he has com
to be called in these days the re