Democratic Sentinel, Volume 8, Number 1, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 February 1884 — PYNE'S POSITION. [ARTICLE]

PYNE'S POSITION.

Speech of Ohio’s New Senator at the Cleveland Banquet < Gentlemen e/the General Assembly: You have seen fit to elect me to the highly honorable and responsible position ot a member ot the United States Senate. No doubt the compliment was mainly Intended for the patiently-waiting, long-suffering, ever faithful and true Democrats of Northern Ohio. For the first time in the history of the State they have been reoognizied and honored by their brethren. In their name I meet you tonight to thank you for the noble act of justice which has been so gracefully and generously awarded to them. For myself also I have desired this social gathering that 1 might in person assure you of my sincere and lasting gratitude, and give you a frank expression of my views on some of the pressing issues of the day. For fifty years I have been a resident of the State and a oola borer in the Democratic field. In forty-nine consecutive State elections I have supported and voted none other than the Democratic ticket, and every one of those votes has been cast in a Democratic ward in the oity of Cleveland. I have actively participated in twelve Presidential canvasses, in which, among other questions, the issues of the removal of the deposits by Gen. Jackson; the Independent Treasurer under Van Buren; the annexation of Texas; the war with Mexico; the popular sovereignty of Stephen A. Douglas; the Lecompton constitution of Buchanan; incipient secession at Charleston; the civil war under Lincoln; the abolition of slavery; the resumption and maintenance of specie payments; the great fraud of 1876 were by me discussed before the people without evasion or disguise; and I am proud to declare that to-night, reviewing the past from the advanced milestone in the journey of life, there is not one of the opinions then expressed that I would recall, or change, or modify, if I had the power to do so. This is all I care to say In vindication of the orthodoxy of my political faith or of my steadfast loyalty to the Democratic party. Gentlemen, I am induced to accept this Senatorship to which you have elected me mainly by the hope and belief that in the discharge of its duties I may be useful to the State and the party. The last must be secondary to and in harmony with the first, and both must have the approbation of my conscientious convictions. I will in no case knowingly violate the constitution or perpetrate a wrong. But to be useful the representative must be cordially sustained by his constituents, and that they may sustain him there must be between them and him a substantial agreement of views. As to the influence of the lobby I think you need have no apprehension. They have always deemed it expedient to give me a wide berth, and the increased rigidity that age imparts to the features will not be less repellant to their Insidious approaches. I will now proceed to some more Important questions. And first, civil service. For twenty-three years the disposition of Federal patronage has been in the hands of tho Republican party. Appointments have all been made from the adherents of that party, and mostly from the class of active politicians. The Federal Judges (Supreme, Ciroult and District), with their Clerks, Marshals, Assistants, Deputies, Registers, Master Commissioners, Assignees, have been and are Republicans. The heads of departments and their subordinates through all grades down to the messenger and porter, the sub-Treasurers, Collectors of both customs and internal revenue, Surveyors, Postmasters, letter-carriers, numbering in the aggregate more than 100,000, have been supplied from the one party, while nine-tenths of that party and the entire Democratic party have been and are now absolutely prescribed and debarred the public service. During the period money by the thousand millions has been collected and disbursed and the books kept by these partisan agents, furnishing an opportunity and a temptation for speculation, fraud, and concealment to which I should dread to expose even the ironolad Integrity of Democrats. Inevitably corruption and great abuses have crept in and hava been covered up; favoritism, protegeesm, nepotism, imbecility, and senility have obtained secure lodgment; demoralization has followed, and the public believe that a fetid mass exists, permeated with rottonness and gangrene. Now, can this service be reformed, and by what process? I answer, yes; and the process Is, first, by electing a Democratic President, and that is assured the present year, unless unwLdom and madness from the gods are permitted to block the way; second, by a pitiless and radical overhauling and purging of the present service. An Augean stable cannot be cleaned with a tooth-brush. You must turn on the hose, ply the hickory broom and scrub-brush, disinfect the premises, and give them a wholesome atmosphere for honest incumbents. Then let care be taken that none but such as bear the Jeffersonian stamp of “ honesty and capacity’ ’ be allowed to- enter, and those only from the Democratic party, until Its full rateable share enter to guard and proteot the public interest. If public offices be a sacrificial burden, all citizens should be compelled (by conscription, if need be) to share their portion. If, on the other hand, as most believe, it is a privilege and a blessing, onehalf or three-fourths of the whole population should not be excluded from enjoying their Just share of It. By this means reform is practicable, and, until accomplished, no stable settlement of the question can be obtained.

One year ago I ventured to make public some opinions in regard to the tariff, recognizing the divergence of views in the Democratic party and declaring that such divergence was the chief obstacle to the success of the party. At the State convention in June those opinions were oonsMered, condensed and crystallized into what has since become well known as the “Ohio platform.” It was unanimously approved by the convention. It distinctly rejects a “high tariff” or “ protection for “ protection’s sake ” on the one hand, and the equally inadmissible doctrine of “free trade ” or “tariff for revenue only ”on the other. It sought to find a compromise basis intermediate between the two extremes, which being equitable and just, would challenge the assent and concurrence of all lair-minded men and measurably remove it from the arena of partisan politics. Let me illustrate its excellence by an application to the interests of Ohio. For several decades Ohio has held'the third rank in the classification of States. Until the last ber main dependence fpr growth was in the development of her agricultural wealth. There were public lands to be entered, improved, populated, and created into new. counties. There was vast tracts of valuable timber, the building of canals, facilitating transportation to market, and, later, a system of railroads increasing these facilities and expending annually in their construction many millions of money. But now these aspects are greatly, changed. There are n9w no more lands subject to entry; there are no more, new counties in reserve; the valuable timber has been marketed; the canals have ceased to be tributary; and the railroad system is practically completed. The soil has been considerably impoverished; the cereal crops are. less bountiful, while the great Improvement of agricultural Implements, with the consolidation of small farms has, greatly reduced the demand for farm-bands. Even her wool staple is in peril of severe and Injurious attack. Is It not the duty of statesmanship to previse the sources of strength and growth that shall enable her to maintain the grand rank which she has hitherto held? The last census shows where these germs of strength are to be found. We have already more than 20,000 manufacturing and mechanical industries in which—included in great part by Congressional statutes—92oo,ooo,o.o of capital are invested, 160,000 hands are employed, receiving annually in wage) $60,000,000. Two hundred and flfjeen millions of material are used, and the manufactured product is $316,000,000 in value. More than 20 per cent, of her population And the r employment and livelihood in these Industrie). Iron ore and coal and other raw material are simply inexhaustible; her people are educated, industrious, and enterprising; and there is no reason why a ihousand other home industries should not spring up and flourish in our towns and villages as they have sprung up and are flourishing In the towns and villages of Few England. This will assuredly be the result If only Congress wUI let us alone. We

ask no high rates or special protection that j favor monopolies, but we ask and demand stability and exemption from agitation. Let the law of March last have a lair trial, and i as resulting statistics disclose error# and Inequalities they can and should be remedied; already our farmers are making a loud and just demand for the restoration of the doty bn wool. See how admirably the Ohio filstform supplies the satisfactory so ution of this economic problem: It reads: “Wefavor a tariff lor revenue” (no resort to direct taxation or the voluntary contributions of States) "limited to the necessities of the Government”—(negativing the idea of protection for protection only), "economically administered"—(not $350,000.000, or $400,000,000 as under Republican administration of extravaganoo and waste, but $250,000,000, or $375,000,000 under the plain but frugal and efficient rule of the Democratic party), "and so adjusted in its application as to prevent unequal burdens, enoourage productive industries at borne and afford just compensation for labor and not to create and foster monopolies." No fair criticism can question the Justness and soundness of the policy here outlined. The man who would place wool and all other dutiable goods on the "free list" and resort to direct taxes for revenue, and thereby destroy these home industries and dismiss this army of labor handß to idleness and want, or drive them into exile from the State, is not a wise or benefloent friend of the people. This platform then, in my judgment, is the fairest and wisest that has ever been presented for public consideration. I here declare it as my deliberate conviction that we, adhering to this platform, will oarry the State at both the Ootober and the November elections. I am gratified that the workingmen, consolidating themselves Into labor organizations and better understanding the relations of capital to labor, have almost universally accepted the declarations of this platform, and can no longer be deceived by the specious argument of the so-called free-trader; nor*cun they be plaoed In antagonism to us by the selfish appeals or throats of aggregate capital that has grown to unsafe proportions under the baneful influence of a too high protective tariff. My own position Is definitely taken. 1 adopt the Ohio platform in letter and spirit, and with the party I stand on it squarely and perpendicularly. There is a broad line of demarkation, extending from the equator to the arctic, distinctly separating our citizens and interests froth the interests of England. Suoceeding or falling, standing or falling, I will succeed or fall, stand or fall on the American sido of that line, and there in all eases will my voloo and my vote be found. We had a partial test of this tariff policy In the late canvass which resulted In tho most complete and magnificent victory ever won by our party. It has borne luscious fruits. Columbus was never wreathed In such joyous smiles as to-day. Tho departments are all In the keeping of our friends. We have asserted our power and have placed on the bench lawyers eminent for their learning and their integrity. We have once more a Democratic Governor, who in all the accomplishments for the offloe, In talents and In oulture, and spotless purity of character is not surpassed by any of the Governors of the thirty-eight States of the Union. And what shall I say to this Democratic Legislature but that the high character and intelligence of Its members give confidence that their actions will be governed by wisdom and prudence and furnish the gratifying assurance that positive progressive legislation, modified by a reasonable conservatism, guarded by a free or frank interchange of views, will result in the enactment of laws, equal and just In their character, that will make this session memorable for its regard for personable liberty and care for tho rights of individual citizenship. And I anticipate with confidence such results from the Democratic administration that the public will not soon desire a change". Reverting again to Senatorial duty, lam inclined to acoept the word "encourage ” as tbe keynote to most questions of public policy—ln regard to tbe fuller development of our agricultural interests, to coast defenses, river and harbor improvements, Including the Mississippi river, the reoovery and advancement of the mercantile marine, the negotiation of commercial treaties, especially with Mexico and Central and South. America, opening the markets of these countries to tbe products of our manufactories, educating tbe people, especially tbe illiterate colored, 75 per oent. of whom, In some of the States, can neither read nor write. Why not, to the utmost verge of constitutional authority, "encourage ” each one of these by liberal appropriation? No American right or interost should be treated with Indifference, much less In an unfriendly spirit. But 1 have detained you too long. I have said sufficient, I trust, to indicate the line of policy I shall pursue, If permitted by a kind Providence to enter upon the duties of the high office which you have conferred on me. Gentlemen, 1 ask you all to Join me In a sentiment—"Tbe health of the members of tbe General Assembly of Ohio.”