Democratic Sentinel, Volume 12, Number 36, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 September 1888 — JOHN GRIFFIN CARLISLE [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

JOHN GRIFFIN CARLISLE

THE SPEAKER UNANIMOUSLY RENOMINATED FOR CONGRESS. A Masteny A<l<lre«s Showing the Enormity of Republican “ Protection ” —The Top of Carnegie’s Coach a Poor Place from Which to View American Industrial Affairs. The Democrats of the Sixth Kentucky District, in convention at Covington, Hon. John G. Carlisle for Congress by acclamation. As soon as the Chairman had formally announced the choice of the convention there ■were loud cries for the nominee. The Speaker was escorted to the platform, the delegates and spectators cheering wildly meanwhile. When quiet had been restored Mr. Carlisle made an exceedingly graceful speech, which was frequently interrupted by applause, particularly when h 3 mentioned the name of the President. Mr. Carlisle said: “Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the convention. I scarcely know in what terms to thank the Democracy of this district for the action to-

day. Twelve years ago I was nominated for Congress in this hall, and since then the Democracy of this district has chostnme six times in succession to represent them in the House of Representatives of the United States. No man could be insensible to such devotion on the part of his friends, and I assure you, gentlemen, that I feel most profoundly my sense of gratitude and obligation to you and the people whom you represent.

“I accept your nomination and shall endeavor "to meet as many of you ».s possible between this and the election, although my duties at Washington prevent me from giving much attention to my own district. I not only accept your nomination, gentlemen, but I indorse to the fullest extent the resolutions you have just adopted, except that part of them as relates to me personally. “The great question before the country is the question of Federal taxation. It makes but little difference whether I am elected to Congress •or not, but it is of overwhelming importance to the people that the next House of Repreeentatives should be Democratic, and that the next President should be a Democrat also. Th 3 two political parties have nominated their candidates and made formal declaration of their principles. You will be called on next November to decide between them. The Repub.ican party has chosen as its standard bearers Mr. Harrison, a respectable lawyer of Indianapolis, for President, and for Vico President, Levi P. Morton, a very rich banker in Wall street. The Democratic party has selected the true and tried, the incorruptible President who now nils the chair; the man who has brought the administration back to the ways of the Constitution and given to this people a clean, conservative, and faithful administration of the law. With him they have associated Mr. Thurman, who for many long years has been the best and truest representative of our Western Democracy. “But it is not, gentlemen, my purpose to make a speech. Many of you want to return to your homes on the afternoon train, and many of you are anxious for your dinner. I want to call your attention, though, to the overwhelming importance of the great question which is n w presented for the decision of the people, and I congratulate you on the fact that at last, after many long years of struggle, we have got this question fairly and squarely before the pet.pie. It is declared in the Democratic platform tnat unnecessary taxation is unjust taxation, and by that declaration the Democratic party will stand or fall in this contest. “When President Cleveland was inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1885, he found on the s atute books laws, passed by Republican Congresses, under which there was lieing annually collected from the people nearly ¥100.0)0,. 000 in excess of the actual necessities of the Government. He found a large surplus accumulated in the vaults of the Treasury, and that all the public debt in control of the Government except about ¥100,000,00) of 3 per cent, bonds had been paid. What was to be done? Your after year some of us have struggled in the Houre of Representatives to secure a reduction of this enormous burden on the people, and have predicted that the time would surely come when this money would accumulate in the public treasury to such an extent as to paralvze all the business enterprises of th) country and bring rui i and disaster upon ojt industries and all engaged in them. “We were not responsible for the existence of these laws, but we felt, as the representatives of the American people, that the responsibility rested upon us, in some measure at least, to see if it coula not be remedied. We faded. The money went on accumulating in the Treasury at the rate of $10,000,000 per month, and is still accumulating at that rate. The Secretary of the Treasury told me just before I left the city of Washington that the surplus revenue collected during the first fifteen days of the present month over and above the expenses of the Government was $11,009,0)0. At the rate of several hundred thousand dollars every day and night, the mon yof the people, money which they need in their business, is being poured into the public treasury, where it is not needed.

“To relieve the Treasury from this enormous amount and to prevent disaster to the business of the country the administration is compelled to purchase the outstanding bonds of the Government at an enormous premium. Within the last few months $1,000,0(0 of these bonds have been bought at a premium on tne 4 per cents of some 25 to 28 cents on the dollar, and on the 4'«’s at 6, 7 and 8 cents, so that the bondholder is, by reason of the unfortunate situation in which ihe revenue laws have been left, taking from the people millions and millions of dollars in excess of the amount which his obligations call for, and our friend, Mr. Harrison, In his recent letter of accei>tance, says that this process should go on and the money should continue to be paid to the bondholder. “Mr. Sherman, the f rmer Secretary of the Treasury, takes substantially the same ground and criticises in a harsh manner the action of thd present administration in depositing a part of this money in the national banks so that it can be loaned to the people and go thus into the channels of trade. The records of the department will sustain the statement that while Mr. Sherman was Secretary of the Treasury ha had at one tim ■ in a single national bank more money than this administration has to-day in all the national banks of the United States. “Now the great question you are to decide is whether this system of taxation shall be continued indefinitely or whether the country will return to the methods of taxation which prevailed in this country before the war. For the first time in the history of this country, so far as I know, the Republican party his substantially declared in its platform in favor of reducing the revenue by increasing the taxes. It declares that it deems it necessary to reduce the revenue by checking the imports of such articles as can be made here, and if that is not sufficient it will rep ?al the whole internal revenue tax on whisky rather than surrender any part of the protective system. This proposition is put forth upon the idea that the people of this country can be benefited individually and collectively by imposing taxes on themselves. It might as well be said that a man can make himself r ch by picking his pocket as to say he can increase his wealth by imposing a tax on himself. “In addition to the facts that this system of taxation is imposing enormous and unnecessary burdens upon the people; that it has accumulated in the Treasury large sums of money which ought to be in the hands of those who eam it by their labor and skill; it is the parent of trust and combination and conspiracy to control products and prices of the necessary articles which the people are compelled to use. “I see that Mr. Blaine, who seems to be the mouthpiece of the Republican party, has given ?uasi indorsement at least to these monopolies. believe that when a man attends his own funeral he ought to be allowed to go at the head of the procession. But it seems that Mr. Harrison is not to enjoy this privilege. Mr. Blaine is the great central figure in this campaign, and he tells the people, in the face of the platform, in the face of the declarations of his political friends on the stump and neighbors, that these trusts are private affairs in which neither, the President nor anybody else has any particular right to interfere. “Why, my friends, larceny is a private affair—a very private affair—and yet it is not supposed improper to interfere with it by law. The highwayman who meets yon on the public road and demands your money or your life is engaged in the transaction of a private enterprise, but still the law takes cognizance of his act and punisher

ft as a crime. Now, gjntlemen. Mr. B'aine his not been occupying a very good position from which to view the interests of tin American workingman, farmer or consumer. The top of Mr. Came'ie's coach as it bowled along with its liveried outriders over the hills of Scotland is not a good place from which to look at the interests of America. Nor are the festal halls of Cluny Castle a very good point either. “Mr. Blame had better stay at home or stay abroad—one or the other. Had he come here to his own country and mingled with the farm, rs. I with the consumers, with the laboring men of i the land, he would have a far better opportuI nitytoknow what they desired than he could ■ possibly have dining and wining with the aristocracy of Europe. "It is said, gentleman, that even if it does iin- ' pose enormous burdens on the consumers of the I country, the wages of our laborers must be ' maintained; therefore, high rat-s of taxation must be continued. If 1 had the time I thiiiK I could show to the satisfaction of every intelligent and candid man within the sound of my voice that the wages of labor are no more affected by the rate of duties upon imported goods than the yield of corn to the acre on your farm is affected by it. And one of the chief benefits of the system, in the estimation of Mr. Harrison, is the fact that the people do not know how much they are payng. When a man’s money is taken away from him without hie knowledge, some malicious people call it stealing. I will not, however, apply that term to the processes by which the Government of the United States abstracts this enormous sum of money from the pockets of the people who earn it and put it in the public treisury or the pockets of some one else, but I will say that it is the most dangerous form of taxation that could be devised, because it makes the people less vigilant of the expenditures of the public money, and lulls them to sleep while their substance is taken away. “You will find by an examination of the labor statistics from 1850 to .860 that in some cases even as high as 10) per cent, more is paid for labor in the same occupation in Chicago than is paid in New York or Philadelphia. If the tariff regulated wages, I Submit that the rates of wages would be the same; would be uniform in the same occupations throughout the United States under the same tariff. “Another fact is that the greatest differences between the rtrten of wages paid here and the rates paid in European countries is found in those occupations which nobody pretends can be protected under the tariff laws. For instance, there is a far greater difference between the rates of wages paid here to carpenters, plasterers, painters, stone and brick masons’ teamsters, railroad employes, steamboat employes, and the rates of wages paid the same classes of workingmen in Europe than there is between the rates of wages here in your mills and cotton factories and the rates of wages paid in the sam: industries in Europe. The rates of wages pai l in this country, too, in the unprotected industries, are larger on the average than the rates of wages paid in this country in the protected industries, and the difference between them, in this case, and those paid in Europe in the other case, is still plainer—much plainer.

“Auoth r fact is that since 1848, when the English com laws were repeated and England entered on free trade, the nites of wages have increased from 50 to 75 and even as high as luo per cent, in some occupations. Can we trace that increase in this country during the same time? Another fact is that the rate of wages in the mechanical and manufacturing industries of th) United’States increased far more during what is calledthe free-trade period -from 1850 to 1860— than they ever have since that time. “I simply state those facts without going into argument to prove them. I can produce abundant and overwhelming testimony from laboring men, from manufacturers, from testimony given before investigating c mmitties in the House, to prove the truth of every statement I have made upon this subject. But taey say if you reduce these duties this country will be overwhelmed with foreign cheap goods and all ocr manufacturing ami mercantile industries will be ruined. “Why, gentlemen, if all the ships in the world were employed continuously in bringing goods from Liverpool to New York it would take them two years to bring as much as a single railroad in this country carries in one year. “From 185 j to 18 >0 our manufacturing and mechanical industries prospered as never before, aud not only that, but the great agricultural interests of the country, which we all know is the only safe and s re foundation for its prosperity and its purity, prospered along with them. The farmer, the agricultural laborer, is the man who suffers most under tbte system. Mr. Frye, of Maine, a distinguished number of the United States Senate, a particular friend of Mr. Blaine, mode a speech in that body on tbe 23d of last January, in whi .h he said teat he had reason to believe, after making a personal investigation of this question of labor anl prices of commodities, tha; bacon and pork, beef, flour, butter and cheese were as cheap in this country as they were in Europe. That is to say, the commodities which the fanner produces and is compelled to sell are as cheap here as they are in the pau-per-labor countries of Europe. This is the testimony of a Republican Senator given in the United States Senate after a personal visit to Euroue.

“But how is it with the things which the fum?r is compelled to buy? Am thev as cheap here as in Europe? No. You are' subjected upon every one of them, if they are imported, to an average tax of. 47.1 per cent., and on the rest the manufacturer has the opportunity to add th t same percentage to his price, and in many cases he dees it in the name of American labor, professedly in the interest of American industry, and to promote the good of the American people, because he says hat you mu st encourage these industries and give employment to us many laborers as possible. “Why, my farmer friend, if you should be returning home from the store with a wagon-load of goods purchased for the use of vour family with the proceeds of the sale of your crops, and some man met you on the public highway and declared that he intended to seize that wagonload of goods and burn them on the ground, you might be likely to protest and to want to know the reason. You would be astonished if that man should tell you: ‘I am a great public benefactor. I intend to do this in the interest of American laoor and manufactures, because if I destroy these goods which your family must have you will be compelled to employ more labor to produce more crops to buy these goods over again, and the manufacturers who made them will be required to employ more labor to procure the goods for you. I am here to promote the interests of American labor and American industry. lam a protectionist.’ “Free trade ? It concedes the right and duty of the Government to raise by taxation in some form or other a sufficient amount of money to defray all expenses and meet all honest obligations, but it concedes likewise that the settled po icy of the Government is to raise a large portion of its revenue by duties on imports, but we protest that the people shall have cheaper clothing and agricultural implements before they get cheap whisky and cheap tobacco. “The Republican platform, on the contrary, declares that they will repeal the whole internalrevenue system rather tnan surrender any part of the protective system. Now, the duty upon sugar is a part of the protective system. The high duty upon woolen goods and cotton goods and upon steel and iron is a part of the protective system. The true meaning of the Republican platform is that it will repeal the tax on whisky and beer and cigars and cigarettes and cheroots, but it will repeal no part of the duty upon the articles I have mentioned. “Are the people ready to indorse that doctrine? Would you rather have cheap clothing and cheap agricultural implements than cheap whisky and tobacco? Would you rather that your family and yourself should have cheap:r and better clothing and agricultural implements and medicine and-books, and cheaper and better cooking utensils and furniture and material to supply your homes than cheaper whisky or beer or tobacco?

“Mr. Harrison says they will maintain the fair protection system, and do away with the inter-nal-revenue taxes, rather than sacrifice the protection system or any part of it. It is very adroit, but the time will soon come when the Republican party Will be competed to choose between the total repeal of the internal tax and the reduction of duties on imported goods. He goes further, does Mr. Harrison, and specifies the oleomargarine tax as one which need not be repealed. He would rather repeal the entire tax on whisky than take off the duty on any imported articles, except articles the like of which are not produced here. “Mr. Cleveland, in his letter of acceptance, puts the case on this paint in the strongest possible light. He asks what relief this will afford to the plain, common people of the laud. How many of you are there, gentlemen, who are in the habit of purchasing and using in your - family articles of foreign production th a like of which are not produced in this country ? A very few of you ; yet these are the articles upon which the Republican platform pledges to take off the tax. On the things which are produced abroad, and whiCu are also produced here, the tax is to re-

main, so that you who use large quantities of these articles, must continue to pay high prices, while the only ta.x to come off foreign imports is the tax on thos > thin js which are not produced here and luxuries. “1 he administration, by its prudent and conservative course. by its honest and faithful execution of the laws in ad parts of the country, his removed all the apprehensions of danger and disaster which seemed to prevail in the minds of some of our opponents four years ago. No man can say that the affaire of the p sople and the affairs of the Government are not as secure in the hands of the great National Democratic party as in the hands of anv other political party that ever existed in this country. This is our country as well as the country of otir Rqrib'iean friends. We have as much interest in its greatuess, in jjg giory, as th°y can possibly have, and no matter what may befall us, as a political party we will stan I hereafter » s we have sto.xl in the past through disaster and defeat, steadily and firmly bvthe principles which we believe to ba righ fc a ’nl for ths bes. interests of the people."