Democratic Sentinel, Volume 13, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 July 1889 — A NEW POLITICAL CLUB. [ARTICLE]

A NEW POLITICAL CLUB.

I PROTECTIONISTS OF NEW ENGLAND BADLY DEMORALIZED. [ngooloun Schema to Compel the People’s Representatives to Show Either Their Knowledge or Tlieir Ignorance of the Whole Subject of Taxation. [Boston special to the Chicago Herald.] Nothing else has lately disturbed the temper of the high-tariff men of this part of the country so much as the organization of question (dubs. The movement has been a purely spontaneous one, starting without reference to any of the older clubs, and quite free of any entangling alliances either with the Massachusetts Reform Club or the Tariff-Reform League. This is the fact, although the high-tariff organs are trying to make it appear that it is simply a movement of the Tariff-Re-form League under another name. The facts are these: A number of young men, who are either just out of college or, in part, now’ undergraduate members of the Finance Club at Harvard, have been getting down close to the social questions; studying for themselves, moving among the working people, holding meetings at the South End, drying to get acquainted with the workmen, and trying to find out what the real causes of poverty are. Some of them have a natural aptitude for this kind of work, and have secured the full confidence of the workmen. Several large metal-working establishments of this section have been dosed during the last year, notably the great works of the Norway Iron and Steel Company. These works have not only been closed, buj; the property has been sold, the owners finding it impossible to continue their work so long as they are deprived of the free importation of scrap iron and steel, or of iron from Novia Scotia. 1 The Hinkley Locomotive Works are j closed and the property is for sale, and I there is now hardly a single establish--1 ment of any consequence in operation where a few years since a large population of most intelligent mechanics was employed in the conversion of iron and steel into heavy machinery. Many of these workmen had become prosperous and had bought places. They are now thrown opt and are obliged to sell their property and to move away into sections xvhere they do not want to go. They want to know what has destroyed their industry, and they seem to think it is the high tariff. There is also a very large use of tin plates in this section. When this industry was threatened by the Senate bill doubling the tax, workmen, as a matter of course, became alarmed. Their complaint started the tinplate workers, and a general movement was made for a joint memorial to Senator Dawes and Senator Hoar, calliug for an explanation of their vote for increasing the tax on tin plates. The memorial was sent in by some four or five hundred different establishments, sent by the masters and workmen alike to the Senators before the adjournment of Congress, but they did not -find it expedient to give any answer. They probably found that no answer could be given which would justify their action except as mere partisans. Naturally the tinplate workers were very much exasperated, and determined that they would no longer be subject to such want of courtesy on the part of their public servants when making reasonable requests in perfectly suitable form. They presented their cause to some of the capable young men who could put their wishes into good form, and the result has been the organization of question clubs throughout the State, and they are now being organized in other States with the intention of covering the country with affiliated clubs, who may put the same’question at the same time, and who may become sufficiently powerful to compel an answer where an answer can be given. . Their intention is to put questions to prominent persons, whether in office or not, with a view to publishing campaign documents for use in the next election. One very ingenious point which is very embarrassing to certain representatives is their plan of giving a list of the persons, members of Congress, or otherwise, to whom the questions are put, and assigning to each one a page in the documents which are to be published, or more if the answer requires more; but if the Representative or Senator does not choose to reply, his page will be left blank in the pamphlet, and 4 this will indicate that he either does not choose to explain his course or is’ineapable of giving a satisfactory explanatftm. The Boston Journal advises Republicans not to take any notice of the questions, alleging that members of the question chibs are merely free-traders in disgmse trying to entrap representatives in order to put up Jbheap campaign document; butlthe editor of the Journal does not apparently see that the blank page will be both cheaper in its preparation and will' speak more loudly as to the incapacity of the Republican representative than if he attempted to fill it. ■ Dawes has found it expedient to make a courteous reply to the members of the question clubs, although h 0 wholly ignored the questions put by the tin men. He tells the question elnbs that they “need not send twenty-two sets of questions or offer to send names by the hundred.” He acknowledges it is his duty to answer any single voter who puts a courteous question to him, but yet he dodges the questions, says he “has not time,” and refers the questioners to “future debates in the Senate.” Senator

Dawes will find it expedient ere long to give the categorical answers to which he says the questioners “are entitled.” The Boston Advertiser says that “the questions are such as any schoolboy could answer,” whereupon the question club*, over the signature of one of their number, asked the Advertiser “to let some of the schoolboys on the staff of the paper reply to the questions,” but the editor refused to print the second request on the ground that it was “scurrilous.” He abused the question clubs under the/name of schoolboys, and when the little imputation was put back upon himself and his staff he called it “scurrilous.”

Mr. Candler, Representative from the Ninth District, is in a very embarrassing position, as the question clubs have adopted many of the paragraphs from his own extremely radical free trade speeches made a few years back, when he announced “the tariff of the United States is the greatest humbug of the day.” His page in the future campaign document is likely to be left blank. That will not surprise any one, as he does not rate very high even among those who supported him. He made what little reputation he has as a free trader and a very wordy advocate of free ships. He will find it very difficult to give any suitable explanation of his change of front, as he is not noted for a masterly capacity in any particular line, even in the direction of explaining his own inconsistencies. It is quite evident that the question clubs have come to stay. The young men who are engaged in the movement are able and well trained, and there is a much greater interest in economic questions among the working people than the managers of the Republican party appreciate. Entirely aside from the Knights of Labor and other similar organizations, the great mass of intelligent workmen are becoming satisfied that it is not to their benefit to have their food, fuel, and the materials on which they are occupied heavily taxed, and there can be little doubt that in the next election for members of Congress, when no political prejudices can be atoused on false issues, especially in respect to the South, there will be a complete reversal of the present policy. In the meantime the balance of parties is so even that no special mischief can be done by the present Congress, either in the way of putting on heavy taxes where they ought not to be placed, or taking off the taxes which ought to be maintained in order that a true tax-re-form may be carried into effect. The idea which governs the question clubs is that the recent discussion of the tariff question has been largely perverted by party support and party opposition so that there has been no reasonable consideration given to the true bearing of legislation. The young men who belong to the clubs and the workmen who co operate with them want facts. If .there is any virtue in putting taxes on foreign imports of any kind they want to know it. If the benefit is greater than the harm they want to know that. If the harm is greater than the benefit they want to know that, and they are determined that the whole subject shall be treated on its merits. Their questions are honestly framed and honestly put. They invite all to join their clubs, no matter what party they belong to, no matter whether they call themselves “protectionists” or “free traders.” They want to bring out the facts, and then secure reasonable, moderate and sensible legislation which shall be consistent with the general welfare. In this, it now seems, they will be sure to succeed. They do not make themselves conspicuous, neither do they hide their names. If anybody wants to know who they are and who the signatures of the clubs represent, they offer to call upon the person to whom they have put questions and to meet him face to face, but they $o not wish to force themselves into public notice or to intrude on any one.

The method seems to have grown out of the necessity of the case, and it will Sboner or later compel every prominent man to show either his knowledge or his ignorance of the whole subject of taxation. If the advocates of a high tariff or of a moderate tariff, or of gradual change in the present tariff, have a good case they cannot do better than to put that case in answer to the questions of the clubs. There could be nothing more foolish on their part than to ridicule this movement, or to attempt to pass it by as a matter of little or no consequence. The question clubs have found out how to promote an intelligent discussion of public questions in an easy, convenient, and cheap way. They will take the place of costly meetings, big processions, torch-lights and buncombe in general, and will substitute solid sense for machine politics; only give them time. They have taken time enough, and in the very fact that they have begnn the campaign of 1892 is a proof their “horse sense,” as you say out West.