Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 October 1894 — Blaine’s Prediction. [ARTICLE]

Blaine’s Prediction.

In October, 1890, James G. Blaine uttered the following prophetic words; ; Vfl love my and my countrymen. lam an American, and rejoice everyday that lam. I enjoy the general prosperity of my country, and know that the workingmen of this land are the best fed and the best clothed of any laborers on the face of the earth. Many of them have homes of their own. They are surrounded by all the comforts and many of the luxuries of life. I shudder, however, at the thought that the time must come when all this will be changed; when the general prosperity of the country wid be destroyed. When the great body of workingmen in this land, who are now so prosperous, will hear their wives and children cry for bread. That the day must.come when the great factories of this land will shut down, and there will be the silence of the tomb. And the reason why it must be so is this: The great southern wing of the Democratic party is determined to establish the doctrine of free trade in this land. It will I e assisted by its northern allies. The fight is now on.. 1 There is a great body of visionary' but educated men who are employed day by day in writing free trade essays

and arguments in favor of that doctrine, which find their way into every Democratic newspaper in the land. “The great body of Cur people have never experienced, themselves, the sufferings which always result when the protective principles are laid aside. Poisoned and excilel by the wild statements of these writers and the demagogic appeals of Democratic speakers, the result will be that in the very near future, these forces which are now working will be strong enough to defeat at the polls the party advocating the doctrine of protection: It must inevitably follow that uncertainty and doubt will ensue. “The business men of the coun-

try, fearing the destruction, will decline to engage in busii ess;consequently mills will shut down and the workingmen will be thrown out of employment. The people will then see, as we have never seen before, that they cannot be prosperous and have work while this principle is threatened. In the midst of this suffering they will learn that the only way that they can be prosperous and happy is to vote for the party that will build up the industries by which they have gained a livlihood—-be-cause they can see clearly that when a manufactory is shut down there is no demand for the thing which they have to sell, and that is their labor.”