Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 20, Number 72, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 May 1899 — ABUSING THE TARIFF [ARTICLE]

ABUSING THE TARIFF

TIRADE BY A DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL ASPIRANT. Angaatu Van Wyck at Rickard Croker*a Ten-Dollar Jeffersonian Dinner Denounces the System Which Has Been Productive of Prosperity. It Ui the foulest mockery of reason to profess in one breath devotion to the doctrine of the equality of all men before the law of the land, and in the next to applaud a tariff system which squeezes the blood out of the average man for the fattening of select individuals who have mastered the art of depraving all Federal government, and directing a new feudalism which purposes to subdivide the land into plutocratic dukedoms.—Augustus Van Wyck at Richard Croker’s ten-dollar Jeffersonian dinner in New York. This peculiar view of the conditions now prevailing throughout the length of the most favored land that the sun shines on is the view of the man who was the Democratic candidate for Governor of the State of New York at the election of 1898. He is, moreover, under serious consideration as a possible Democratic candidate for the Presidency of the United States in 1900, and Is perhaps the most formidable competitor of William Jennings Bryan for that nomination. Otherwise it would be difficult to understand how an American citizen, surrounded on every side with unmistakable evidences of a restored prosperity which showers its blessings equally upon rich and poor, falling alike upon the just and the unjust, could take so absurdly pessimistic a view of existing conditions as to characterize the American policy of protection as “a system which squeezes the blood out of the average man.” What class of gudgeons does Mr. Augustus Van Wyck expect to catch with this sort of bait? Certainly not the two thousand ten-dollar Jeffersonians who were within the sound of his voice,

and every man of whom has shared liberally In the increase of national wealth which has followed the restoration of the very policy which the speaker denounced. Certainly not the vast army of wage-earners of all occupations who have to thank the return of good protection times for more work and better pay for it than they had during the awful stringency of the last four years of Democratic domination. Certainly not the great body of farmers who have enjoyed the substantial benefits of enlarged consumption and increased values of agricultural products. Certainly not the general community of merchants, manufacturers and business men who, as the commercial statistics show, are prospering as they never did In free-trade times. What ears, then, did this possible Presidential candidate expect to reach with his diatribe? The ears, It may be presumed, of the average Bourbon politician who recognizes the denunciation of'a protective tariff as a sure sign of sublime statesmanship. These he may reach, but not the ears of a prosperous and contented people. All such will smile a pitying smile at the foolish monthings of a typical Tammanyite trying to tickle the fancy of the fellows who boss caucuses and control conventions. Just as a matter of contrast, let us quote what Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1809 in a letter to Humphrey: My own idea is that we should encourage home manufactures to the extent of our own consumption of everything of which we raise the raw materials. Had Thomas Jefferson lived in these days of trade expansion and of American victories in the contest for possession of the world’s markets he would point with pride to what he wrote ninety years ago and urge adherence to a. policy that had wrought such splendid results. But, then, Thomas Jefferson Is not now alive, and Augustus yan Wyck Is a very different sort of person. I 1 1 Treason Under the Lew. Many of the gentlemen who have openly encouraged the rebels In the Philippines are extremely sensitive aa to the use of the words traitor and treason. They Insist that a mnri may

utter hopes tor his ultimate triumph; may send the rebels encouraging telegrams and money to purchase arms and provisions; may deliver addresses Intended to discredit the American government, and encourage the rebels to further resistance; may send messages to our volunteers advising them to refuse to obey the orders of their officers, or may scoff at the President of the United States and cheer Aguinaldo publicly in Chicago, and not be guilty of treason. The Supreme Court has held that if a conspiracy to levy war against the United States be in actual operation “any citizen who supplies the rebels with arms or any munitions of war, with provision to be used in support of the war, or of the rebels while carrying It on, or money, or intelligence, or information, even if none of these things reach the rebels, is a traitor in the place where he resides.” By an act of Congress, July 17, 1862, the punishment for treason In the discretion of the court may be imprisonment for not less than five years and a fine of not less than SIO,OOO.— Chicago Inter Ocean. A Choice Between Two Systems. A trade paper states that another large industry is coming to this country. The firm of Alexander Morton & Co., of Darvel, Scotland, a concern well know throughout the world as a manufacturer of carpets and other textiles, has desired to locate at Niagara Falls, and, It is stated, has already made arrangements with the Niagara Power Company for the suplylng of power and for the purchase of property. Free trade brings the foreign-made products of pauper labor into the country, and sends American money out of the country to pay for them, while American workmen sit in idleness. Protection brings foreign industries and foreign capital into the country to provide labor for American workmen, and keeps American money within the country, to be paid in exchange for American-made goods. As Lincoln put It, under free trade we get the

goods—so long as our money holds ont —and the foreigner gets the money. Under protection we get the goods and the money too. A choice between the two systems would not seem to be bard to make by the well-balanced mind. Free-Trade Inconsistency. Lord Curzon’s demonstration that the Indian duties on bountified sugar are not only reconcilable with free trade, but carry out its first principles, is neat, though it lacks the merit of originality, In so far that Cobden himself made a similar announcement. We are even more pleased with Lord Curzon’s view that free trade principles may, and ought to be suspended when they cease to be utilitarian. Our passion for free trade is founded on the belief that it is far and away the best policy for this country; but exceptional cases must modify all hard and fast practice. Countervailing duties on bonntified sugar are as consistent with our free trade views as the existence of a deficit in the budget Is with the solvency of the nation.—London “Financial News.” Part of the Programme. The soldiers In the Philippines are not asking to come home while any fighting is to be done. American soldiers never do. The tales to the contrary are part of the program of tha Bryanlte gang to arouse discontent in the army, to prolong the war, and to embarrass the administration. The Bryanlte leaders, almost to a man, axe copperheads of the most venomous character, and ought to be denounced by all patriotic men.—St Louis GlobeDemocrat

Make It Profitable. The proper way to proect American seamen la to give them work to do. We have started the mills going and given employment to millions by means of d protective tariff. Now let tbe same policy be pursued toward our merchant marine. Make- shipping under the American flag the most profitable kind of aa Industry, and we will soon see the condition of onr merchant seamen the envy of all nations^-Contra