mi.
NORWALK, CONN, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1888.
WITHOUT" ’
Once, in the twilight of a wintry day.
One passed me silent. struggling on his way,
With Ihead bowed low, and hands that burdens
ore,
And saw not how, a little space before,
Awoman watched his coming, where the light
Poure‘dlahtglad welcome through a window.
l'g I
Set thick with flowers that showed no fairer.
bloom -
Than her sweet face, turned outward to the
gloom. ' 3
Yet when his tool, with quick, impatient stride,
.But touched the step. the door swung open
wide;
Soft hands reached swiftly out, with eager
hold,
And drew the door one in from storm And cold.
0 love! whose eyes, from some celestial height.
Behold me telling, burdened through the night,
Tender of every blast at which I co'wer,
Yet smiling still. to know how brief the hour;
Keeping within thy radiant, love-lit home
Some glad surprise to whisper when I come—
"I‘ls but a breath till I the door shall win
And thy dear hands will swiftly draw me in.
—Em:‘ly11unlington Miller, :‘nN. Y. Independent.
FUNNY MARK TWAIN.
He Delivers an Adjustable Speech,
Suitable to All Occasions.
At the Forcfathcrs’ Dinner in Boston
grill-k Twain was introduced by President
I .
Mr. Clemens was given quite an ovation,
and his remarks which followed were so
droll in their nature and the manner in
which they were delivered that his hearers
were kept upon a broad grin from the first
Lethe lost. It would be almost impossible
to convey upon paper any thing that would
give more than an indication of their in-
tense humor, which was derived largely
from the peculiar gestures, inflections and
actions which accompanied them. This was
particularly so of his description of his
“patent adjustable speech.” He spoke as
follows: '
In treating of this subject of postprandial
oratory, a subject which I have long been
familiar with, and may be called an expert
in observing it in others, I wish to say that
a public din nor is the most delightful in the
whole world to the guests. [Laughter]
That is one fact. and here is another one. _
A public dinner is the most unendurable
sufiering in the whole world to the guest.
[Laughter] These two facts don’t seem to,
jibe, butI will explain. Now, at a public
dinner, when a man knows he is going to be
called upon to speak, and is thoroughly
well-prepared, got it all by heart, and the
pauses marked in his head where the ap-
' plause is going to come in [laughter], that
man is Simply—is simply in heaven.
[Laughten] He won‘t care to be anywhere
else than just wh’crc he is. [Laughter]
But when ate. public dinner it is getting
away along toward the end of things, and a
man is sitting over his glass of wine. or his
his glass of milk [laughter], according to
the kind of a banquet it is, and is sitting
there not meditating the danger of it, with
somebody at his ear bothering him with
talk, talk, talk about nothing, why-~wcll,
that is just as nearly in the other place as
can be~that man is to be piticd. And the
very worst of it, he is piticd. [Laughton]
Now, he could stand the pity of ten people
orn. dozen, but there is no misery in this
world that is compared to the mass of sol-
idifying compassion of five hundred. Why,
that wide Sahara of sympathizing faces
completely takes the tuck out of him. He
stands there in his misery and stammers
out the usual stuff of not being prepared
and all that kind of folly, and he is wander-
ing and stumbling and getting further and
further in, and all the time unhappy, and at-
last he fetches out a poor, miserable, crip-
pled joke, and in his grief and confusion he
laughs at it himself, and the others look
sick. [Laughton] He knows that he is a
defeated man, and so do the others. Now,
to a humanperson that. is a heat-trending
spectacle. It is, indeed. That sort of sac-
rifice ought to be stopped [laughter], and
there is only one way to accomplish it that I
can think of, and that is for a man to go al-
ways prepared, always loaded, always
ready, whether he is likely to be called on
or not. You can’t defeat that man, you
can’t pity him at all.
My scheme is this: That he shall carry in
his head a connected and tried and thor-’
oughly and glibly emphasked speech that
will fit. every conceivable occasion in this
life, fit it to a dot, and win success and ap-
plause every time. [Laughton] Now, I have
completed a speech of that kind, and l have
brought it. along [laughter] to exhibit it here
as an example. “ [Renewed merrimcnt] ’
We suppose that it‘ was a granger gather-
ing, and this man is suddenly called on; he
comes up with some lively hcsitancics and
deferencies, repetitions, so as to give the
idea that the speech is impromptu. Hero,
of course, after he has got used to deliver-
ing it, he can venture outside and make
a genuine imprommu remark to start ed
with. For instance, ifa distinguished per-
son is present, he can make a. compliment-
ary reference to them, say L0 Mr. De ow.
He could speak about his great talent or his
clothes. [Laughton] Such a thing gives
him a sort of opening, and about the time
that audience is getting to pity that man
he opens his throttle valve and goes for
those grangcrs. That person wants to be
gorgeously eloquent; you want to fire the
farmer’s heart and start- him from his man-
sard down to his collar.
Nowthis man is called up, and says:
“I am called up suddenly, sir, and am in-
deed not, not prepared to—I was not ex-
pected to be called upon, sir, but I will, with,
what effect I may, add my shouts to the ju-
bilations of this spirited, stirring occasion.
Agriculture, sir, is after all the palladium
ofpur economic liberties. [Laughter] By
it, approximately speaking, we may be said
to live and move and have our being. All
that we have been, all that we are, all that
we hope to be, was, is and must continue
to be profoundly influenced by that sublim-
est of the mighty interests of man, thrice
glorious agriculture. While we have life,
while we have soul, and in that soul the
sweet and hallowed sentiments of gratitude,
let us with generous accord attunc our
voices to songs of praise perennial, out.—
pourings of thanksgiving for that most pre-
cious boon, whereby we physically thrive
and are made rich and strong,
grand and inspiring, imbued with the
mighty far-reaching and all-embracing
grace, and beauty, and purity, and loveli-
‘ pass. The least of us knows, the least of us
feels, the humblcsf. among us will confess
that, whereas—but the hour is late and I
will notdetain you.” [Great laughter and
applause]
NOW. then, supposing a. man with his cut-
and—dried speech, that patent adjustable
speech, as you may call it. finds himself at a
granger gathering, or a wedding breakfast,
oratbeological disturbance, [great laugh-
ter] or a political blow out, an inquest or
funeral any where in the world you choose
to mention, and be suddenly called up, all
he has got to do is to change three or four
words in that speech, and make his delivery
anguishing and tearful, or chippy and face-
tious, or luridly and thunderously eloquent
just as the occasion happens to call for, and
just. turn himself loose and he is all right
[laughter], but I will illustrate, and instead
of explanations I will deliver that speech
itself just enough times to make you see th
possibilities.
Now. then, supposing that the occasion— .
make. one more illustration. so that you rLll
l~n
u...
aiways'be perfectly safe, here or'any where
—-supposing that this is an occasion of an in:
quest. This is a most elastic speech in a
matter of that kind. Where there are grades
of men you must observe them. Ataprivatc
funeral some of you want to be just as
mournful as you can, but in the case where
you didn’t know the person grade it accord-
ingly. You want simply to be impressive.
That is all. Now take a case half way be.
tween, about No. 4,14.- somewbere about
there, that is an ibquest on a second cousin,
a wealthy second cousin. [Great laughter.]
He has remembered you in the will. [Laugh~
ten] Of course all these things count.
[Laughten] They all raise the grade a lit-
tle, and—well, perhaps he hadn’t nremem~
bered you. Perhaps he has left you a
horse, an ordinary horse, a good enough
horse, one that can go about three minutes,
or perhaps a pair of horses. It may have
been one pair of horses at hand, not two
pair or two pair and a jack. I don’t know
whether you understand that, but there
are people here. [Great laughter and up!
please] Well, now then, this is a second
cousin, and he knows all the circum-
stances. We will say that he has lost his life
trying to save somebody from drowning.
Well, he saved the mind-cure physician from
drowning, he tried to save him, but he didn’t
succeed. Of course he wouldn’t succeed; of
course you wouldn’twant him to succeed in
that way and plan. , A person must have
some experience and aplomb and all that
before he can save anybody from drowning
of the mind-cure. [Great laughter.] I am,
just making these explanations here. A
person can get so glib in a delivery of this
speech, why, by the time he has delivered it
fifteen or twenty times, he could go to any
intellectual gathering in Boston even, and
he would draw like a. ‘prize fight. [Great
laughter and.applause.] Well, at the inquest
of a second cousin under these circum-
stances, a man gets upwith graded emotion,
and he says:
“I am called up suddenly, sir (here Mr.
Clemens’ voice trembled audibly and took a
mournful and lugubrious accent), and am,
indeed, not prepared. I was not expecting
to be called up, sir, but I will, with what ef-
fect I may, add my shout—voice to Che
lamentations of this spirited, crushing grief.
[Laughton] Death, death, sir, is, after all,
the palladium of our spiritual liberties; by
it, approximately speaking, we may be' said
to move and live and have ending. [Laugh-
ter.] All that we may be here, all that we
are, all that we hope to be, was, is and must;
continue to be profoundlyinfluenced by that
sublimest interest of man, thrice sorrowful
desolation. While we have life, while we
have soul, and in that soul the sweet and
hallowed sentiment of gratitude, let us with
generous accord attuno our voices to songs
of peace, perreunial outpourings of thanks-
giving for that most potent boon by which
we spiritually save, by which our otherwise
sterile existence is made rich and strong,
and is imbued with the mighty, far-reaching
and all-embracing grace and beauty and
loveliness. The least of us knows, the least
of us feels, the humblest among, us (here
Mr. Clemens wept copiciously) will confess
we are (more tears) ; whereas—but the hour
is late, and I will not detain you.” [Great
laughter and.applause.] ,
QUEER TRADES UNION.
The House and Senate Pages Organize
for Money-Making Purposes.
For years, says the New York Tribune's
Washi n correspondent, it has been the
privilea of the pages in the capitol to
make quite a lot of pocket money each ses-
sion in collecting autographs. The pages
of the Senate, for instance, will collect the
signatures of all the Senators in an album,
turn the book ever to some youngster in the
House, who gets the Congressmen’s names,
then to one of the pages in the Supreme
Court for the autographs of the Justices,
and finally to the riding pages of the Sen-
ate, who are constantly going between the‘,
capitol, the White House and the several
departments and bureaus of the Govern-I
ment. The latter get the names of the-
President, the Cabinet and the other prom-
inent omcials. For such a collection the
boy who starts the book hasreceived what-
ever he could get out of his customer, trust-
ing to his own sharpness and the latter-’5
generosity. When he gets his money—and
$10is the usual price-he settles with the
other pages who have assisted him on such
terms as they were willingtomake. The
ordinary terms of settlement have been $5
to the contractor, $2 to the House page,
32 to the boy who gets the President
and Cabinet and 61 to the youth in the
Supreme Court. But the example of
the trades’ unions has reached the capitol,
and an equal division of profits is now de-
manded by the boys. I took an album
which had been sent me by a friend in the
West to one of the Senate pages the other
day and asked him to get the autographs
of tho Statesmen for me as he had done bei
fore. - I had formerly paid him 810 for such
a job, but he informed me that the boys had
organized a union and had advanced the
price to $15. He said that the “kids” in the
House kicked because the Senate boys were
making more money than they, and had
struck; so it became necessary to organize.
and have a stated card of rates. “Don’t
you see,” he said, “people who want auto-
graphs somehow always come to the Son-
ate first. We have got 85 for getting the
names of seventy-six Senators, and have
given the ‘kids’ in the House only $2 for
getting 325 names. When' they happened
to catch on to a. job they got the $5 of
course, and gave us $2 for the Senators“
autographs; but for every one book they
get we get a dozen, and they kicked about
it. So we had to agree to pay them as much.
as we got ourselves. They won’t touch a
book less than £5. There was a kid in the
House who out under them, and got, some
names not long ago for $3, but when the
other boys found it out they got hold of the
book and tore cut the leaves. They boy-
cotted him, don’t you see?”
MANNING'S MEMORY.
A Mental Trait Which “has of Great Help
to the Late Statesman. ,
Another thing which gave Mr. Manning
an advantage over most men, save the A1-
bany (N. Y.) Argus, was his wonderful
memory. One winterat Nassaua banker
from Chelsea, Mass, came into the room,
saying hehad just found an old book con-
taining a. piece he used to recite at school.
Mr. Manning asked to hear it, and then to
hear it a second time. After the second
recital, Mr. Manning said: “You do not re-
peat it the same.” Some little discussion
ensuing, Mr. Manning continued: “I give
you my word as a man I’ve never heard
the thing before, yet if Mr. Uline will read
it twice aloud, I'll wager you I can repeat it.
better than you can."
The piece was read, and then Mr. Man-
ning repeated it with absolute correctness,
syllable for syllable.
When the banker expressed some doubt
about Manning’s not having heard it be
fore, the latter offered to repeat any piece
of the some length which the banker might
choose, after it had been read three times.
and what is more, be accomplished the feat.
This mental trait enabled Mr. Manning to
:recall, almost verbatim, at any time, re.
'ports, motions, resolutions, and any thing
else he had read months before.
A Badly Mistaken Boar.
A Michigan girl, while picking black-
berries. met a black bear among the briers.
She turned to run and tore her dress on s
brier so as to expose her patent wire
bustle. The bear. mistaking the bustle
for a. circus cage, struck for the tall tim.
her, leaving the girl to go without hug-
ging until a dry goods clerk closed his
store at nine o’clock the next evening. _.
nu PLA ’ in Pill
Is“ the. President a. Free-‘
' ’ Trader? ‘
PROTECTION AND FREE ‘ TRADE DISCUSSED.
\
Defense of New England In-
dustries.
Valuable and Clear-Statistics Regarding Factory
Dividends and Working Peoples’ Wages.
Free Trade and Protection and
Wages .in Europe.
Thoughtful and Intelligent Com-
' parisons.
Beautiful Tribute to Grant and Garfield.
A Careful and Clear Review of the. Great
Problem of the Surplus.
Delivered in the U. S. Senate, Feb. 6th and 7th, 1888.,
Following is the full and complete text of the great speech delivered-by
Connecticut’s distinguished Senator, Orville H. Platt, of Meriden, which
has deservedly attracted national attention, and which we believe Will be
read with unusual care and interest by every one into whose hands a copy
falls, irrespective of their views on the Tarifl‘question.
SENATOR PLATT’S SPEECH.
Mr. President—Is the President of the United States a free-trader? That
is the pertinent question; a question which interests not only the nation,
but every individual citizen of the nation; a question which touches the
future welfare and prosperity not only of our_nation, but of all its Citizens;
and I do not propose to be deterred from asking and, if I can, from answer-
ing this question, because the President suggests that “to dwell upon the
theories of protection and free trade savors too much of bandying epithets.
I am a protectionist, and I consider it no epithet when I am called so. If
the President of the United States is a free-trader, he ought to be Willing to
be called so, and not consider it an epithet if that word is .used to define his
position.
He sent to Congress at its opening [the most remarkable paper ever sub-
mitted to Congress by the chief executive officer of the nation. . He did it, I
suppose, in what he thought was the discharge of his constitutional duty to
communicate to Congress from time to time f‘iniormation of the state of the
Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as .he shall
judge necessary and expedient.” But no PreSIdent preceding him ever
omitted to give Congress. full information as to the state of the Union; No
other President has ignored allfiquestions but one. In our darkest‘days,
in all our wars, in the war of 1812, and in our recent war of the rebellion,
a President of the United States never hesitated and never failed to commu—
nicate to Congress full information relating to all departments of government,
such as he thought Congress was entitled to. receive. ”
We call this paper by courtesy “the PreSIdent 3- annual message; apt] I
shall call it the President’s annual message. In that we were told that
there was an accumulation of money in the treasury, that the laws raised ‘
more money annually than the treasury under the law.could expend annu-
ally, and that this condition of things must be . remedied in one. way, and
one way only—«that was the" practical, substantial recommendation of the
message—and that method was by reducing the duties upon manufactured
goods, passing by every other method. , Some of the other methods he di-
rectly intimated were improper methods of reduction, and others he indi-
rectly indicated were improper methods of reduction. Passing by all other -
methods, he insists that the reduction shall be made by reducing our tariff
duties upon manufactured goods; in other words, that there is no reduction
of this surplus in the treasury and no reduction of the yearlvannual surplus
under our taxation which meets his approval, and I think I may say
which will meet his approval, unless that method strikes down the protec-
tive system of the United States. That isthe Presidents message.
Free Trade the Campaign Issue.
It was hailed with acclamations of joy by every-free-trader in whatever
=land he resided, and I want to say right here that free-traders know each
other. They never make any mistake; there is some bond of union and
sympathy between them so that they know each other on Sight, and know
each other whenthey speak, either to one another or .to the people. ,It re-
quires no freemason’s grip and sign it: order to recognize each other. They
never make a mistake in ‘that respect.- VVherever there was a free-trader
upon the broad globe this message was hailed with acclamations of joy.
The senator from Maine [Mn Frye] a few days ago quoted from the Eng-
lish free-trade journals the most fulsome commendations of PreSident Cleve-
land and his utterance. It was accepted at first by thewhole Democratic
party of the land, and the papers in this country rang With commendations
of the President because he had forced this issue of: free trade to the front
and made it the issue of the next Presidential campaign. .
I think no man will dispute me when I say that perhaps there is no more
distinguished representative of free trade in this country than Mr. Frank
Hurd, of Ohio. Let us see how be regarded the message, for as I do not
wish to duplicate the extracts from English journals I Will confine myself to
some extracts from the utterances of leading. free-traders in America. . Mr.
Iiurd, in an interview, which wasfirst published, I believe, in the Chicago
Tribune, in relation to an appeal that had been made toilum by the Cobden
Club for a contribution, to which be responded by ,givmg $50, had his at-
tention called to the message, and he was asked whether the Cobden Club
would take any part in the coming campaign, and he said :
' ' the President .sent his messa e to Congress. I shall never be able
tovdégr’Ib: Ilsexlbgd:lftfilgficsliinf:esd that message. I was in Ngew York. I was standing at the Cor.
her of Wall street and Broadway. I took the paper mechanically from n newsboy, expecting nothing
- . Whenm e es fell on the ages I rcw suddenly intent. The
gigs? $3333.23: bong? mitts? fisnot see it. yPe’b le jostled mefixut I did not feel them. All I felt
was that the issue 0 free’trade was now decisively taught before the American people, and that its
. cause was more than half won. .
The interviewer then said: “How do you suppose the Presuleut arrived
at his present views ?” and Mr. Hurd replied :
. . ‘ ed to free trade. There he met Carllsle; he met Morrison ‘ he was
inldglfimégcfibgggw zifihgrggfibwgm of protection. He saw his am y clearly ahead of him, ahd when
duty beckons to President Cleveland no power on earth can turn him aside from it.
He was then asked :
Do on feel certain that he has raised the issue of the comlng campaign?
Abs’olutely certain. Congress will do nothing about the matter.
oAnd eight weeks having passed since that message was sent to us and not
a whisper having been heard from any friend of the President in Congress
looking to doing anything, I assume that Mr. Hurd was right.
the matter. We shall enter into the Presidential contest with the
1.3.3.“,5‘552535-"d‘itill’lfiftfil’il‘; And when the Presidential contest is ended the issue will be defi-
nitely ended.
Perhaps the next most conspicuous representative of free-trade sentiment -
in the country 0utsidc of Congress may be said to be Mr. Henry Wattcrson.
He spoke only so late] as January 21, in New York, and thc toast to which
he‘spoke was “The platform and the outlook.” He said :
The platform is the message-Tine President’s message.
The outlook is most encoura mg. Considering how the painted harlot of
kce her courage up as she sta ks across the raveyard of false vows and
ma e mainly to the work-people, I should call t assured.
For more than a year my fear has been that we might not be able in advance of our national conven—
tion to close ranks and move in a solid column against the enemy on distinct lines of our own deliber-
ate choosing—-
And anybody knows what the lines of Mr. VVatterson’s choosing arc—
aud as I believe that nothing clears the political atmosphere like lain speaking-right out in meeting, I
have given the Administration and the country the best the a up has afi'ort ed in the way of a. disu-
reeab e persistency and the sincerest candor. It was obvious to my mind that unless we could agree
a Congress we should not agree in convention. The tsriil‘plank in the last national Democratic plat-
form was not intended to bee. straddle, because although the platform committee had been adroltl
packed in the interest of protection, the revenue reformers were still strong enough to hold the r
ground and to carry all their points. But it was made to seem a straddle. Hence nothing short of a
declaration which might not bear two constructions would satisfy the demands of reform in the next
national platform an anyone could see that this could not be obtained without a tight and possibly a
split. Just in nick of time the President came to the rescue with the wisdom of an impetuous courage
and the craft of a common sense derivin its strength from its lnte rily. This brave and honest man
this puzzle to the politicians and contra lotion of a l experlence, w th at single stroke of his pen, dl
what might for years have baffled the efforts of the greatest statesmen and philosophers. B that not
he has reversed the situation from one of cowardlyindecision to one of enthusiasm and conti encc. He
has forced the enemy back‘ behind his earthworks and warned stragglcrs to come into camp. Upon
the lines of that message I would rather be beaten than win upon those of a lying substitute.
Grant and Garfield Eulogized. .
I think I make no mistake when I call our late minister to London a free-
trader. In the days of the holiday season, when everybody was full of
peace and good-will, the tariff reformers. as they call themselves, the tarifi‘
anarchists, as I call them, because they have no conception of reform except
through the methods of destruction—the tarifi‘ anarchists held a banquet in
Boston at which Mr. James Russell Lowell presided, and after the cloth had
been removed, at that period of the banquet when people are very apt to
express their real and true sentiments, he made use of this language:
Personally I confess that I feel myself strongly attached to Mr. Cleveland as the best representative
of the higher type of Americanism that we have seen since Lincoln was snatched from us.
I do not know whether Mr. Lowell intended to include in his comparison
all representative Americans, all the men of America outside of the Presi-
dentin] office. If he did, there are names which rise at once to the lips,
which might be spoken, which all the people would ball as great, noble
representatives of true Americanism. _
But I will assume that be intended to confine his comparisons to the ranks
of Presidents. He has held office under three of them, .and it seems to me
that fidelity and loyalty to his chiefs of least ought to have prompted the re-
membrance of them. There were two of those Presidents which it seems
to me no man whose ears have not been stopped and whose eyes have not
been blinded by the sentiments bf free trade could have overlooked.
One there was who led the embattled hosts of the Union to victory over
rebellion, a rebellion the most causeless and the most detestable which this
world has evenseen. He laid down his sword with the simple words, now
immortal, “Let us have peace,” and twice the people, the plain people of
this land, who have not been dazzled by the splendors of foreign courts and
whose heads have not been turned by the flattery of foreign aristocracy,
raised him to the highest place in the gift of the people, At the end of the
discharge of that trust he laid down his Presidential honors as simply as be
laid down his sword, and then the whole world rose and competed to do
him honor. Later when he was struck by the dart of the Destroyer, how
an anxious, waiting people stood with bated breath that they might heartbe
tidings from Mount McGi‘cgor; and at last, when he who on earth knew no
surrender was forced to unconditional surrender, and that mournful, mighty
funeral procession moved up Broadway to Riverside, every American citi-
zen stood with uncovered head, feeling that we had‘rlost the greatest and
noblest type of true Americanism that there was in the land.
Another there was, Mr. Presideiit,..born in bumblest life, battling with
and conquering adverse fortune at every turn, lifted by these same plain peo-
ple t0 the highest office in his district. his state, and in the nation. He was
recognized as a true, noble type 'of the highest Americanism, with a heart
full of sympathy for the common people, one that beat responsive and quick
to the popular will. Herstood forth by general consent for the man who
well represented the people.
mourned I And as aLElberon the sad sea waves moaned his requiem, every
‘American citizen felt that we must lay again in the “soil” of which Mr.
Lowell speaks one of the noblest types of true Americauism.
But Grant and Garfield are dead. In the templc'of' fame which America
raises to her best beloved and her greatest, they are to have no position ; or
if any position at all is to be accorded to them by this English-loving free-
trader, it is to be subordinate to Cleveland. Grant and Garfield are dead,
but they were not free-traders, and in the opinion of the ex-minister to the
English court their lustre is eclipsed by the sudden brilliaucy of Grover
Cleveland.
rotection is whistllhw to
rokcn promises shefiias
Henry George’s Views of the Message.
LIr. President, I think there will be no question made but that Henry
George is a free—trader, the only person in the land, so far as I know, who
uses the word “free-trade” in its most radical and absolute sense. He not
only believes that all custom-houses should be abolished, of course includ-
ing the abolition of all taxes upon imports, but that all taxes should be abol-
ished except those which he calls taxes upon ostentation and upon land
values, and he says that that is the only tendency and consequence of free
trade. He thinks the President’s message was a free-trade message. Only
59 short a time ago as Saturday evening, in an interview, published in this
city, he is represented as writing a telegram when he was found by the in-
terviewer, and be said : -
“I think Mr. Cleveland's last message strengthened him," he said to a Star reporter. Then he
handed his dispatch to the operator and resumed . “If the Democrats fight on thep ain issue of free
trade. and make it strong, I think they “'1" win. But they must go into It boldly. It won't do to be
‘nmn ’frald of his horse.’ If Mr. Cleveland sticks to his message he will be elected.”
He turned to translate his dispatch to the operator, and then added:
"They must make the issue free trade.”
“You look upon the president’s message as a free trade document? " suggested the Star.
“Certainly," was the reply. -‘Don’t you? If they stand by that it will be all right."
Not only Democrats but Republicans took it in that sense. They ac-
cepted it; they welcomed the contest; they have been looking for it—a
contest which was to come, as the senator from West Virginia [Mn
Kenna] said, with “closed ranks,” in which the Republicans should repre-
sent the system'and principle of protection, and in which the Democrats
should boldly avow the sentiment which nine-tenths of them profess—free
trade. We thought that for once we were going to have a fair fight, in
which there was to be no evasion; which was not to be made to serve two
purposes; which was in no sense to resemble that god of ancient mytholo-
gy, Janus; that we were not to have a Janus-faced party to contend with
any longer; that we were not to have a campaign in which the Democratic
party looking south was to wear a free trade face, and looking north to
New York and New Jersey and Connecticut was to wear a protection face ;
and we welcomed that contest, and whenever we can have it I welcome it
as a member of the Republican party, and if we fail in it we will go down,
and I know that when we fail on that issue we shall go down in the com-
mon disaster and disgrace of our country.
Democrats and RepWicans looked upon this message as they thought
they had a right to look upon it—as the anti-convention acceptance of a
nomination for a second term wrung from a reluctant party; at least that
appeared then to be as good as wrung from a reluctant party.
Facing Both Ways.
But eight weeks have passed, and this universal exultation seems to be
somewhat tempered by time. The few protection Democrats, after the
first gush of admiration for the President, began to realize that something
had hit them. They did not know exactly what it was. .They were in
the condition of the man who is hit by some unseen blow—a sort of dazed
condition for a while, and then it occurred to them suddenly that there
was a Presidential election approaching in New York, and in New Jer-
sey, and in Connecticut, and it would never do to have it understood in
those States that the President was a free-trader. And so the old game
was set on foot again. 7 _ ,
Free-traders know each other, as I have remarked. There was no doubt
as to how this message would be understood and what the President would
be understood to be in the Southern and Western States; but it was seen
to be necessary again to convince the Democratic protectionists of New
York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, that, after all, the President’s message
was not at free-trade message, but a pretty good protection document. So
up went the waterpots on to each shoulder, and the Democratic party evi-
dently is to essay again the feat of carrying water upon both shoulders
without spilling a drop. The message is to be made a “straddle” notwith-
Standing Mr. Henry \Vatterson, or the attempt will be made in that direc-
tion. '
The present incumbent of the Presidential chair could never have been
elected if he had written that message previous to the last Presidential elec-
tion. He cannot be elected now, unless it can be explained away to the
Democrats in Connecticut and New York and New Jersey, who believe
and know that the best interests of this country are to_ be subserved by a
continuance of its protective policy. The past and present attitude of the
Democratic party upon this subject reminds me pf nothing so much in the
world as the relatives and acquaintances of a person in Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s
Progress, Mr. By-ends, of the' town of Fairspeecb. When Christian and
Hopeful had escaped the persecutions of the town of Vanity Fair, where
Faithful lost his life, they met on the way this Mr. By-ends, and Christian
soon discovered who he was, and proceeded to interrogate him. He asked
him who his kindred were. Mr. By-ends replied:
Almost the whole town. and in particular my Lord Turn-about, my Lord Time-server in Lord Fair-
speech, from whose ancestors that town first took its name; also Mr. Sinohthmsn, l r. doing-both-
wsys, Mr. Anything, and the parson of our parlsh, Mr. Two-tongues, was my mother’s own brother
by my father’s side; and to tel you the truth I am became a gentleman of good quality. Yet my
Stricken down by an assassin; how we all ‘
has in .his message.
"randfuther w bu . - -‘ . .~
by the same ocfipai‘lzn‘fmuman’ 1001-1"); 01“ way and romng another. and I got most of my estate
Then, after a little, he said, referring to his wife:
lily wife is a very virtuous woman—the dau liter of a v .-
Fclgulns’s dau hter- therefore she came of ear cry ‘ irtuous woman, She was my Lady
breeding that ine knbws how to carry it to sll—::gnl:gxigli:2beg:dnplg£szgim arrh Ed to such a pitch 0:
Nothing could more] accurately describe the Democratic party in past
campaigns and the Democratic party as I am convinced it is to be in the
coming campaign, than this extract from Pilgrim’s Progress. 'l‘ammanv
Hall, indeed, was sI disturbed lest somebody should suspectthat the Presi-
dent was a free trader, thatits cohorts gravely resolved in convention that:
We believe that free trade is a myth as ion" as the overnm '
bnmqelniignalmjnvge betl’levtiithgt such revenuezhould bg raised beyglstiugl’iqdetndii-‘itil’fl:: vgl “1:33;: Raggafifi
\vorkingman. are ie 3 est wages and make the necessaries of life as cheap aspossible for the
The Senator from Indiana (Mr. Voorhees) waxes indignant.
that the President’s message “is falsely and foolishly stigmatized as
trade document,” and the Senator from West Virginia (Mr.
quotes the sop which the President flung to the laboring man, and says:
So we see that the cry of the demagogue the countr ' orcr th t I ' -
ing at the lessening of a just reward of the labor of th’e country idly; Eirdzgfiltltagliltdishfglggic’ are alm-
These Senators are moved to the use of ref ex ressive I
say the least. It strikes me that {there may Ibo dyshivgr of appr‘etfigflfi)‘: it:
the minds of both of them, which accounts for this strong language' but
the Senator from North Carolina [Mn Vance], shivering lest the internal-
revenue taxes should not be abolished, comes to the relief of the President
and he suggests a plan, novel upon that side, yet full of truth and signifi:
cance. He would repeal the internal-revenue taxes that he might reach free
trade through the reduction of revenue duties, knowing that any lowerina
of tanfi duties must inevitably raise the revenue—at least ‘ any lowering :f‘
such duties to the extent of destroying their protective character. He
would reduce taxation. [by the repeal of internal-revenue taxes below the
actual needs of Government, and then to meet the deficiency would increase
our income by the reduction of tarifl‘ duties. ,
We have seen whatlfree-traders thought of the message
tionists thought of the message. Now let us judoe it by the ’
. What is free trade? There is but one answer. a
hsh language is spoken has the word “free-trade,” as used in reference to
the operations of "government, as used in referencce to taxation, any other
significance than that of anti-protection. These two great systems stand
With their policies clearly defined and marked out. On the one side is to-
tection, on the other side is free trade. I {as it any other meaning in Ifirst
land from which so many of the arguments come for free trade? Has it an '
other meaning in the land of the Cobden Club? Not at all. Everybod)'
knows that the English system is the free-trade system and that tbi
American system is the protective system. These words are simply the
opposztesbf each other, and that system which does not recoonize protec~
tion is universally called and rightly called the free-trade systebai.
Let us look at the English system for a minute. But before I come to
that, perhaps I should quote the definition of a distinguished free-trader
as to what free trade is. I quote from Prof. Sumner in his recent work on
protectionism, and I will ask the Secretarv to read what I have marked
The Secretary read as follows: ' .
What then is a protective tax? In order to ‘oln ‘ ‘
deflnitio’n given by a leading protectionist journal bf boltslisufge‘elstgdgcdli’d iii-012353;): I will quote the
trade, although much discussed, 15_ seldom rightly defined. It does not mean the abolition of c at
houses, nor does it mean the substitution ofdlroct for indirect taxation, as a few American di n ' In]
of the school have supposed. It means such an adjustment of taxes on imports as w," cause "055]? es
sion of capital from any channel into which it would otherwise flow, into any channel 0 ned r?
ored by the le relation which enacts the customs. A country may collect its entire regecn e I: 3“.
ports, and yet 8 an entirely free-trade country, so long as it does not lay those duties in sillch gall-'5
fzggelglfu‘: $3! (1212:3030 “igfig‘ikizghggffiiyfiueni 011' (braktiany investment he would avoid in the ab
~ - l es ev e ‘ ' . - '
inconsistent with her profes’slons of beln a. country wh ch "Emilia." :21 i533 fgydgxce htéqngtgre not
$33an $311513 no]: 3:122:33 :11; En lan dor tlitely use exactly equivalent to the excise dudes legit-ads;
. . e o no on a . - ' -
“9.“ of an article, because they do not discriminate in fm'gndftghg‘hblfiiz lgggfigeil'mo the home produc-
and la igggcftgfig dgby’lob 1?th ??fi" bland, bus for its object to effect the d version o'f a part of the capital
crfflkwd by [SW-"1’1,“ pie - e 0 shoe 3 in which it would run otherwise into channels favored or
'now 0 no e nit ons of these two thin s which ' . ' . '
correct than these. I accept them and join Issue 01:13:33.” or been made b) anybody which are more
Mr. Flatt—What is the Englishfree-trade s stem? L t
Consul Dockery in his report from Leeds, Siptember 1‘: 1.53%: :qtiqfsfiggq
Comparatively to population more revenue is annual] ' collected t . ‘ '
$11,125,; Egralnyqulée:egqllll:§rg 9210;380:0131. cact- tiqg dthse linited Stagscrying;lildtgllshmsgludfirtlgzntfl
. . w l e e 'n te tales with ncarl twice as] ‘
collected $186 000 000 in the s’ame cried. Gonna ’ n y ‘ arge a po Vulation,
collected from customs $378,000,000}, ny, u it]: a much larger population than England,
lhe chief items of receipt under the head of custom duties during the past year were from '
He says
a free-
Kenna)
what protec-
record.
Nowhere where the Eng-
cory ...... . ...... ...................................... .
Cocoa..... ........................... $$J300
gofl‘ee..." ........ 1025,0in
Fbrgantau . 1,380,000
.... ..... . ..... I‘ v
fin sins .. ................. Hg-%
1:31de .. .. . 11.5mm
Tea...’.'...'...'.'... ..'.'.’."."'.'.'.'.Z'.Z'.l'.'.IIZZ 7:335:00”
Tobacco and snuil.. ............ 1&va
\Vlne ..... . ..... §~%-000
......... .. I
The renewing'ié'i'i'i'si'éi'éiiiiiiié'ir'hbiéé"xiimeij'iliiééiiéi 'i'i‘” .- ' ’°°°
ory, chloroformi chloral, hydrate, cigars slid cigarettes, coco’a, gdflggfréolllgdllfiifi 1:: 0215:3312} 0:45:-
dials, curt-ants n essence of spruce, ether, iodide of ethyl, figs, fig-cake, preserv'ed ‘fruit (in spiilts)‘
naphtha. ickles, gold and silver late, plums and prunes, raisins, soap, tea, giu,rum. whisky,sll
other 8 ' ts, wine and varnish ; and esldes these there are about ninet or one hund
_ _ red articles ohleflv
gang"; cries, and principally patent medicines, which are held to go liable to a duty of 83.36119}
There are in Great Brlraln and Ireland no less than thirt nthree ‘ ’ '
lector or superintendent and subordinates. In London alone, the n::|it:rm:fd§gtig:.a figgelvslgkgece‘dls
1,500, while in Liverpool about 650 are employed, aggregating for the two ports 2 220 officials
facts and figures do not look well as regards the much vaunted idea of a free and 'untrnmmeled
Again he says:
They-—
Meaning Englishmen—-
afl'eet great repugnance to any country that has a tariff of 50 or 100 ~ '
3:: grit-133%:etigultlltlzyioglagngsttlrticle a. {duty ‘of nearly 2,000 per cent 129.215.3221“;idlzzii'écigafinivnisr {derid-
. ‘ - _ 1 cm 9 cus oms revenue in l 't ' " ' .
lobac’co is the article. Itsis classed in their own tariff list a: :1“: ”3513321554: 0:; t‘l‘lgrgilfildsd iStaten.
duty, in contra distinction to a “countervailing duty,” such, for instance as the customs {i It”.on
spirits and everything else subject to internal revenue duty. On Tobacco (which is in ver ' enega 0"}
by the laboring classes in England, and which is consequently of the cheapest kind) the ’dfit run as:
3:323:35 igp'ily’isiutifii 51:33:":th ill: oietnt; ell-i pound for;] the raw or unmanufucfured article am’l if argues,
. . o_ . per mm . This is call ‘ ‘ "
I can not see it in thatlight, as the manipulated aI-lticle is distinctly carggd.l‘§§mig) Sell-gem? (1:24
more than the raw article. Asa matter offset, it is so strongly rotective that it'prevents Apifiegfcan‘
from successfully competing with the Lnglisli manufacturers in lgngland, owinn to their beln h di3
ca, gfdiwuh agoqdditlonsl t20 (gents p‘ir pouitid on the manufactured article. ° 3 an I
s s an e_ mous pro ec on. _ grea part of the tobacco consum ‘ ‘
quality, its original cost at the American shipping Jlort having been negaiblbiin‘trliinndomceftsanermfihrfi‘dr
It pays, if not manipulated, say aim-cent revenue uty on cuterin England, and if made int?) 81:35]] ‘
g}. ““35 §o5ggcco it plays 311:6, qr all:l additional 2-! cents per pound nty. Here we have a. revenue dutg
1,!é3?)aper bend): ce .f, an a an er strictly protectivcduty of 400 per own, making in all a duty of
Y are puv a uty 0 $1.32 per pound. I do not ivc and: ‘ ' '
one mm which the large amount of $43,000,000 ofgduty was: 255233.312: as?“ one article, since It Is
The English Tariff on Tobacco.
I will refer to one portion of the English tarifl‘ in detail, and that is 'the
tariff upon tobacco, on which they lay a duty of about 1,500 per cent. as ‘a
revenue duty and about 400 per cent. as a protective duty, making about
1,900 per cent. in all. I take this from the English tariff, as reported b '
Consul-General Waller very recently: )
trade .
a
Tobacco: ‘ d l
['nmanu acture pcr pount ....... .......... .. . . -
Containing less than 10 per cent. of moisture, per pound. ' ' ' ' . ”'3’
Cigars, er pound ........... . . .. . ........... . .............. 13f:
“Caven lsh" or “Ne ro.head,” per pound. .
Same, manufactur in bond, per pound.... 1' -
Snugpeipoundi...........(.i. ..... ..... . ....................... . ‘33
Snu no moret an 13 oun s in 100 ounds mo‘ ti . '
Otheiz, manufactured, peli- poun'd(. ...... p: ..... ).. . . 15. .m,’ per pound ........ 1.1%
So it will be seen that England, with all its free-trade pretensions does
not hesitate to lay a protective tax, a duty to protect its manufactures,’upon
some of its imports. With these exceptions, however, the English system
consists of the imposition of purely revenue duties. and nobody will deny
that the system in, England, which is called free-trade there, is what the
Democratic party of this country means to adopt. England, with its 2 200
customs officers, is still acknowledged to be a free-trade country. ,
Do not let us juggle with words any longer. Do not 0'0 to the people of
the United States and say to them the Democratic party is dot afree-trade par-
ty because it‘does not intend to abolish the custom-houses, because it intends
to keep up a revenue tax, but just let us have this issue boldly made, Does
or does not the Democratic party propose to take off the protective feature
from our import duties? If so, I contend, and the whole world hears me out
in the definition, that it is for free-trade.
What Does the President Mean!
So, then, I come to this question: Does the President of the United
States, as judged by his message, intend the destruction of the protective
system? The honest and bold and avowed free-traders, who are not ashamed
to be called free-traders, as I have shown, think that he does. He certainly
argues their case for them. , I call Senators to witness that no free-trader in
this country or England would more boldly argue in book or pamphlet or
in newspaper, or on platform, would more boldly speak than the President
Listen tolthese words:
lint our present tsrifl‘ laws the vicious lne ullahlo and lllo ‘ .
ought to be at once revised and amended. ’ q ' 810a] source of unnecessar) “3'30".
Is that aimed at irregularities in the system, or is it aimed it the system
itself? Does that mean that-if there are inequalities in the system if one
article has too high a rate of duty and another too low, if the difi'erebt inte-
rests of the country are not fairly treated, revision and‘amendment should
be made, or does it mean that the whole system which he denounces as vi-
cious, illogical, and unjust shall be done away with? Let me read the rest
of that paragraph:
These laws, as their primary and plain etl‘ect, raise the price to consumers a '
and subject to duty by precisely the sum paid for such duties. Thus the amounft {#1312323 5333;?"
the tax paid by those who urchase for use these imported articles. Many of these things howev u
are raised or manufactur in our own country, and the duties now levied upon forei n ’ cod; and
products are called protection to these home manufactures, because they render it post: blegfor th n
of our people who are manufacturers to makethese taxed articles and sell them for a price equal to if?”
demon ed for the imported ends that hsye paid customs duty. So it happens that while com rm
tlvel‘v a. row use the import articles, millions of our peo le who never use and never saw an aim”?
iorc Ign products purchase and use thin s of the same ind made In this country and pa Iberian):
near _v or quite the same enhanced price w don the duty adds to the imported articles: Thoseywho buv
imports pay the Clutv charged thereon into the public treasury, but the great majority of our citizen;
_ . . a.
Norwalk Chronicler