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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 26, 1902)
The Commoner. Sept. 26, 190a - 15 Nebraska wont to sell hig wheat and to exchange" the price he obtained for It for woolen clothing, he would get as much woolen clothing as the Eng lish farmer would get for the same amount of wheat when he went to ex change his product You remember the answer. There was no direct answer, but, like my friend from New York (Mr. Raines), ho spurned the present and soared with outstretched wings in to the disrtial future, and told us that if we got free trade, then he would not I ask, how is it'today? "We have had enough of your prophecies. We want to come down and find what are doing now. His answer, if it was an answer, must bo construed to mean that while the farmer in Nebraska had to pay more wheat for the same amount of clothes than the English farmer, he got It back in other ways. That, be ing surrounded by the benefits of pro tection, he absorbed through his skin what ho paid out of his pocket Liv ing in -an atmpsphere of protection, forced upon this country by philan thropists who tell you, as the gentle man from Massachusetts (Mr. Walker) did, that free trade would help manu facturers but he so loves the great .mass of the people that ho does not dare to give himself the benefit liv ing surrounded by these elevated minds, you breathe In an atmosphere that far more than compensates for all you lose. Now, there are two arguments which have never heard -advanced In favor ,of protections but they are the best arguments. They admit a fact and . justify tt, and i think that is the best way to argue, if you hayev a- fact to meet Why not say to the farmer, "Yes, of course you lose; but does not the Bible say, 'It is more blessed to give than to xeceive,' and If you suffer ,gomo in.Qony,enience, just Joolc back over your life and- you -will find that your happiest moments were enjoyed when you "were giving something to somebody, and the most unpleasant moments were when you were receiv ing." These manufacturers are self sacrificing. They are willing to take the lesser part, and the more unpleas ant business of receiving, and leave to you the greater joy of giving. Why do they not take the other the ory, which is borne out by history that all nations which have grown strong powerful and influential, just , as individuals have done it, through hardship, toil and sacrifice, and that after they have become wealthy they have been enervated, they have gone to decay through the enjoyment of lux .ury, and that the great advantage of tne protective system is that it, goes around among the people and gathers up their surplus earnings so that they will not be enervated or weakened, so that no legacy of evil will be left to their children. Their surplus earn ings ar collected up, and the great mass of our people are left strong, ro bust and hearty. These earnings are garnered and put into the hands of . just as few people as possible, so that the injury will be limited in extent t And they say, "Yes, of course, of . course; it makes dudes of our sons, and it does, perhaps, compel us to buy foreign titles for our daughters, but t of course if the .great body of the peo ple are benefited, as good, patriotic citizens we ought not to refuse to bear . the burden." Why do they not do that? They sim ply come to you and tell you that they want a high tariff to make low prices, so that the manufacturer will be able to pay targe (parages to his employes. And then, they want a high tariff on agricultural products, so that they will ' have to buy what they buy at the highest possible price. They tell you that a tariff on wool is for the benefit of the farmer, and goes into his pock et, but that the tariff tn manufactured products goes into the farmer's pocket, too, "arid really hurts us, but wo will f stand it if we must." They are much like "a certain maiden lady of uncer tain age, who said, "This being the third time that my beau has called, he might make somo affectionate demon stration;" and, summing up all her courage, she added, "I havo made up my mind that If ho does I will bear it with fortitude." Mr. Chairman (looking at tho clock cries of "Go on!"), If there Is no lim it to your patience there-is a limit to my strength, and I will not claim your attention much longer. But I desire to say here, Mr. Chairman Mr. Bushnell. Let the committee rise, and close in the morning. Mr. Bryan. I prefer to finish tonight If gentlemen are willing to Hston. I desire to say, Mr. Chairman, that thd republican party, which is respon sible for the present system, has stol en from the vocabulary one of its dearest words and debased its use. Its orators havo prated about homo in dustries while they have neglected the most important of home industries tho home of the citizen. Tho demo cratic party, so far from being hostile to the home industries, is the only champion, unless ' our friends here, the Independents, will join with .us, of the real homo industry of this coun try. When some young man selects a young woman who Is willing to trust her future to his strong right arm, and they start to huild a little home, that home which is the unit of society and upon which our government and our prosperity must rest when they start to build this little home, and the man who sells the lumber reaches out his hand to collect a tariff upon "that; the man who sells paints and oils wants a tariff upon them; the man who furnishes the carpets, tablecloths, knives, forks, dishes, furniture, spoons, everything that enters Into the con struction and operation of that home when all these hands, I say, are stretched out from every direction of that home when all these hands, I say, are stretched out from every di rection to lay their blighting weight upon that cottage, and the democratic party says, "Hands off, and let that home industry live," it Is protecting the grandest home industry that this or any other nation ever had. And I am willing that you, our friends on the other side, shall have what consolation you may gain from the protection of those "homo Indus tries" which have crowned with pala tial residences the hills of New Eng land, if you will simply give us the credit of being the champions of the homes of this land. It would seem that jf any appeal could find a listen ing ear in this legislative hall it ought to be the appeal that comes up from those co-tenants of earth's only para dise; but your party has neglected them; more, It has spurned and spit upon them. When they asked for bread you gave them a stone, and when they asked for a fish you gave them a ser pent You have laid upon them bur dens grievous to be borne. You have filled their days with toil and their nights with anxious care, and when they cried aloud for relief you were deaf to their entreaties. It is said that when Ulysses was ap proaching the island of the Sirens, warned beforehand of their seductive notes, he put wax into the ears of his sailors and then strapped himself to the mast of the ship, so that, hearing, he could not heed. So our friends upon tho other side tell us that there is de pression in agriculture, and a cry has come up from tho people; but tho lead ers of your party have, as it were, filled with wax the ears of their asso ciates, and then have so tied them selves, by promises made before the election to the protected interests, that, hearing, they can not heed. Out in the west the people have been ) taught to worship this protection. It has boon a god to many of them.' But I believe, Mr. Chairman that tho timo for worship has passed. It is said that there is in Australia what It known as tho cannibal tree. It grows not very high, and spreads out its leaves like great arms until they touch tho ground. In tho top is a little cup, and in that cup a mysterious kind of honey. Somo of tho natives worship tho tree ,and on their festive days they gather around it, singing and dancing, and then, as a part of their ceremony, they select ono from their number, and, at the point of spears, drive him up over tho leaves onto the treo; ho drinks of tho honey, ho becomes intoxi cated as it were, and then those arms, as if instinct with life, rise up; they encircle him in their folds, and, as they crush him to death, his companions stand around shouting and singing for Joy. Protection has been our cannibal tree, and as ono after another of our farmers has been driven by tho force of circumstances upon that tree and nas been crushed within its folds his companions havo stood around and shouted, "Great Is protection!" But the dream has passed, the night fs gone, ani in tho east wo sec more than tho light of coming day. A marvelous change has taken place, and, rising from tho political mourners' benches throughout tho northwest, their faces radiant with a new-found joy, multitudes arc ready to declare their allegiance to tho cause of tariff reform. And if you believe, gentlemen, as you have so often professed to believe, that your political disfigurement is simply temporary, or If you console yourselves with tho idea that tho Lord is only chastising those whom ho loves if so, it is tuo most affectionate de monstration" known to political his tory you are making a grave mistake. We have heard from that side of the house twice, I think, recently that "truth Is eternally triumphant" That is true; and while the proposition may describe the success of the democratic party in 1890 and give us encourage ment to hope that that success will continue, I want to suggest to our friends over there a quotation that is far more appropriate to describe tho condition of tho republican party. It is this: "Though justice has leaden feet, It has an iron hand!" You rioted in power, you mocked the supplication of the people, you denied their peti tions, and now you have felt their wrath. At last justice has overtaken you, and now you are suffering the penalty that must sooner or later over take tho betrayer of a public trust I believe, Mr. Chairman, that the overthrow of the republican party is. not temporary, but permanent As the poet has beautifully expressed it: Truth, crushed to earth, shall rise again; Th' eternal years of God are hers; But error, wounded, writhes in pain, And die3 among her worshipers. Mr. Clarkson, high republican au thority, has told us that the young men, of the country are becoming dem ocrats. Why? Becauso we are right And when you find where tho young men of the country are going, you can rest assured that that party is going to succeed. W?iy are we right? Be cause, Mr. Chairman, we are demand ing, for this people equal and exact jus tice to every man, woman, and child. Wo desire that tho laws of this coun try shall not be made, as they have been, to enable some men to get rich and many to get poor. I will append to my speech statis tics from seven states, furnished by tue census bureau, showing the propor tion of those who in 1880 rented their farms and the proportion who rented in 1890. These statistics are only par tial, embracing in some states only fow counties. I was told by tho offi cial, who gavo them to mo that they might bo changed a littlo by verifica tion, but that they were substantially correct I want tho people of this country to read these statistics and understand what they mean. In ten counties in tho state of Kansas tho proportion of those renting thoir farm roso from 13.13 in 1880 to 33.25 per cent in 1890; G4.38 per cent of tho farm aro mortgaged. Yet they tell us that they aro protecting "infant Industries." Why, sir, these mortgages aro held in tho cast; and if these manufactur ing states, when their industries aro "infants," own themselves and havo a mortgage on us, what is going to bo tho result when they got full grown? In Ohio in ten counties tho propor tion of renters in 1880 was 24.9G per cent; in 1890, 37.10 por cent In flvo counties of-Virglnia in 1880 the pro portion was 15.20 por cent; In 1890, 20.20 per cont; in Now York in eight counties 18.20 per cent in 1880, 24 per cont in 1890; in Massachusetts in ten counties 6.70 per cent in 1880, and 14.20 per cent in 1890; in Rhode Isl and in four counties 19.50 por cent in 1880, 23.25 per cent In 1890; in Maino In six counties 2.50 per cent in 1880, 7.33 per cent in 1890. Thus in every state, so far as theso statistics have been collected, tho pro portion of home-owning farmers is de creasing and that of tenant farmers increasing. This means but one thing; it means a land of landlords and ten ants; and, backed by tho history of every nation that has gone down, I say to you that no people can continue a free pcoplo under a free govern ment when the great majority of its citizens are tenants of a small minor ity. Your system has driven tho farm qwnerfrom his land and substituted the farm tenant " " Mr. Chairman, Just a word more, and I am through. You can, If you like, build up these "infant industries," If your country is willing to pay tho price. A good many years ago a col ored man, whoso child had the whooping-cough, went to his physician and laid the matter before him. Tho doc tor looked very wise for a moment and then said: "Take three hairs out of the back of your mule and lay them ca the child; you will cure tho child, but you will kill tho mule." The man thought of his love for his child and his need for the mule, and said: "Doctor, I'se poor; I can't afford ter lose de mule." Yes, my friQnds, you can build up your "infant industries" If you are willing to risk tho destruc tion of the people. But I say that tho country is poor; it cannot afford" to lose its common people; It cannot spare the men who will thus be sacri ficed. Well has the poet said: 111 fares the land, to hastening Ills a prey. Where wealth accumulates, and men decay. Princes and lords may flourish or may fade A breath can make them, as a breath has made; But a bold peasantry,, their coun try's pride, When once destroy'd, can never b supplied. Wo cannot afford to destroy tho peasantry of this country. We cannot afford. to degrade tho common people of this land, for they are tho people who in time of prosperity and peace produce the wealth of the country, and they are also the people who In time of war bare their breasta to a hostile fire in defense of the flag. Qo to Ar lington or to any of the national ceme teries, see there the plain white monu ments which mark the place "where rest the ashes of the nation's count less dead," those of whom the poet has so beautifully written: On Fame' eternal camping ground their silent tents are spread,. Who were they? Were they the ben-