I
'Cbe Conservative *
THE PASSING OF "PROTECTION. "
Evidently , Havomeyer our robber
bnrou of our sugar Rhine in his point
ing to protection that McKinley hobby
horse as the "Mother of the Trusts"
has induced something like administra
tion heart failure. The following symp
toms of a protective tariff collapse are
noted : Smith , of McKinley's cabinet ,
and presumed to mirror the president ,
says as in the nature of that maneuver
of politics known as crawfishing that
"The tariff is not an issue of the same
importance as in the past. The policy
of protection aimed to build up our in
dustries to a point where they could stand
independent on their own feet. This
object has been accomplished. Protec
tion has established the complete indus
trial independence of this country.
More than that : it may fairly be said
that it has substantially established our
industrial supremacy. This truth has
been demonstrated within the past two
years , as we are now beating the pro
ducts of the Old World on their own
grounds. " This is flubdub and the bal
derdash of corruption satiated. If an
industry "needs protection" when it's
small , it "needs" it to the same proportionate
tionate extent , and for precisely the
same reason , when its big. "Protection"
was a taking without license of right
from one and giving to another , for that
the latter chose to go into a certain bus
iness. Eor example , protection took
constantly from the farmer and gave to
the iron-mongers like Carnegie. As
one fruit of this leech system , note the
difference between the farmer and Car
negie. Smith , in his effort to cover
McKinley's retreat of protection pipes
exultantly to the effect that within two
years we have "been beating the pro
ducts of the Old "World on their own
ground. " One is to infer that this lat
ter feat having had happy accomplish
ment , we can now take down our pro
tective tariff fence. If that were all ,
then protection should have been abated
twenty years ago. There should have
been no swindle of a McKinley bill in
1890. As far away as the early 80's we
were "beating the products of the Old
World on their own ground. " We were
for a handful of samples selling
Singer sewing machines in London at
$15 , that cost because of protection
the American purchaser $30 , in Jersey
City , where they were made. Clark's
spool cotton and the Clarks , all Scotch
and never naturalized , are the subjects
of " 'Er Gracious Majesty the Queen'
today was three cents in London and
five cents where made. Syracuse salt
was cheaper in Toronto than in Syra
cuse. An Oakes Ames shovel cost less
in Mexico than in Massachusetts , and
the Santa Fo road took advantage of i
as far away as 1881 to buy shovels in
El Paso Del Norte , they being $1.7fi
cheaper per dozen there than at thei
own Bay state manufactory. And
hey'd paid freight 8,000 miles. An
ndless list of this kind can be made.
Hero's why the McKinley gang of pro-
iective loot and plunder seem to be tak
ing the back track. There's danger in
he word "protection ; " always was.
? he more , since Havemeyer of Sugar
) ointed to it as the well-head of the
irust crime. And they're about to
abandon the word. "Protection was
; he name for that excess of tariff col-
ected beyond the needs of government.
To a tariff for revenue was added a
giant per cent beyond what the govern
ment must have to meet its bills : and
that last was called "protection , " It
was the favoring arm of Uncle Sam
thrown around such folk as Havemeyer ,
and Cramp , and Carnegie , and Elkins ,
and Armour , and Clark , and Whitney ,
and Payne , and the whole brood of re
publican harpies. It was reserving the
jome market for their wares. It was a
icense to loot in favor of manufacturers.
They didn't need it. They never needed
t. It would have been a robbery and
extortion even if they had needed it.
3ut a time of politics has come
when protection may be put aside.
Why ? A swindling republicanism ,
'ceding fraud on every hand , has ele
vated our "expenses" to a point that
makes protection unnecessary. What
was "protection" is now a "tariff for
revenue. " When we've imposed a
duty to meet our "expenses , " as the
fraud and corruption of our Haima gov
ernment have cut and corded them ,
that duty will be 50 per cent higher all
along the line than the atrocious Mc
Kinley bill. Here we have the Dingley
bill towering a story or two above the
McKinley bill of eight years ago ; and
still the first of July displayed a deficit
for the year of $114,000,000. You say
the war fed on the nation's money ?
The money that carried on the war was
borrowed ; we've sold over half a bil
lion dollars' worth of bonds in the post
six years. This , in addition to the tariff.
Where has that borrowed money gone ?
Where have the revenues departed to ?
They have been swallowed by the maws
of republican waste , and fraud , and
swindle , and digested as "appropria
tions. " Would you know how "ap
propriations" have grown ? In 1819 ,
with 9,000,000 of population , the ap
propriations for government's currenl
expenses were $8,500,000. In Jackson's
day , with 18,000,000 of folk on our
books , appropriations were a dollar a
head , or $18,000,000. As lately as the
60's our year's bills came no higher than
$60,000,000. Today , aside from a Phil
ippine outrage costing $100,000,000 , they
run up to $800,000,000 a year. And
that's why "protection" is no longer
called for. With public expense piled
mountains high by fraud , the Carnegie
and the Cramps and the rest of afore
time protection bloodsuckers can get nl
the blood they want a bellyful of blood
u sooth ! with a "tariff for revenue
nly. " What's the remedy ? Income
ax and cut tariff to the roots. New
York Verdict.
PERSONAL.
The pope has sent a full-length por-
; rait of himself with a dedication and
iguaturo to Dr. Mazzoni , who attended
lim in his recent illness. He also ap-
) oiuted Dr. Mazzoni his consulting sur
geon.
The Holy See having expressed dis
approval of the further distribution of
Professor Zahm's new work "Evolution
and Dogma , " he has requested that it
) e withdrawn from sale , and has writ-
; en to his translators to the same pur
pose.
Dr. Nathan C. Schaeffer , superinten
dent of public instruction in Pennsyl
vania , is to return to his former position
at the hend of the Keystone State Nor
mal School at Kutztown. Not being in
) olitical harmony with Governor Stone
le did not expect reappointment.
Field Marshal Lord Roberts of the
British Army mourns the loss of his
famous Arab charger Vonodel. He had
ridden her in India and at home for
twenty-two years , and Vonodel was a
'avorite with both the British and the
native troops. She attracted great at
tention in the Jubilee procession of 1897 ,
when she was decorated , by permission
of the queen , with the Kabul medal ,
with four clasps , and the Kandahar
star.
star.E.
E. N. Dingley , of Kalamazoo , Mich. ,
who is preparing a biography of his
father , the late Representative Diugley ,
reports that President McKiuley , in a
recent conversation with him , said :
'When you come to write of my rela
tions to Congressman Dingley say in
the strongest and most emphatic terms
that I offered him the position of secre
tary of the treasury , and that he de
clined on the ground that he could help
me more in the house than in the treas
ury. "
The most contemptible beast is the
pseudo conservative. A slave to tradi
tion he seeks to enslave others. He isnot ]
a man , neither is he fish , flesh nor fowl.
He is a nondescript. Barnum once ex
hibited him as the "What is it ? " He is
an anthropomorphic with a skull clogged
with the mouldy wool of traditionalism
instead of brains.
Commenting on Postmaster-General
Smith's speech at Omaha , the Portland
( Me. ) Press ( Rep. ) says : "It is useless
and worse than useless now to undertake
to fix the responsibility of the war. It
leads simply to unprofitable crimination
and recrimination. It is the end and
not the beginning of the war that people
are now concerned about. "
