E 671 .S557 Copy 1 SPEECH OF HON. JNO.'silERMAN, ^tJ3elaware, O., Sept. 8, 1 H TO. 1 cooiesa, fellow-citizers, I enter upon this poiitioal caovass raiher lazily. We have bad a long aijd wearisome session ol Congress, wlicre talk flowed in ail Interrupted slreain. Xlie heat was sometinifs more stifling than in any harvest lield iu Ohio. In tbe Senate we have no way to stop debate, except to wear out the Ictiaest talker of tbem all— and some- times ii required all night for this. You can Im- Bgine how charming a change it was Iroia those heated sessions to the country air ot Uuio and to the Ireedom of social life at home. I was, therefore, g)ad that the Kepuldican Committee, charged with the management of thiH canvass, left us to rest awtille, acd it is now in obedience to their request that 1, as one ot your public agents, come here to discuss the polit- icail questiocs ot the day. I congratulate you on the fact that these questions are comparatively uninijiortaut. It is tiue they al- Icct the material interests of forty-two uiillions ol people, but they do not involve our national existence or fundamental principles, like those that haveoecu- 1 jiied us lor more than tilteen years. I'ho slavery I question excited the deep, st'Otig and impaBsioned iu- j torest of us all. The war involved the lives of mil- i lions ol our people, inovii«g ihtm to extraordinary j activity and bringing into our political contests the ! passions inseparable trom war. Tne question ol reor- i ganization atl'ected rights of States, or large masses of ! our citizens. Kow slavery is abolished, the war is I over, and all the States are in their proper sphere— a part ol a great and powerful nation. } We still have some vestiges of tue war in lawless < violence in the South — but, couslderiug the magui- ' tiideot the contest, no war ever ended more happily, or, in its general results, has bee-a more benehcial to both friend and foe. It is quite natural for people Bfrer the long excitement ol such a struggle to lold their arms, and let politics and elecMous yo as ttiey will. But in a govornmeut like ours, where every- thing depends upon the popular Judgment, we can take but little rest. Kew questions arise or old ques- tions are revived, and if these fail, you have still at jour annual eleciions to pass judgment on the offi- cial conduct of your public agents. Now it so happens that neaily all the qnpstians Id which you take an interest were debated and ac'ed upon by Congress, at Its last session, and the princi- pal Interest ot this election turns upou the ekctiou ol iiiernberB of the House ot Kepresentaiives. THB DKMOCRATIC PARTY BEVIKWEO. One would suppose that if a I'eniocrafic niemborof Congress, who was hiuisell a candidate lor re-election, should appear before you to make a speech, be would either discuss the jMjlicy of his party during these iryipg times, or he would arraign the mi'asures aiiopted by the Republican party, or he would pre- sent some grave question for your judgment, and con- nect it in some w^ay with the approaching eKcilmi. 1 have always regarded General Morgan as one of the most respectable and astute members of the l>emocratic party, and hoped and expected that I would find in his carefully prepared speech hero the other day a text of a candid and intelligent disriis- sion of the past and present issues between the great parties of the country; but with commendaliU- prurience, which proves his sagacity, he siiys not oiie word iu defense ot the Democratic party lor the last fiffeen years. Kuw before I refer to what General Morgan does say, Itt me rec ill to you the state of affairs in De- cember last. The Itepiibliean policy of reconstruc- tion was then practically settled by the election of General Grant. It only remained for the rebel States, one by one, lo conform to the law and be rtstortd to full reprpsentatinn in Congress. Tnis has now been done, and, at the nest session, every si;at wiU be tilled and every State represenitd. No retiel has been deprived of his lite, his liberty or bis property since the war closed, by reason of bis rebellion, however cruel and barbarous may have been his conduct; and no civil or political disabiliiy whatever uow rests upou any rebel by the laws of tm' United States, except that a lew who commltttd per- jury at the outset of the war can not now hold ari office of honor, trust or protit in the United Sta'- t without .the consent of two-thirds of Congress, \\ ,^ may have to pay the penalty of this great liberality . It is certainly unexampied in the history ol uiai - kind, and could only have been adopted by a liueral party in a republican government. Now, in this whole process of reconstruction, the Kepubli'-an party was guided by a generous and liberal Bpiii', taking its steps slowly and surely in harmony wirh the prople. Their work now rests upon an eiulurii g principle. The Constitution is now in harmoty wi:u the Declaration ol Independence. No fdir mau, however strongly prejudiced against the Republican party, cau truly say that ttiis parly has not been able, falthlu! and successful in tbead- ministraiion of this government. I do not wish to fipeak as a partisan, but it ia just to the Rfpublican piirty to recall their steady success, and their steady support by the people. In every stage they have been opposed by the Democratic party — the s-iuie party that now acks you to trust them with poliih nl power. How strange now seems the position taken m dltf'erenf tijuts by the Democratic parly. It was ibis party that, opened up the slavery question by the re- peal of the Mis.souii comtiromi;on this point he was as silentas anoyster. And so I am bound to say, on all these questions of practical poll- tics now in issue, upon which the people engaged In every day pursuits naturally want and are seeking Information, General Moigan did not present the questions involved in this election, but only gave you dry husks, or scattered and immaterial statemerts easily collected and put together as to any adminia- iraiion by one far less able to engage in political de- bate than he is. Let us see. He tells you, but not for the first time, how good and virtuous you, the people, are or ought to be— and that you alone, ol all the world have tree institutions; and that the good ol your country is of more Importance than the success of any party. Ad- mitted. He tells you the people demand reform, and the highest evidence of it is, that the Democratic party had nominated James R. Hubbell— a lifelong Whig and Republican. If to secure reform, they must takea Kepublicau, why not take a good one? Well, I suppose they nominated Hubbell in the hope th»t he would get a few Republican votes herein Ddiware. 'I he next great truth he tells us is that the Re- publican party lives only in name. It so, wheie does the Democratic party live? It is in the graves of Pierce and Buchanan, and a dishonored lecord. Differences exist among Republicans, he sajs. True, and I trust independent opinion will always exist In our party. We can not be voted from a tally j list like New York city. And then he tells us what the Democrats will do when restoied to power. His promises are not very definite, hut they are Piditical promises are very cheap by lui- We judge a tree by its fruits— a party by enough. norltiFs. its acLs. When the devil was sick. The devil a monk would be, When the devil got well. The devil a monk was he. He then undertakes to tell us what becomes of the money of the people— and the highest and only evidence of the awful atrocity ot the Republican party was the fact quoted with much detail irom the report of the Auditor of Ohio, that In 1809 our State taxes amounted to the enormous sum of 822.232,877, while in 18G0 they only amounted to 810,817,676, an Increase of 811,- 41.5,201. Is it not strange, loUow citizens, that he 3 s;^ forgot to tell you that in 1860 we had a Republican ~v( Lesislature, and that every dollar of the 822.232,877, collected in 1869, was voted by a Democratic Legisla- "Otiire In both Houses — the same Legislature that elpcted my colleague. Jndae Thurman, to the Senate V^ot the Unl'ed States? This, certainly, is astriking ^ il'uetratlon of what will become of the taxes paid hy J "the people, if yon are ever so unwiue as to elect a •^Damoeraiic Legislature again. V,', (.rant's administration. Aud ihc-n General ^Iorgau arraigns General Grant personally as heing intiuenced by bribery and nepo- tism. Now, a stood deal has been said about General ; Grant appointing bis relatives to otiiee, but T affirm I hat with two or three exceptions of minor offices at- ; tauhed to his person, Gen. Grant has been as I'ice from lois as any President for tilYy years. I do not deem it ' necessary to rejily to the comparison of Gen, Grant to Whittemore. No man can truly question the in- tegrity of the President. In kingly governments the crown rewards great services iiy royal giUs. In a re- publican government the peonle feel at liberty to do the same. We ?ll voted for General Grant as a just rero.;nit.ion lor his great services, but Republicans do not consider themselves, therefore, as ineligible to hold office under liira. Wmlthy citizf^nsof the East, long btfore Grant was a randida'e for President, chope to show thf-ir appreciation of his services by a large giff. ii-eply and voluntarily bestowed. There is no in- , s'ance whatever where any iuipartial man can say tnat thpre is the slightest eviflence that these volun- tary oH'priDgs of private citizens led to the appoint- ment of any one of them. Now the error of Gen. Grant in appointments, if he ' has committed any, is in regarding political expe- rionce as the ground lor exclusion from office. Nearly all his chief apjiointments have been of a non-parti- fau character. He announced this a.s hlspurposein his ioauguiai, he started it in the formation of his (Cabinet, and he has adhered to it since. It has befu Ubual for tue President to surround himself with leading inliuential repre."enta1ives of bis partv, and to call their secret counsels a polii >/, and then by ex- ecutive influence and patronage to' enforce th.it upon j the people and Congress Gen. Grant re'uses to do, this, whether wisely or not, but has selected his .See- ■ retaries with a view to tiiie honest and faithful per- ; I'ormance of iheir executive duties. For this reason he named such a matt as A. T. Stewart, of N^w York, as Secretary of the Treasurv, and others of like char- Hctfr. who certainly brought no political influence to ] his aid. And this eli'ort to avoid partisan counsels has been the foundation of the base personal innuen- does and attacks that have been made upon General Grant i Now what else dof s General Morgan say ? He tells you that it is a notorio is fact that each of General j Grant's Cabinet officers and heads of bureaus keeps a ! carriage and horses, coachman and footman, all paid j for with the people's taxes and without authority ofl law. Now, it is a fact that for twenty years and I more, far back into Democratic times, there has been j regularly attached to each of the chief executive] otHces, a one horse carryall, which has been used by tiie bead of the department or bureau to carry the mail, and if needed, to expedite him over that city of uiagniticent distances. These have been regularly appropriated lor every year by Congress, and each] Hous<* of Congress has several of them. As for the coachman and footman, consider them as in-j c'uded in one negro messenger, who attends the jdoor and runs errands, and you have the who^e of this magDificent array. There is a great deal of humbug, fellow- citizens, in this kind of riemagogism, and it is a compliment to the Republican parly that my iriend Morgan, in his grand opening fpeech, can tiod nothing else to arraign uh for than that «e have not yet corrected all the abuses of Democrat- ic times. But I promise you I will call tho attention nt Dawes to this matter, and he and Morgan— one on ea;:h side— cun see to It that these Cabinet officers ^aal! walk to Ca"iinet councils, and Eot ride, except at, tht-irown expense. My o«n opinion is that these officers are inade- quately paid. Their salary was fixed long before the war; their tenure is very uncertain ; they are com- pelled by public opinion and the people theiriBelves to receives great many visitors. True economy would be consulted by giving them a salary amply sufficient to support a family in liberal style, and to hire or buy a suitable carriage and horses, without resortins to the Government carryall. General Morgan is bebinn the times He underrates the intelligence of the peo- ple when he resorts to such stuff to impugn the integ- ritv of Gjv. Cox and his associates. But he says these Cabinet officers take money from the Treasury without an appropriation by law, and that they pay without authority of law higher salaries than are provirUd i>y law. Now this is sim- ply impossible. The Comptroller.o, Auditors, am) the old watch dog. Spinner, would not allow a dolUr to be taken except by authority of law. In this thpv are entirely Independent of the President and Cabi- net officer?. The cases he parades where certain clerks wi^re allowed extra compensation, were ex- pressly provided (or bv law, and the law was aclt-d upon by Chase, Fessenden and McCuUoch, as well as Boiitwell. But he says that in four years these Sec- retaries paid $78,:t97 to Adams Express C^ornpanv (or carrying the forma upon which notfs and bonds are rtrlnted, when they could have been sent through the mail for one hnndretlth part of the co.st Well, if they had |f»per8, upon the custody of which rests our chief security againnt counterfeiting, through the mails, they should have been sent to tho lunaric asylum. He savs we have paid S4, 107,000 since 18t!2 for printing bonds and not* s Could it have been done for less'.' Tioes he say it could? The truth is, no operation of the Government IS more delicate and dangerous, atxl none has been more successful in safety, chespnay tor the paper, engraving, aud jirintirig of their own notes, instead of your being taxed for that purpose?" Alas : poor Yorick. The National Banks have been bitter! V eomp!ai)?ine tliat we not only made them pay for their own notes, but that we have made them pav ten times the cost. The truth is that we make them P'^y, not as a part of their internal taxes, but for the very purpose of paving this expense, one per cent, an- nually on the amount of their circii'ation, or thrfe million of dollars p^r year; fo that in this way the National Banks have paid into the Treasury four times the cost of preparing all the bot;d3 and notfs issued by the I'nited Statessince the war commenced ; and this goes to swell fhe gentrsl revpnue and Ifsseu your taxes. Now, did General Morgan know this fact? But now couies a terrible sensation. Three hundred and forty internal revenue defaulters. He says, "when I tell you that there have been three hundred and forty defaulters among the collectors of internal revenue, you look surprised, and ask one another 'why have not we been told of this before.' For the simple reason, my friends, because the facts had been concealed, and had to be dug out." Now this is an interesting pic- ture; three hundred and forty defaulters, rascals, thieves, and as many more rascals in the Tressu'-y Department, including Secretary Boutwell, Commi.-- sioner Delano, Comptroller Taylor, and such likp, covering up, hiding, concealing this rascality, and then comes our friend. Gen. Morgan, the virtuous, the incorruptible miner into rascality, digging up, yes, digging up this mass of corruption. Yes, I dug it up . I, General Morgan. And to strengthen his assertion be gives names; and among them Frank Soule and Sheridan Shook, familiar names in Johnson's time— chaa3pions of the whisky ring— good Democrats. I Now while you look surprised, I can hardly Im- agine how MeCuHoch .and Rollins, Boutwell and De- : lano, Stanbery. Evarts and Hoar looked, if ever they ' read this. They are honorable men, bound to pre- vent rascality, and don't like to be shook in the same bag with Sheridan Shook. And what must be the feeling of the S40 collectors, including nearly ti-very man who formerly held that office. They are branded as deeply aa General Morgan can brand \ tlipiii. What is tlip basis of this whole- ' i^orrcit ilicse abusRs, but. a Deiuocralic Stuato stood Rain charije? It is true that during the cloai; m tho way. During ibn war it was eisential to con- 1)1 Johuson'a adiniDistration the Iiiifiiial Rpvenuptlnue tbis power as to the army and uavy, but (^n- p«rvice became deiiiorallz<'d. I am not, here as thede- gress Jituited tne power to these twodeoartioents. ifnder of the eollectors; Uiibhell oiiyht to be tbat. Since the wwr, upon my nioiiou, and luaiiily in con- Ni'veral of the leadirg olhcers openly usrd their spguence of Willcs' order, the transfer of approprn- oftices to promote the policy of Andrew Johnson. ' rions was prohibited in all cases— and it was by this Moat of these named l)y Mort;an are Hhioiiii; litiht."; of provision of law, inserted in 1868, that Admiral Por- lliiB facliou. 6oiue few, perhajis ten in all, became ler was brought up wii h a short turn last year, when defaulters. ' he undertook by tho transfer of appropriations to lin- The rf St are not now and never were 80. loder the | proviso a new navy. We were asked last wicter by revenue laws all assessnientH, of whatever character, * t.he tipcrtt.ary of the Navy lo authorize the transfer, « oeiher legal or illegal, whether excessive or not, anartmenis to exoeud only tbe actual sums ap- balances of uncollected and uncollcctable assessments, . pvojiriaied lor specific purposes and within a which in nine ca^es out of ten were turned over to i given yt-ar. Now this Important reform has their successors, or were insolvent. The vouchers to j been made without the aid of General Morgan or settle these act-ounts may be, and do doubt are, on his associates, and bus been applied by a Republican lile. and in due course the balance, if any, will be Coniiress to a llepublican administration. Why adjusted and paid, i^ow, It is just as cr.tcl and hard j could not . arraigned as a deaulter, if his property accounts; were not yet closed. I can not l)Ut think that Gen- I The l)alance of Gen, Morgan's speech is the old eral Morean has, in his wholesale slander of public ' a""a'>!nnoent of New England. It contains some olhcers, merely for a political sensation, done injus- [truths and many errors It is true that Massachusetts lice to himself and his character lor fairness and is careful of her local interest. It is true that she candor. stuck to her fishing houuties until a llepublican Con- arefs repealed them. It is true she has a ready facility I to gathf^r nj) old claims and get them paid. General I Morgan is very unfortunate in citing this as an in- Ntauce of Ma«sa''hu8etis' greeliness. According to [his own showiniT, two of the.^e claims were paid No. 75, which it seems the venerable and veritable i by Democratic t'l-ngrcsscs. and the only oppo&i- Gideon Welles, as .Secretary of the Navy under I'res- ; tioa to tne last iii the Senate was made ident Johnson, issued in May, 18<;(;, and by which, as i by U.-puhiicau iSenatois. It was a claim Morgan alleges, be unlawfully snd uncocstitu- ; for iuien st for advaiii:cs made to the United States liouHlly raised the pay of the ravy. Now, j during the war ot )S12, auti it was settled on the pre- it this is true as atatfd, it was an impeach- 1 eise rule apjilied to every other .State. I thought the able offense of the hiuhest grade, and the fault j rule a wrong one, but not a single Democratic Senator was, that brother Hubh( II, then our llepresentative. j agrer d wi'h ini', and but few Republicans. General -udiiig to her local interests. Ohio iliicing the pay of tbe navy, i protects her local interests with as much industry Tills i)uestion of tbe anplical'on of public money I ahd aliility as any other State, and perhaps I may say liy executiveoflicers, without authority of law, is one ! is not less inlliicntial In the (-iovernment ot the of the most important in our system of government, j nation th in anv other Stale. It is not true that the and one on which the action of the Republican party l faritt or U»vcnue laws in any respect tavor the inter- M most creditable. I reinemli^r that during the i est of New lOngliiud to the detriment of other States ti rat session of Congress, in which I served in ISoti, | or that her voice is moio potent than other see- the attention of the country was culled totbemisap- jtions. This is the stalti residuum of old politics, wben phcatiou ef public money to support and enforce the ] there were no powers but South Carolina and Masca- I Oijus laws of tbe border rulHafis in Kansas. The >ltusetts. Be toriit-ts that it is near lorty yejlrssince K.'publlcaa party tried to prevent it liy :in iiiiiend- i Webster and Hayne debated all this. No longer neeil meiittoaD a|ipropriatir>n bill, but the Dt-mocratic j the niitthty Wt-st, with iia increasirg power, whine >^niate retiised, and Conuress was held until late in ' about the. tntluerue of oihir sections. .Sbe has but to .^piemberon this isfue. Finally the bill passed [ stretch forth Iu r hand to tnkt', to dictate, and to gov- without the proviso, but with no a|tpropriat1on a* all ,prn. (wiicral Morgan and 1 ate tioih AVestern men, f.vr the Kansas Legislature Then it was that Pierce's and cu^'it not to crumble when we have the ^dmioistratioD, ill plain disregard of law, transfi-rred power lu fiir own bauds. Tho empire of this I tber funds and used them to nay Acbison's horde nation vc^-'s now tirm m the Misiissippi valley, of Missourlans. This callea my attention to' Again: He sa.vs we iu Ohio have to pay more than this subject, and I found St was a common I our owb shari* of taxes, because In Ohio there Is col- ! ractice to lap ov«.r t and tiansfer ;appropria- 1 lecttd Sli;, "82, -I'.'T internal taxes, and nearly a'l tn tions )rom one object to another, and thus en- whisky. If this reasoulng be true, tt>en we pay tirely deftat the toustitutinnal power of Congress scarceany custom duties. New York pays nearly all. over appropriations. I tried over and over again to ' His reasoning Is fallacious. Moreover, consumers of THE PAKTY TUAT MORCAN SUOL'LD DKKEND. j The rext point made by General Morgan. I most respectfully turn over to Mr. Hubbell. It was order ' 5 whisky nay the duty, and all the States and all the f( cti<,ti8 share ia the payment of t&e taxi-s to the I>reci8e extent they consume the articles taxed. Con- f-iiiuption depends upon the distribution of wealth Mud I opulattoD, and increases procisely as wealth and ) opulation increase. Now, lellow citizens, I have gone ov.»r tliis speech without any wish to evade any point nnide. with nothing hut hearty kindmss 'or (ieneral Morgan, and I submit to jou if this is all tliat is hit o) American politics. Has the Republifian party so ad- luinislered the atl'airs of the (iovernment that these only are the points of arraignmeDt '.' Has the Demo- cratic party, having been beaten iu every iJtreat issue, I'Othing leit to say lor itself except this j;os.sip of the Cnpitol, these threadbare reuinants of .Johnson's ai- ministratioD? If so. would it not be wiser and t>eiter to leave the ship or State under the old pilot to meet now in a calm and undisturbed sea such waves as may arise, to confide in Gen. Grant and the men he has al>out him, to execute the pledges be made in his inaugural, and to keep as your Kepresentalive in Congress one who has not disappointed you, or deserted you. or be- trayed your trust, l>ut who with honfst numliness has met every t^uestion as it rose, never dodging, and now gives you, as security for the tuture, an unblem- ished character and an honorable record. L.iNU CIRANIS. Atd now, fellow-citizans, let us look lor awhile at a lew questions that naturally give rise to a dilference ol opinion. Both the Republican and Democratic 1 ariies in f^hio have recently proclaimed in State t'ouventious their opposition to further grants of pub- lic lands to railroad companies. As one O' your auents, [ will feel bound by this decision, and will vote for no further grant of lands to rail- roads, except that I shall ftel bound to give to a Southern Pacific Railroad the same grants of land that have been given to the Northern atd Central roads. We ought not in justice to adopt a new policy tbat will prevent the South from enjoying equal ta- cihtles for trans-continental railroads. Sineo 1S()2 I have usually voted for railroad grants, l)ut in a ques- tion of this kind I will cheerfully obey the general voice of the people of Ohio. But 1 feel l)0und to cor- rect some ol the errors into whicli someof our Dem- ocratic friends have fallen as to the land grant sys- tem. It had its origin with Mr. Douglass in the grant to the niinois Central Rillroad. It, was iafull loree long before the Republican party existed. The most nu- merous grants ever made were made by the Thirty -filth < ODgress, which was Democra'ic in all its branches. The largest grant ever made was made to the Union Pacitie and Northern Pacific Railroads, in 1862 and hsol, and was voted for. I think, t)y every Democratic member of Congress. It was a policy universally ap- provtd and adopted by the West without distinction ol party. 1 1 is said that this policy was a waste of public rev- enue. Not bo; the reseived alternate sections were d.)ubled in price and then sold more rapidly than i-e'ore. The actual money revenue was increased. The advantages of the system were in the rapid de- vtlopment ol' the West and increafed lacilitiea o( transportation. Many advantages have grown out of the much abused land grant system I'ut the rtason why I readily acquiesce In the suspen- non of thfse grants is that "it will enable us to carry out the lavoiile policy of the Republican party— the tiomestead law. Let us adopt this principle, that hereafter to public land shall be gi^en away or sold i<) any one except to a pre-emt)tor or settler under the hoiDeste.ad law. This will lead to the lull execution of the homestead law, and is the only coifcct basis of a permanent policy, l.ct the land go to those only who o ill settle upon, improve and cultivate it, and thus the nation at large will gain a greater ben^fi^ than it ciin fctt by any gift to railroads or sale to speculators. THE TAHIl'K. Again, a great deal is said among all parties about a protective taritl and a revenue iariff. ihe last Na- tional Democratic Convention, in 186S, declared for "a tariff for revenue upon foreign imports, and such equal taxation under the Internal Revenue laws as will attbrd incidental protection to domestic manu- factures, and as will, without impairing the revenue, impose the least burden upon and promote and en- courage the great industrial interests of the country." The substai'ce of the recent Rppiibliean platform at Columbus is for a revenue t*ritl' with Incidi-ntal pro tection. The suhgtaiice ot the recent Democratic J'tate platform is lor a revenue tariff', with all the nueessaries of lite free. Now if all the neces- saries ot Hie are tree, the revenue part of a tariti would not be enough for a good Democratic treat. If sugar, tea, cotlee, brandy and gin are necessaries, 1 don't see what the luxuries are, unlets they are the silks o( the ladies, and we have the duty vjow as high on silk as the ladies will submit to. It is not, fellow citizens, by such general phrases you ran deal with a practical question like this It has been the bone of contention since the beginning of the Government. There are a few simple propositions that we can agree upon, and they settle nearly all the principles upon which a taritl' in the present condition of our tioances can bo fiaxfd. The primary principle— which governs all the others —is that we must raise revenue enough by a laritfcn imported goods to pay the interest ot our debt, one per cent, annually of the principal, and the expensts of our foreign intercourse. This can not b) less than IGOmilllons a y ar until tie Funding tiill gridually reduces it. We know that year in and year out our importations of fonign I Koods are about 400 niilliors of dollars, exclusive of the flow ot gold, which from its use is not taxable. Now a uniform rate of 40 per cent, on all articles would produce the lilO millions which we must raise. Everybody admits that we ought not to levy the i same rate of duty on all articles imported, and here is the rub. Political th^'orles, sectional in- tprests and dtm.aeoeism add to our difficulties in making the distriiuit.ion. fjot us lay these aside, j and 81 e if we can agree a little further, r^et us divide our importations into classes according to their na- ture aod uses, and lis the rate of duty afterward. A. great multitude of articles are too trifling in amount to make it worth while t.> tar them. Certain I medicines of' tropical production are indlspen8al)le to I health. Certain dyes are of universal use, like log- I wood, where the chief cost is the trouble of prepar- ing tliem for use. Certain raw articles aie the basis ot domestic industry but of little value in theiuselves— all these we can agree ought i to pay no duty. This is class No. 1 We can, ' perhaps, agree that other articles, which we can not : produce in this country, are o( such universal use and ! necessity — such as sugar, tea, coflee, spices — that the j duty should he as low as possible congistent with the j wants of the Government. But these articles, from their being so univeisallv used, are the lu^st fruittul j sources of revenue— yielding us last year S?tiO,000,0( 0— ; and if we take the taxes oil' of these articles we must i make up in others. This is class No. 2. Uj) to this point the only question is one of revenue. We come ( now to the great miss of articles of prime necfssliy, which are produced not only in foreign countries j but in our own country. Now. any tax j you put upon such an imported article is to the ex- tent of the tax a protection to the domestic article. It is not strange, but is in accordance with the uni- versal law ot selfish oess, that every d<)me.8tic producer ; wants the duty as high as possible on the foreign ar- I tide that competes with him, and as low on every- j thing else. If you put a lower rate of duty than ' the average of 40 per cent, on the foreign; producer you discriminate against the home producer to his in- jury. If you put a higher duty than 10 per cent, on a* foreign article you discriminate iu favorofthe homo producer. This class includes the moDufacturers of iiron, steel and cotton, all the multiplied objects of modern commerce, also coal, salt, and such natural ^ gilts, whose chief value is in the labor of tuiniog and i transportation. This is class No. 3. and, with class No. 2, is the basis ot our revenue. There are also a Dumber of articles of luxury, but as 1 their use is confined to a few the revenue is not so great. This I call class No. 4, and includes spirits, wines, cigars, silks, satins and i the like. We will agree that these ought to be talced the rate tbat will produce the most ^revenue. Un- I fortunately, some of them are of a character to be easily smuggled— such as jewelry, diamoods, aad the liko, and too high a duty leads to the loss of revenae; while upon others, like brandy and cigars, we levy the highest rates of duty. Now, fellow-citizens, the chief utiuble with the present taritf is in the Inequality of class No. 3. 8ome of them are confessedly tx)o high, and some too low. It w:is upon this rock the j^tneral tariff' bill broke down in the House. It was a struggle of local interests, aud not of party politics. Wtiat we wanted fo do was to re- ducetaxes. What we did do finally was to enlart;e the free list, or class No 1, to lariroly reduce the taxes <>u class No. ■-', to chanste some ti, and luake exceptions only when the nature of the article demanded a higher or a lower duty, I would take oft" the duty from class No. 2, and enlarge the free list only to the extent that I could swell the revenue above the average on class No 4 Such a tari it' framed by practical men would have fome chance for stability. It might be lowered or raised by a uniform percentage as our linances justity, or as our importations increased or dimin- ished. It would give to our domestic indus- try that steady support, protection and encouragement without which we can not compete with the cheaper capital and labor of Eu- rope — and would remove a purely business question irom the arena of party politics. You might call such a tariU' a revenue tarift, or a protective tariff, or a tarifl with incidental protection, ""i'ou pay your money and you take your choice." It would produce revenue, and protection is an inevitable incident. The course of the Democratic party on the question is full of absurdities and inconsistencies. They want a revenue tariff', and yet they would repeal the purely I revenue duties ou tea, eoU'ee and sugar. They want low duties on iron, cotton and wooUn goods, I and yet they would enlarge the frte list »n las to make this impossible, iiut their absurdities culminated at the close ot the last session. They I have lor years been declaiming aj^ainstour navigatiuii , laws, i)y which toreign built ships are absolutely pro- I hlbitod from American registry. When the wMrnroh*' i out between Germany and I ranee, the President rec- j ommende<>i peace on our Indian frontier by doing justice to ttie Indians. Look on this great country of ours, the heart of a continent teeming with busy life, embracing all latitudes, tolerating all reli- gions, educating all children, dealing by an equal and invariable rule with all men, with the favors of heaven resting upon us, with fruit- ful crops, no famine, no pestilence, no king, no priv- ileged orders, the road to fortune and to lame open equally to all, free institutions, laws of your own making, administered by the great party that guided you tbrough the wilderness, and by the same soldiers who fought your battles, and carried your flag with victory. It'is for you, fellow-citizens, fosay whether it is not better to rest content with all these blesf- Ings, than to yield to a reaction full of danger, and merely to again place in oftiee those who, when you trusted them, betrayed you. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS lllii Hill Mill illllliiiiillliiliijiliijlilllililllllll III 013 789 491 9 ^ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS I I 013 789 491 9 P6Rnuli[^«