FARMERS^ INSTITUTES. 43 



I do not pose as a minister of the gospel or a confirmed drunkard, — 

 I am somewhere between the two, — and so far as this argument goes 

 it is not necessary for rou to guess just where between the two 

 I am at, for I am not here to discuss the question of the wisdom of 

 drinking or letting it alone. Emerson said, ''It is impossible to tell 

 a man what he does not know, but possible to call his attention to 

 things he does." 



Well, I purpose to call your attention to the things you know. First, 

 you know of the internal revenue tax; second, you know that in the 

 year 1900 Michigan paid |54,000,000 of internal revenue; third, that 

 this money went to Washington; fourth, that the excessive use of intox- 

 icating liquors creates a lot of unfortunates; fifth, that instead of send- 

 ing these to Washington to be taken care of by the money raised by 

 taxing that business, you put them into your State institutions which 

 you tax yourselves to build and tax yourselves to run; sixth, I be- 

 lieve that it is equitable for you to ask for some of this money to 

 be sent out into the rural districts to improve the common wagon roads, 

 which will eliminate apportion of the first cost of transportation, which 

 will make it easier for you to pay your taxes to support the crop of un- 

 fortunates created by a business that you are not engaged in and 

 which pays no profit to you. 



And I believe it 'is as constitutional as it is to improve waterways 

 and aid railways, and I cannot see any difference between one kind 

 of transportation way and another so far as the constitutionality is 

 concerned. 



I do not think this any time or place to discuss matters over which 

 there is a difference of opinion in political parties, and I am going to 

 guard myself so well, that you cannot tell from anything that I say 

 whether I am a republican, democrat, prohibitionist or a middle-of- 

 the-roadist; I am not going to speak of the merits or demerits of the 

 protective tariff, but we have one and you know it. you also know 

 that the friends of a protective tariff say, that it generates industries 

 and enhances the w^ages of employes; you also know that its enemies 

 say that it generates trusts and combines, which water their stock 

 and put up the prices on necessaries in oi-der to pay dividends on their 

 watered stocks. Be this as it may, trust and combines are industries 

 and, which ever way yon look at it. whether with democratic eyes or 

 republican, you see that they have been benefited. 



Where are these industries situated, — in a village or city which 

 are both situated alongside of either a waterway or railway, 

 and many times by both, both of which have been aided by the gov- 

 ernment, and the properties of these industries as well as a large 

 portion of the property of the waterways and railways are also sit- 

 uated in these villages and cities; then the government has, by aiding 

 the industries by a protective tariff and by aiding the waterways 

 and railways that also aid the industries, which are largely taxed in the 

 villages and cities, indirectly but surely aided in the paving of the 

 village and city streets. 



If ''Do unto others as you would that others should do unto you," 

 or reciprocity between countries is wise, it seems to me it might be 

 a good plan to use it nearer home, and try it by actually giving some 

 of this money collected on imports to build better roads out past the 



