24 



articles of consumption by all classes. The tax is a tax upon the con- 

 sumer. I would not remove the tax so far as it is imposed upon dip- 

 tilled spirits or the products of them consumed as a beverage; but there 

 is no difficulty in formulating a law that will observe the distinction, 

 and continue the tax upon the beverage iu every form. 



But, sir, the authors of this measure do not care to reduce taxes. 

 They want an issue for the next Presidential campaign which is so near. 

 I doubt if they want this bill passed before then in both Houses of Con- 

 gress; they want it pending. 



The product of our manufactures is annually five and one-half bill- 

 ions of dollars, the annual production of the non-precious minerals 

 entering into manufacture is nearly one hundred and fifty millions. The 

 chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means and his party associates 

 have declared war upon and propose to destroy this property, bankrupt 

 its possessors, and pauperize the millions that it now pays the wages of 

 labor to, wages of labor that support families, that educate the young, and 

 give homes and the comforts and pleasures of life to more than twelve 

 millions of our people. These gentlemen would impo veri sh those homes 

 pauperize the families, rear the children in ignorance and poverty and igl 

 norance are the parents of crime and vice; thrifty, intelligent communi- 

 ties they would convert into the vicious, beggarly, ignorant, brutal, and 

 criminal classes of the manufacturing and mining districts of the Old 

 World. And can they convince an intell igent man they can accomplish 

 this result, and that other classes will remain uninjured, will not share 

 the bankruptcy, the poverty, the ignorance, and the degradation ? The 

 American people are homogeneous, and the degradation of a family in- 

 jures its neighbors, however diverse their occupations. And if you 

 degrade nearly one-third of all our people the others will share it. Mo- 

 rality, Christianity, and patriotism protest against the inhumanity. I 

 have shown you that the interest of the other classes and of the coun- 

 try is opposed to this war of destruction. Sir, if successful, it will 

 change our social system, introduce class distinctions into the country, 

 and in the end will revolutionize our Government practically, if not 

 in form. Gentlemen on the other side are constantly mourning over 

 our tendency to centralization of power and to a strong government. 

 Whenever the wages of labor shall be so regulated as to give but an 

 animal support to the worker, then you must have a strong government, 

 with its army of police; and if you would force the country upon that 

 period you have but to impoverish the craftsman and the wprkingman 

 by reducing their wages of labor by this 20 per cent, reduction. 



Our country has a climate as varied and power of production as di- 

 versified, and I do not know but as great, as that of all Europe. It in- 

 cludes thirty-eight States, and vast Territories, each as rich in resources 

 as a powerful state in Europe, all connected by abundant water or rail- 

 road communication. Our internal commerce exceeds that of any other 

 continent. This they would impair, if not destroy; would neglect our 

 own resources, destroy our home market, bankrupt our capitalists, and 

 impoverish our people to add to the wealth of the foreign manufacturer; 

 it may be to the advantage also of their workmen. I will concede 

 that, but self-preservation is the first law to be observed by nations as 

 well as by individuals, and that law is involved in your policy and 

 purpose. 

 I have stated the issue fairly. 



This issue has been tendered to us by the other side. * With a una- 

 nimity which is certainly gratifying to me, we have accepted it upon this 

 Bide of the House. You propose to tender it to the people in November 

 next. The Republican party, I doubt not, proposes to accept the issue. 

 You must remember that in all your localities where the hum of ma- 



