University of South Carolina Libraries
MR. AIKEN'S SPEECH. A Strong and Clear Contrast of the Principles of the Republican and Democratic Parties. Following i- a fill] rep,.rt of the ad mirable spe-:ch delivered by Con grtssnan Wyatt Aiken at the cam paign meeti.g at Ander-on on WVd nesdav. Mr. Chairman: It is with pleas ure that I return to volu. my fellow citizens. t thank you f,,r the honor conferred upon me. You are the ar biters of my -fficial conduct. and it is for you to say whether or not I have served you satisfactorily. That I have served vou faithfully and con scientiously I have the answer of an approving conscience: but is is up to vou to say whether or not this ser vice has been acceptable. and whether our compact shall be renewed. In the language of Dickens. I as sure you "Bakiius is willing." I wish to subserve the best interests of my people in all things. even to the ex tent of accepting renomination. 13 fore touching on such questions as are before the political parties today I ask your indulgence while I refer briefly to my individual work as your representative. With a republican majority. main ly from northern states. which ma jority is a unit on all important is sues. there is little sce e for the activ ity of a southern congressman: little chance for legislation in the interest of the south. The most that we can do is to support such general meas ures as include 'the south in their beneficial efforts, and record our dis approval of such measures as rob the many for the benefit of the few. Eloquence and logic are God given endowments which will ever com mand respect and admiration. but to swerve from its purpose an instruct ed republican majority, they avail as little as -does a breath in turning back the ocean waves. National leg islation has become so one-sided. so centralized that we may hope for lit tle that is of benefit to the south, ex cept in an occasional general act. I introduced a bill to increase the pay of rural carriers to $goo. My hope of passing it was based on the belief that rural carriers all over the Unit ed States would appeal to their rep resentatives, and create a general de mand for the bill. This proved to be the case. and while we did not get the amount asked for we did get an increase to $720. Another bill which I introduced and still hope to pass. in case I again represent you. provided for an immi gration bureau on Elli, Island to be composed of rcpresentatives from the various states. whose dut'Lies it shall be to select and send their several states desirable immigrants. This was in the interest of thinly populated s?Auhern states. the wealth of which might easily be doubled by develop ing their sources with a competcen cv of labor. I could not h-ope by any oratorical effort, even if I had the gift of eloquence, to secure the passage of this bill: but by showing in a bus iness way the importance of building up the producing sections of our country as a means of increasing the general wealth, in which all sections participate. there is a chance for its passage. Our own legislature recog nizing the necessity for tilling in the dlepleted ranks of our white farmers with desirable white .immigrants created the office of immigration agent looking to the very ends pro posed in my bills. I have increased the R. F. D. routes in the district since my incum bency from 69 to o4: and hear in mind the fact that I succeeded the most actice ccngressman "n this line in the state: that he wvorked in fal low ground, selecting such routes as easily met the approval of the depart ment, while the more difhicult have fallen to me. I succeeded in reiri'ng and establishing several routee which had been turned dlown by the dlepartment. By reason of may positiona on the pension committe of the house T have secured numerous pensions for Spanish war volunteers, not only in this district. but in the distr'ets rep resented by Messrs. Finley. T.ever and Johnson and other sotuthern districts. These pensions had been turned down by the departnment for one reason or another and would possibly have died in the committee archives hut for the personal interest I took in the appli cants. Mr. -Ai.-n here told of his fgeht in the Walhalla postoffice matter: ap p)ontment Of postmaster at Pendle ton: securing mail on train No. Ii -)n the Southern: R. F. D. and star rutes, etc., etc. I'n rec,,untinig these matters I do so in n, spirit .f boastfulness but rather au rend-ring ani acc(IInt tO you wh have a right ti know the detail.f : r tli. acOIIIt kof mv stewardship I ask ymr indulgence while I refer briedv t- such (IlestioIIS a:; are engaging the public mind at hi: tim-. If I were asked to express nfew w-1rds the main points of dif ference between the two natioMI: . r ties I would say: The republicans stand for high tariff and extrava .ance. while democrats stand for low :ariff and economy. The difference between the parties on this question a difference in degree: the demo crats advocating a reduction and re vision (f present tariff rates while the party in power prides itself on *tanding pat" on this issue. W (lo not advocate free trade but a tariff ;or r(venue only. Most of the criti c:sm to which the republican party is Justly subjected is the outgrowth of protective tariff. In the beginning of our manufacturing era we were told to foster and protect infant industries in order to product competing planrs. This argument is no longer effective. since these infants have grown to be strong and corpulent. and by pooling their interests fix prices to suit them selves while the government holds at bay their foreign competitor. Under th-e protective tariff American steel bars sold last November in England I for less than $20 per ton. American goods are shipped to Hawaii and Porto Rico by trusts and sold there a( prices which enable the American consumer to purchase them. there. pay the cost of shipment both ways, and get them at less than They can buv them in the home market. To protective tariff is due the large surplus that has accumplated in the treasury. which is being deposited without interest in favored national banks. Now a surplus for an individ ual or perhaps a corporation is a very desirable thing. but a surplus of over one hundred millions of government money, drawn and kept from the avenues of trade. and inviting extrav- i agance and fraud in administration. is a most dangerous menace to popu lar government. If you paid this tax directlv as you (io your state and county taxes yout would feel the sting of this iniquitous system. As it is. you pay it in every tool you use. in every article you wear. at the rate of ten dollars per capita for very man. w*oman and child in -the United States. Think of this. This state's proportionate part of this tax would be about elevIn millions per annum. enough to p:.y for every de tail of the state government for a period of at least t5 years. not in cluding county expenses and a simi lar proportion is collected in everyf other state of the union. The re publican party protects -the trusts by extorting from their foreign competi tms exhorbitant tariff rates, and the trtsts in their turn protect the repub lican party by contributing largely to its vote subsidizing fund. Banks hav ing the surplus deposited with them do not pay the government interest. but they pay interest to the republi can party in campaign contributions. This excess of funds in the treasury encurages extravagance and official Idihonesty, or tends that way. The at year of Mr. Cleveland's adminis trtion cost this government $448. 40.622. while the last congressional aproriatioin of Mr. Roosevelt's adl ministraition. seven years later. reach 'mi the enorm us sum of 878u.72.375. nr more than 70 per cent. in excess of h tlast year of democratic rule: and thi. amount does not include 3o.o000 00o aippropr'ia-ted to the Panama canal. During President H arriso n's tenure . office he deplored an .accumutlatinig surplus as dangerous ti g. od govern Iment, and he wvas exercised to find a way to get ri(d Lif it. N i t Mo with the present adlmiii tration. Its imperial policy affords an opportuniity for shoveling it out b the car load amongst an alien peo l whlo payv not a dollar of the tax. Pet- of the administrationl are sen-t to H-awaii and the Philippine Islands anel paid salaries rivaling that of the preCident himself. The governor of th Philippines receives Sao.ooo per anum, the commissioners $13.ooo, justices of -the supreme court $ta-500. irItitidges 87.000. and district In our colonial possessions $6oo.ooo were spent last year in stamping out cholera. and yet in the Philippines. the center of the tr-tuble. the revenue, ae scarcclv su,t11icr:nt !- pay mulici pal expense.. By a decree of the pres wien't. wI 1 tae w. d"es his own 1h-gisiat ing wih en it suits him. the civil engineer of the Panama canal gets a alary -f S.oo per aininiim. During t0e last fiscal year 8.415 new offices were created a: an addhiunal cost of S..431.86;. mo-st -f them chargeable to ur "imperial p.ilicy. It is estimated that wc have paid iut to date S6oo.oooo.ooo to get and retain control of our island posses sions, while the balance of trade in our favor is nominal. What obliga tion. mpral or otherwise. rests on us to keel) p11) this extravagance? We are not related to these people by consanguinity or affinity. The pros pncts of commercial advantages are not even a remote possibility. Then why are we their self cons-rituted .,uardians? The question is asked what disposition could be made of he Philippines. In answering this I ftel very much like exclaiming with the fellow who yoked himself with a wild s-eer. "Stop its darn fools." My first policy towards them would be to turn them loose. establishing with them such relations as we have with Cuba. and taking their obliga tion for such amount as they honest ly owe us. This would relieve us o: further expense in trying to maintain a government therv and perserve peace on the islands. If our people as a whole are wedded to the idea of holding them at any cost I would suggest as a means of remuneration that the doors there be opened to Chinese immigrants. an energetic people, who will build up agricultural and commercial in'terests. Some of the best informed men with whom I have talked. men who have lived there. tell me that the Chinaman is one of the most industrious, while the Filipino is the most indolent and thriftless of our iihabitan'ts there. If. then, it is commerciar greed that is actuating ts why not make -che most of it? Now as to pensions. This govern, ment paid out during the last fiscal year $138.36o.700 for pensions. and this mammoth amount is little more than a campaign fund. President Roosevelt. acting in his legislative capacity. not an uncommon role for him decreed that every federal sol dier over 6o years of age is entitled to a pension. his age being accepted as sufficient evidence of disability. Acting under this order. inspired by the president. the pension bureau has literally flooded the doubtful states with pension money to the utter neg lect of claimants from other states. I am sorry to say. however. that in the matter of pensions we have little to hope for from either party. The south on the pension qttestion is in very mucht the same predicament as was an old Virginia farmer during the war. who had been robbed by federals and confederates. Walking out one morning and lookintg over the wreck of what was on.ce his well equipped farm. he said: "W\\el!. I never took no sides in this here war. but I be gol darned if both sides haint took me." It is one of the bitter decrees of fate that the war impoverished south - en veteran must contribtute fronm the scanty earnings of his feeble htandls to the comfort antd ease of his coinquer or in his declining years. Under renm cratic rule we may hope fo r ant ec' nomical and judicious dist ribtttin of the pension fund but little more. s' mch has this appropriation bec'ome a vote subsidizing futnd. plont wvhich bo tht parties are dependent in a mea+ re for election. Thtere was a time in the list' -*v this government wvhen "a public of tue wvas a public trust." Today a "pu)tbl ic ufce is a privat e snap" in he e,.timati'on of reptubl ican 'iticiai.. Tte salaries of govermtnetnt oflicials in manyv instances are so ouit ot prop ir tion with the little work they' do that we can readily accottnt for doiubled appropriations. One striking exam ile of this extravagatnce may be seen in the roport of the secretary of the treastry, showing that 102 custom house officers employed at salaries and expenses amounting to $164.o00 collected but 563.000. At Gloucester. Masachusetts, it costs $18.489 to col lect S3.132: at Brazos. Texas. it costs $3.99t to collect $4.731. These are only a few incidents which might be multiplied iuntil you tired hearitng them. Of course there are other port whichmpa very much int excess of the cost of collection, but it only goes to show the extravagant meth 'Ids of pritecti.oi and the crying ne cessitv f,,r ref,)rm in the i,de of col lecting revenue. The iex: great difference between the nationa parti!e i k n the pies ti.n f subsidies. The republican par 'V. 1:ot 'untent with making vl I pay a ta.\ r tr 1 atnw t i-ve ti) lifty per c-iit. ti the nianufacturer. would take an additi'nal toll from vou to enable trusts it carry those goods from your centers of trade at a very low shipping rate to the door of the con peting foreign purchaser. It is a repetition of the old miller's conduct. who said to one of his boys: "John you toll that corn?" "Yes, sir." says John. Turning to another he said. "Tom. you toll that corn?" "'Yes. sir." "I believe yonu are both liars so I'll Loll it myself." A bill providing a subsidy of something like ten mil lions, a direct gift to the shipping in terests. passed the senate during the last session. ai,. -as barely killed in house committee ' y the aid of two re publican votes. Th-e bill will be re newed. and as sure as a republican administration is electe,i will pass both houses. In closing let me summarize what we stand for and upon what we hope to win in the next election. We stand for a moderate tariff that will build up commercial interests at home. de stroy trusts, and produce only so much revenue as is necessary for an economical administration o' the gov ernment, as against a high tariff that fosters trus-ts and extravagant ad ministration of government. We stand for honesty in office a against corruption that has arisen as a stench in the nostrils of the American people. We would release the Philippines. holding over them protectorate rights and a claim for such amounts as they justly owe us. thereby putting an end to further expenditures as against an extravagant policy of continuous ad minstration there. entailing the cost of additional hundreds of millions,. and bringing us no nearer a solu-tion (.f the problem. We are for reform complete and entire. not such as the old time serving minister recommend ed to his rich and wayward parishion ers when he said: "Brethren. you must repent a little. as it were, be converted in a measure. or you -will he damned to some ex tent. Our government under republican rule is fast drifting into that condi tion which invariably marks the de cadence of republican forms of gov ernment. We are building up an aristocracy of wealth who know no limits in their demands. who even now hold the destinies of the republi can party in their hands and whose arrogance and presumption dictate to the president himself. When so called popular government is based upon decrees issued from the bank vault instead of the ballor box labor will h-- robbed and degraded and lib erty itself trampled tunder foot. Such has be-:n the history of other repub lics tha: exist now only in history: such is the' trend of events with us. There is generally an opening in a hospital for the young man who has appendicitis. JAP-A-LAC THE NEW WOOD FINISH. WEAS LKE ION It makes old floors, front doors, wood work, oil cloth, linoleum and furniture look like new. For Sale By F. A. SCHUMPERT, Sec'v and Treas. A woman's complexion is not al ways complex. If you would be popular, don't tell vour troubles. NOTICE OF SETTLEMENT AND DISCHARGE. Notice is hereby given that by order of the Probate Court of Newberry countv I will make a settlement of the estates of Louise F. Swygert, f,rmierly Lou. F. Chapman, and Henry S. Chapman, in the said court, on the 26th day of August, igo4, at io o'clock in the forenoon, and that I will immediately thereafter apply for a final discharge as guardian. George S. Swygert, Guardian. TEACHER WANTED. The trustees of Fork school dis trict. No. 59. will meet at the school house. August T3th. to elect a teach er. Term. 6 months. Salary. $30 per month. Lady preferred. Applications must be sent to trus tees. W. G. Metts, Slighs Q. M. Kinard. D. J. Wicker. Pomaria Trustees. Brick! Brick!! For Sale by C. H CANNON. 00 BANK DEPO PEZ Cov Were& BardatCost.Writeak WX0BA.AACAMAMU8INE>ScOLLEGEMachIA FOURTH ANNUAL EXCURSION TO Atlanta, Ga., THE New York of the South. VIA G. N. & L. and S. A. L. Tuesday, July 26., 1904. Low Round Trip Rates and Convenient Schedule. SPECIAL TRAIN LEAVES ROUND TRIP RATE Irmo..................7.24 a. m. $2.75 Chapin .. ......7.48 a m. 2.50 Little Mountain..8 00 a. m. 2.25 Prosperity.... 8.15 a. in. 2.00 Newberry.... 8.30 a. mn. 2.00 Kinards........8.50 a. mn. 1.75 Goldville.....9.00 a. mn. 1.50 Clinton..........9 30 a. mn. 1.50 Arrive Atlanta at 3.00 p. m. Return ing special train will leave Atlanta at 9 00 p. mn., Wednesday, July 27th. Tickets also good to return on regular trains. DON'T FORGET IT this will be the only excursion to Atlanta- "The Gate City'-this season. There will be plenty of coaches,. a seat for everyone. A representative of the road will accompany the train and good order will be maintained. Separate co aches for both races. Tickets on sale at C., N. & L. Ticket Office and :n the Train. For further information call on C.. N. & L Agents or address. J. F. LIVINGSTON, S A., C., N. & L., Columbia, S. C. Jos. W. STEWART, T. P. A. S. A. L., Columbia, S. C. JNo. R. NOWELL, Manager, Colum bia. S. C. Salter's New Art and Variety Store. A full line of various articles. Anything you need from writing pens to trunks. All new and fresh goods. Anything except GR OC ER IE S and DRY GOODS. Come and see me before buying in The SKYSCRAPER.