Page:Speeches, correspondence and political papers of Carl Schurz, Volume 5.djvu/263

Rh McKinley tariff on the statute book as the law of the land under the pretext of demanding an amendment to the Wilson tariff bill which he knew would not be adopted!

How ably is he now playing himself off as the champion of the self-same tariff act which he struggled to the last by hook or crook to defeat, and which he was the only Democrat in the Senate to vote against!

Able! I should say so. There is no abler genius of mischief in the Democratic ranks. There is no abler traitor to Democratic principles and policies, no abler demoralizer of Democratic virtue, no abler enemy of the Democratic Administration. There are few rogues in politics whom David B. Hill cannot easily beat at their trade. And he is still able to pull the wool over the eyes of lots of credulous citizens.

I leave it to you to think out what will become of the country and of your party, if such ability is to rule their destinies!

It is said that of late David B. Hill has much “broadened.” To be sure he has. He is broad enough to be for good money and for the free coinage of silver at the same time. He is broad enough to fight bitterly against the tariff bill and then to extol it as a beneficent Democratic measure. If he goes on “broadening,” he will soon be broad enough to be on every side of every public question, always with the keen eye of the statesman firmly fixed upon the interests of David B. Hill.

And he is broadly generous too. He even went so far at one time in the Senate as to defend the hated Cleveland—when he thought he could thereby most effectually kill the tariff bill. And he was hot for killing the tariff bill because he thought he could thereby most effectually kill Mr. Cleveland.

He is, indeed, generous to us all. He tells us that if he had had his way he would have admitted the delegates