Page:Speeches, correspondence and political papers of Carl Schurz, Volume 5.djvu/91

Rh farmer of the West and the South against a common foe.

And, thirdly, while the American in general is a patient being, and will permit himself to be plundered for a while to make an experiment, there is a limit to his good nature. And I believe that limit is now being rapidly reached.

The reaction will inevitably come. I believe it is not far off. Those who predict a ten years existence to this tariff rely upon the composition of the Senate. They forget that the Senate may have a majority of Republicans, but at the same time not of high-tariff men; for there are Republican Senators who listen to the voice of their constituents. When that reaction comes, I, as a conservative man, hope it will not come as an avalanche, crushing everything in its path, although it may. I hope it will come as a peaceful reform, beginning with what Henry Clay called “the admission, free of duty, of the articles which aid in the operations of manufacturers,” the policy outlined by Grover Cleveland in his famous tariff message, which rendered the country the inestimable service of placing the issue boldly before the people,—that beginning to be followed by a corresponding reduction of duties on the manufactured articles. Our situation is very like that under the tariff of abominations after 1828, with slavery and nullification eliminated. The remedy will be like that laid down in the principles of the tariff of 1846.

But the economic side of our tariff is not its worst. Infinitely more dangerous is its effect upon the development of our institutions and our national character. We have recently had some significant experiences. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Reed, fairly electrified his party by his saying, “Thank Heaven, this House is no longer a deliberative body!” To the wise patriots who made our Constitution, this jubilant