“McKinley’s one great issue was the key to Republican fortunes in the late nineteenth century. The party promoted protective tariffs for three reasons. First, they shielded American industry from cheap imports, which was appreciated by the party’s base in the industrialized sectors of the Northeast and Midwest. Second, they were thought to create jobs and to preserve the highest possible wages for American workers, which played well among the burgeoning urban labor vote in those same regions. Finally, they also supplied the free-spending Republicans in Congress with the funds to introduce popular social programs, such as veterans’ pensions. For three decades the Republicans had enjoyed the firm support of vast contingents of Union army vets. The Northeast, the Midwest, and the vets were key components for a GOP victory. As far as the Journal and most Democrats were concerned, Republican tariffs merely shielded the party’s Wall Street cronies from normal competitive pressures, aiding in the proliferation of trusts and monopolies and saddling the American public with higher prices for protected goods. As the party of small government and decentralization, the Democrats also complained that high tariffs led to a larger, more corrupt, and more meddlesome federal state. They told their faithful that the Republicans would use tariff proceeds to put their friends on the Washington payroll and to introduce expensive and paternalistic social legislation that would undermine individual enterprise and befoul the national character. Whyte, Kenneth. The Uncrowned King: The Sensational Rise of William Randolph Hearst (p. 137). Counterpoint Press. Kindle Edition. Whyte, Kenneth. The Uncrowned King: The Sensational Rise of William Randolph Hearst (pp. 136-137). Counterpoint Press. Kindle Edition. ”
