1888

26A-1067011

Tariff was the primary issue of the 1888 campaign. Grover Cleveland was re-nominated, and his firm stand for lower tariffs brought that issue into the open. The high tariffs from the Civil War period were seen by some as the reason for great trusts, against which Uncle Sam is here taking aim (26A-1067011). On the other hand, Republican candidate Benjamin Harrison argued that high tariffs meant high wages and that allowing free trade would, as we see here, kill the goose that laid the golden eggs of "prosperity" and "good living." (26B-1067012). People were more interested in wages than in the dangers of trusts. The defeat that this Judge cartoonist predicts did come about (26C-1067013). Cleveland lost the election to Harrison.