This challenge the Democratic party met and answered in the first and cardinal plank adopted by its national convention at Baltimore, which pledged the party and its candidates to the ultimate attainment of the principles of free trade, because of the absence of power in the Congress of the United States to protect American labor and American industries. The plank reads as follows: "We declare it to be a fundamental principle of the Democratic party that the federal government, under the Constitution, has no right or power to impose or collect tariff duties except for the purpose of revenue." And there can be no doubt that this declaration was assumed not only to represent the present free-trade policy of the Democratic party but to be in full accord with Governor Wilson's personal views as an out-and-out free trader. The people of the United States are, therefore, now asked by the Democratic party to vote in favor of the proposition that, no matter what foreign competition there may be, even from Asiatics, the American national government has neither the _right_ nor the _power_ to protect a single industry or a single workman. Such a proposition may well amaze and delight foreign countries, and no wonder they all desire the success of the Democratic party. Every other national government not only has the power to protect its industries, but has again and again exercised that power whenever the interests of its people demanded protection. The power in one form or another is being exercised to-day against American products by almost every government in the world, including the colonies of England, as witness Canada. The power would be exercised by England again to-morrow if it should appear to be for her interest to do so. Yet, no matter that our factories may be closed and our wage-earners thrown out of work as in 1894, 1895 and 1896, no matter how easily Europe and Asia could make our country their dumping-ground and could make a prey of our necessities after closing our workshops and destroying our industries, no matter how beneficial to all classes it may be to have a diversity of industries--the Democratic party, nevertheless, proclaims that our national government is powerless, and that there is neither the _right_ nor the _power_ to enact a tariff except for revenue.