The Conservative. 3
The roPUDlicnns
TIIF . . rot Ti - . _ . . . . . * . >
STANDARD.lf thov establish
the gold standard
for the United States and uiako it por-
mauoiit and enduring as the everlasting
mountains , will bo entitled to the grati
tude of agriculture , commerce and
manufacture , they will have made per
manent and sure the just reward of
labor. They will have earned some
mitigation for oven their needless waste
of blood and treasure and will have , at
last , redeemed the one promise which
more than any other elected McKiuloy
president.
The old American virtue of economy
in public expenditures no longer wins
from our rulers oven the tribute of a
hypocritical admiration. For the
second time the president has sent in an
annual message without one word of
warning against extravagance. He is ,
in fact , the chief advocate and abettor
of extravagance. And all the depart
ments ore pushing up their estimates.
The attoruoy-gouoral urges that the
salaries of federal judges bo raised , and
Secretary Hay wants United States
ministers and consuls better paid. We
calmly talk now of a national expendi
ture of $000,000,000 , although $800,000-
000 was thought a frightful sum twenty
years ago. Prudence , frugality , have
become contemptible virtues ; and the
thrifty ant is jeered at by every happy
grasshopper getting his "piece" of Me-
Kiuley prosperity.
The death of Senator-elect Hayward
of Nebraska before he could take his
seat reduces by two the republican ma
jority in the upper branch of Congress ,
as the populist governor will appoint
a member of that party , who will hold
the seat until the legislature shall have
a chance to elect , a year from next Ja
nuary. Four seats in the senate were
vacant before Mr. Hayward's death ,
through the failure last winter of legis
latures to elect in Pennsylvania and
Delaware inthe _ east , and in Utah and
California in the west. Governor Stone
is the only one of the four governors in
these states who has yet made an ap
pointment , but , of course , if the senate
shall admit Quay , the other executives
will promptly follow this example.
Executive appointments in Utah and
California would make no difference in
the representation of those states as
compared with election by the legisla
tures , since the governor and majority
of the law-makers in Utah are demo
crats , while in California they are re
publicans. But the democrats will gain
a seat if the senate shall admit Quay
from Pennsylvania on the credentials
which he presents , and then later re
ceive a man from Delaware on similar
papers , as the governor of the latter
state , chosen in 1800 , is a democrat ,
while the republicans carried the legisla-
buro in 1808 , and might have had a
senator sworn in on Monday if they
could have agreed among themselves as
to who ho should be last winter. New
York Evening Post.
or NIGGEHS. ! h * Pfresident
put into the fore
front of his message some statistics left
over from his western stumping tour ,
designed to show how fast we are getting
rich and , therefore , virtuous. But ho
missed , it seems to us , his best chance to
show what a Midas-touch resides in
"McKinloy prosperity. " Ho referred
casually , one might almost say , furtive
ly to the "usual market value" of
slaves in our new gems and glories of
the tropic seas. Those are our slaves
now , of course , and it seems to us that a
reasonable cash estimate of what they
are worth should bo reckoned in when
figuring up the value of our Philippine
booty. But how easy it would have
beau for the president to point to the
ruling price of slaves in the Sulus $18
to $20 , we believe , for likely niggers
and then show what a marked advance
this indicated in the money value of
flesh and blood since he bought the
whole population at a regular bargain-
counter price of $2 a head. Here is a
clear gain of 000 per cent , and it is safe
to say that if Bryan had been elected
president we should never have seen
such an astonishing evidence of pros
perity.
Mr. MoKinley explains that each slave
is now happy in the knowledge that he
can buy his free-
Happy Sorfn. , . " .
dom it he can
only find the money. Some carpers
may say that the United States ought
to advance it to him. But the president
shows that all our spare cash is paid to
the sultan , who now draws $700 a month
from our treasury. With a score or two
of wives to support , the wonder is how
the poor sultan can get on with so small
a sum.
The foregoing from the New York
Evening Post of December Cth suggests
a job for Bngham Roberts , rejected
member of congress , from Utah. Why
not appoint him assistant sultan o :
Sulu ? His experience as a polygamist
if the place is put in the classified civi
service and an examination required
would no doubt qualify him for the
task.
It goes without saying that the United
States government is the best on earth
but that does not mean that it is perfect
All of the different department report
at Washington suggest reforms whio ]
merit the careful attention of congress
For a nation that is only a little more
than one hundred years old the Unitec
States has done surprisingly well , bu
there is still room for improvement.
Kansas City Star.
AVAX8K
PKOPIIET.Sfu ( * r > Towne , in .
beginning his ad-
ress , "that the present so-called pros-
jerity is fictitious. It will collapse with-
n the next few months and the results
vill bo terrific to contemplate. Our
inanoial system has no sound basis. It
s like a house of playing cards and will
certainly collapse. "
These words we quote from that im
partial journal , the Chicago Daily News.
Fhe statement is quite in accord with
ihe sentiments of the free silver leaders.
They profited in 180(5 ( and preceding
years by public distress , and they look
; o it as their best nlly in the warfare
they are waging against the gold stand
ard and sound finance in general.
But it will not come to their aid. The
present prosperity is not fictitious. Pros
perity implies good wages and brisk de
mand for labor. It implies abundant
crops and fair prices for them. It im
plies likewise largo railroad earnings ,
increased bank clearings , productive
mines , industrial enterprise and mercan
tile solvency.
Mr. Towne must know from observa
tion that the country possesses just now
these elements of prosperity and many
others. Such things are not fictitious.
They will not disappear in the next
"few months , " and there will bo no re
sult that "will be terrific to contem
plate. " When this Minnesota 'prophet
looks down from the Dnlnth hills two
or three months hence he will see eleva
tors full of wheat , factories employing
many hands and paying high wages.
He will observe Superior street crowd
ed with thrifty people and he will see
around him happy homes , the reward
of enterprise and industry.
Mr. Towne says that "our financial
system has no sound basis. " We admit
that it needs reform. If the basis is at all
unsound it is because of the silver agita
tion which passed the Bland bill in 1878
and continued to plunge the country in
to debt for the purchase of silver until
the partial repeal of the so-called Sher
man act in 1803. That movement culmi
nated in the free silver campaign of
1800 , which retarded financial reform
and threatened to debase the currency
as well as to destroy public credit.
Despite its defects "our financial sys
tem" will not "collapse. " We do not
believe that the mantle of Elias has
fallen upon Mr. Towne , who in congress
and elsewhere has made predictions that
would entitle him to take the place of
the "False Prophet. " Our country will
continue to grow in prosperity and our
financial system will before long bo
secure from the assaults of Mr. Towue
and his free silver associates. Sound
Money.
A realist is a person who sees things
as they are and endeavors to see the
direction in which they point.
