New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1874-02-26
THE ST1TESM ANSHIP or THE PRAIRiB'

Beyond question the odds in any discussion
of the finances in the Senate are In favor OF
the Hon. Mr.. Morton. That original states
man is as free of wing as our own eagle IN
his flights no letters of precedent, no tram
mes of recognized authority, none OF the
limitations which experience aud observation
have put upon the theories OF other phlioso-
pliers and statesmen, curb his thought or
handicap the processes OF his mind. IL could
not be otherwise than that he should have
such a man rs Senator Schurz at tremendous
disadvantage. The Senator from Missouri is
one of those very absurd persons who hold
political economy to be a science. Having made
it study, he has become deluded with the
idea that some of the information upon the
| subject contained in the Works of men who
! are recognized as authorities in other parts OF
the world is valuable. and that the experience
of other nations in financial administration is
worth something to us. Such mental con-
dition is, of course, pitiable. AS was limited
by Senator Morton i'll the most delicate man
ner possible, in the course of his very able,
digafcd, and courteous reply it ia possibly
due to the fact that Mr.. Schurz was born and
educated abroad. In country where prece-
dents are permitted TO clip the wings OF
fancy, and the deductions of experience clog
the progress of thought and the growth OF
the nation, such views might be received
with liberation and perhaps favor. Indeed,
we are not prepared TO say but that in some
of the efiete monarchies of the Old World
! such speech as that of Mr.. Schurz on tues
law would be considered a ripe and scholarly
production, exhibiting pni'23opn!c culture and
high order of craftsmanship. We are happy
here in not being hampered by any such mar
row judgment.
This may be culture and scholarship and all
that, but ii is not the culture of the prairie.
1t has not the swing and breadth and free
dom of our later American craftsmanship. III
lacks the grand loose jointedness of the 'front.'
Ter, the bracing windiness of the long prairie
stretches, the broad and beautiful shallowness
of our great continental streams with their
ceaseless flow of muddiness and their ever
recurring snags. 1t lacks adaptation 90 the
country and the time. Mr.. Morton, on the
other hand, knows the country and ITS needs,
and what is of much more consequence-his
audience. He has not wasted time in gather
ing from books the ideas and notions of peO-
not consequently comprehend the needs of
this fresh, new land. He offers no nonsense
about the science of political economy or the
solution of problems in finance He reasons
out of the vastaess of his own unaded
thought; he spurns the fustiness. and musti
ness of authorities; he breaks the wIthes of
custom and the bonds of experience and
scars serene.
The great statesman of the West knows the
wants of the people He recognizes the some
what phenomenal fact that just now they want
money. What would be to other minds a
grave and delicate financial problem offers to
him no difficulties whatever. From the nights
of his craftsmanship, that unclOuded summit
whose range of view takes in the continent
he looks upon a people clamorinS for money
he waves his hand toward the Treasury, and
with tone and manner that puts a hundred
printing presses in motion says Issue it,
While the Missouri Senator has been reading
about the nature of money and the sources
of wealth, Mr.. Morton has studied cur
rent politics and profted thereby. He
knows that irrigation is wealth. He has seen
it In the stock of hundred railroads. The
nature of money does not disturb HIM. 1t is
a promise to pay and it needs no study to I'M
derstand it. The source of wealth he knows;
it is the printing press. There is no problem
about this. 1t is as simple and easy as reduc-
ing gin in good sized barrel; reduction
keeps pace with consumption, and there's no
harm whatever to the GIN Mr.. Schurz may
inquire-the absurdites of men who read
books are so mprehensible-wh these
promises to pay are redeemable in. There's
no trouble about that. In more promises. So
long as there's a printing press in the Treasury
Department and promises are received as
money, there need be no lack of cash in the
country, and if Mr.. Morton has his way there
will not be.
There has been in times past a foolish
prejudice against mere promises, and the no.
ton has grown up that to redeem one promise
with another and to keep on promising is not
honest nor square. But Mr.. Morton and his
party have changed all that. They have shown
for several years now that the way to manage
a political party is the same as to manage the
finances. The promises made in the platforms
are redeemed in the same way with the Gov
eminent nOtes-by the issue of more. The
last Congress made a serious mistake in carry
ing out almost literally the promise of the
Republican party to repeal the franking priv
ilege, but it was the only mistake of that kind,
and the present Congress proposes to remedy
it so far as possible. 1t shows good heart
to be willing to renew promises.
Good citizens will rejoice at the manner in
which the great statesman of Indiana put
down the Missouri Senator. Immediately on
the close of Mr.. Schuz's speech, Mr.. Morton
took the floor and charged him with having
prepared his speech with care. This outrage