New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1878-03-09
GTNPOUDER AND FINANCE.

fttNPDU DLH AM TfN NV T..
The other day the explosive economists OF
Ohio gave vent % their emotions III salvo OF
100 guns. This not only an emlnently
becoming method of celebrating their recent
financial achievements, but 1t shows that
Western publcists fully appreciate the value
Of glnpowder as an aid to the high pressure
discussion of economical questions yet 10 come
Facts and figures would prove unwicdy
weapons to brandish against the banks, and
10 sane man would ever think of appealing to
reason and experience in support OF the " fiat "
money of the future. II may be well enough
for the cautious Shylocks Of the East, OF the
sluggish capitalists in the crumbling mon
arches of the Old World, t. deliberate over
problems of finance and currency, but the IN
land way of translating these problems into
the sphere of the emotions, and making them
burning questions" saves a great deal OF
mental wear and tear, besides furnishing
form of popular amusement more eXllllaiatiDg
than the ordinary athletic sport. The eloquent
roar of 100 guns would do little To convince
the reason, but there Is nothing so potent To
fire the popular heart, and 1t VIII tend to
arouse the people to proper enthusiasm when
even oratorical illusions to the Fathers and
Alexander Hamilton have become stale. fiat
and unpIoftabe.
The superiority of the emotional treatment
of financial questions has been demonstrated
by the rccoInage of the il2l2-grain silver
dollar, which was compasscd mainly by this
method. And perhaps the direct advantages
which are to accrue TO the country from null
tiplying our forms Of legal-tender and furnish
ing lis with graduated and adjustable stand
ard of value, are of less account than the IN
cidcntal moral gains which the country has
derived from the introduction of the gun
powder form of discussion. The Amcri-
can citizen has learned that he weighs
a great deal more than usual when
he chuIns himself up into genuine or theat-
Iical frenzy. He has learned that a disputant
only needs to get himself properly excited III
order to repcl every assault OF logic, ana put
10 al.ht the armies of alien bondhoders. He
has learned that Il man who has loaned him
money To buy a farm, or to build a town
or n railroad, or to "devclOp his resources "
in any way, ought to be- treated like IL
public enemy, and that if he will only
keep on calling his enemy hard names it proves
that we need cheap money. He has learned
the potency Of such arguments rs Mr.. Ewing's
threat to slosh around in warm gore up to
his knees. lie has heard Mr. Bland, who
passes into history as the author and iinshcr
Of this triumphant bill, saying to evi-minded
creditors "Takc what we offer you or You
evil get nothing" and the powerful effect of
this argument has taught him the value OF
the sponge. He has learned that if a rising
of the debtor class or the laborng men Is
threatened, good, easy Congressman Will vote
to take what they can get, lest worse evil
come upon them. In short, he sees the dawn
ing of new era, fifty heralded by burning
gunpowdcr, when the clumsy methods of the
Fathers-those revcred Fathers, who studied
these questions in the light OF reason and ex-
perience-are to be superseded by roughand
tumble debates and appeals to popular passion.
Now, if the veto had been sustained, it
would have been highly indccorous for New
York bankers to fire salute, or illu-
minated the city, OF for Governor Robinson to
proclaim Il day of Thanksgiving. 1t would
have been in shocking bad taste if some
bloated bondholdcr had kinded bonfire
when the free coinage section was stricken
from the bill The fact is that We
Eastern people discuss these questions i'll
such "a cold and Unconditional way that even Il
Roman candle would be out of place as an
argument or Il celebration of victory. We
have been trying To demonstrate that honest
dollars and resumption would be a blessing to
everybody, when. if we wanted to make ii lively
financial campaign we ought to have inflated
the cheap dollar statesmen who hold that
their own gam is measured by some other
mans loss. The silver man argues tlat,
for his slns of surrcptitiOus demOnc-
citation" and asking interest for his
money, the capitalist is a fit subject for
sboliaton Therefore is the silver man fred
with the zeal of a crusader to punish the inf
del and appropriate his goods, and when he
wins a victory it is Il genuine triumph over
genuine foe, and be appropriately revels in
gunpowder to glorify himself al.d numiliate
his adversary. This seems to be the only way
of getting any real enjoyment out Of inan-