Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-06-07

| passing, that, though the cyolopedias
speak of Sir Robert Peel as introducing a
| complete system then, he himself spoke
| of it as only the beginning of a system !,
| which would need subsequent great en-
largement and possibly rectification.
/ remember to have heard
MIR. Gladstone say this in parlia-
ment, at a time when he was apollo
giving for not making that rectification
himself; he expressed a courteous wish
that SIR Stafford Northcote, at that time
the leader of the opposition, would I'M
dnrtake it. Now it is interesting to OBJ
serve that Sir Robert Peel borrowed this
system, and confessed that he borrowed
it, from the system of the state of New
York. 1t had been introduced in New
York in 1888, and was perfected there
in 1910. How did the legislature of New
York come upon it? AS early as Fehru-
airy II, 1927, DR.. McVickar, who was a
professor of political economy at Column
bia college, wrote to a member of the
New York legislature letter entitled
''HGnts on Banking - In that COM
munication he foreshadowed the New
York law The letter was written eleven
years before the banking law of 1888 was
passed, but it was seed well sown, and
the letter, but almost the precise forms
of its expression.
THE PEOPLE GOVERN.
Now here is good illustration of the
American system of legislation. Here Is
what we mean when we say that the peo-
pie govern this country. We mean that
any person in the state, who has any
view about the government, may, with
out improperly, express that view, de-
/velop it, and try to impress 1t on the
administration. DR.. McVickar WIS not
a member of either house of the legis-
lature. Because such men as he are not
members of the legislature, people of
European breeding howl and complain
that educated men are not interested in
the government of this country. DR..
McVickar was really better employed
than he would have been had he been in
the senate of the state of New York. He
was teaching body of intel igent young
gentlemen, some of whom, eleven years
after, were in the house of representa-
tives and in the senate. They knew
very well that he knew what he was
talking about; they had his letter in
their hands; an influential person among
their number was in tue New York senate
and introduced a bill based, and con-
fessedly based, on DR.. McVickar's
ideas, and the members of the legisla-
ture of New York, who we're men of
sense and intelligence, were able to
carry out bis ideas in a system which is
now the foundation of the banking sys-
tenn of the largest commercial nations Of
the world.
AN OBJECT LESSON FOR THE NATIONS.
Tie state of New York was thus able
to give an object lesson in what we may
call normal school of legislation, first,
to all the states IN America; and second,
because her object lesson succeeded, to
all the nations of the world. Now, il
our system of government had been the
European system, all this legislation
would wait till the secretary of the treas
nry of the United States had been a man
competent to deal with such problems,
and had an opportunity IN which he
could introduce the discussion of the46.
with some hope Of success. If you lzRye
forty-three legislatures ready to try your
experiment, of course you have forty
three chances for favorable opportu-
nifty to one which you would have If you
had but one parliament to consider it.
But more than this, in the state
legislature you have the closer
touch and the nearer sym