The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1891-07-10
THE sHIRT-coLLAR STANDARD
+ The Tauors' Dummies Think It Oues-
1 tion OF Neck Tics.


The Tanors' Dummies Think it Ques.
tion Of Neck Ties.
Pondering the silly comments made
by partisan press on the wearing an.
parel of certain Alliance representa-
tives, the stress laid on the absence of
socks, shirt collars, cuffs, cravats and
the various other articles of male toy
gerry, the Champion is led to inquire
whether the standard set up by GER
tain Mr.. Watts 1.-The minds the meas
ure of a man" has been ruled out of
order by the journalistic Smart
Alexis" of our day? It really seems
SO, judging from the repeated illusions
to the deficiency of wearing apparel
among some of the Alliance leaders.
The awkward sarcasm of the highly
tailored east and its western imitators
at the Alliance shOrtcoming in this
particular-in the haberdashery line
attains a more utter scorn because the
word .cravat" is to be taken in it's
most inclusive sense. The Alliance
people do not hold themselves up to
the disdain of the well dressed only by
failing to wear that modern product
which disguised Chinese laundrymen
refer to as double bleasted neckties,"
but they appear to give eastern and
western dudes considerable annoyance
because they wear no neckties of any
sort-political or otherwise.
That it will be observed, is impor-
tant, of course, but seems less impor-
tant when we come to consider past ex-
perience because it points out that
when new movement of portentious
dimensions is sneered at on the Sar-
torial standard, the laugh is likely to
be against the shallow sneerers. The
Roundheads of the English civil war
were an extremely uncouth and un-
fashionable set The embattled farm
ers at Lexington were not only desti-
tute of neckwear, but of coats. They
"ft" and successfully, in their shirt
sleeves, and many of them. bare
headed and bare-footed, and, fighting,
struck blow for freedom that echoed
round the world, and made kings
tremble for the safety of their thrones.
The French revolution, one of the
most popular outbreaks in human his
tory, was engineered and carried on
by class which was jeered at as
destitute of a much more essential
article of dress than the cravat The
French sans culottes did tremendous
things, effectively attired as they
were. But these great facts of history
do not deter either Eastern journals or
their feeble Western satellites from
turning up their tailor-bred noses at
the Alliance people for their lack of an
article absolutely necessary to the
gents furnishing goods trade.
These fne-haired and tailor-made
journalists appear to overlook the fact,
that neither collars, cuffs, cravats,
socks, Or even plug hats are essential
to the particular and urgent business
which western farmers have in hand
just now. Their present attention be-
ing specially directed to the removal
of long accumulated compost in the
Augean Stable of Plutocracy, they are
going at it i'll garments in keeping
with their Job. When the aforesaid
stable is thoroughly cleansed and FUN
igated, and the political carbolic acid
has been carefully sprinkled all around
these now sockless, collarless, cuffless,
cravatIess farmers will put on their
Sunday clothes and spread themselves.
Corporation magnates, plutocratic
and monopolistic dudes. arrayed in
purple and fine linen, woven out of the
shattered heartstrings of oppressed
and suffering millions are eminently
correct in their neckwear; but they
manufacture economic nonsense to the
effect that competition must be abol-
ished in the interest of the wealthy
classes-a more vicious and brutal
economic untruth than any of the
farmers have ever been guilty Of Wall
street spectators are very well-dressed
gentlemen; but they are as ready to
preach the doctrine that the treasury
must turn out money to aid their
especial interests as any so-called
'sub-treasury and soft money lunatic''
ever was.
1t should be understood that all
economic or political wisdom is not
bound up IN cravats; nor is the force
OF a popular movement to be measured
by its accuracy in dress. But those
who raise such standards are likely to
find that their most cogent application
is in the conclusion that they them
selves are only able to view great
public questions from the man millin-
er' the haberdashery platform, and so
the laugh happens at last to be on the
sneerer.
The Financial Situation.
The crying demand of our people is
Tor more money. The past year this