New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-06-24
SENIIOR HILL on .SILIER.

senator DaNlu ID. I'M has u Way Va VpcIiH-
up on great public questions which Is always
sensational and sometimes Startling. 1t seems
sometimes as if he had been saving himself
up through a long period Of incubation or
Information or stuIous and thought Serminat-
inc scclusion in order that he might suddenly
hurl himself with his whole hcft," as il were.
mon some great occasion. Whenever he doe.
this he Just lights up ever! thing-thloNs sort
of calcium glare OH things that were before
intricate and obscure. that people were won
dcring over and in doubt about. The clear
ness with which he states proposition and
tho breyity with which he demonstrates it cap
tiyate all hearts. lie rcachc, his y. J.. j. 81"
D. d. q. that everybody is ready - eXcam
eli. Iii - at his conclusion. Very few public
men have ever been 80 endowed with the g..i
of getting ont of Tie sumo hole they went in
at. and nobody ever did it - coniinuou,! 20
the satisfaction and delight Of >uch large audi
ences. Who can ever forget that m)montonN
occasion when he stood up before Brooklyn
audience and throw Of, viih scarcely any APP
poarancc OF effort or prcmcll' alton, that graf
remark 81 am Democrats II was one OF
those sudden burSis that sometimes sweep over
an audience, leaving scarcely a dry eye. II
made him famous. And it ought to. lie has
been 50 ever since.
Nothing could be more oprOltunc than the
Senator's recent dcliyeance on the silver qucS-
ton He had ono at Elmi'a a year or two
ago, and another last winter in the United
States Senate and in both Instances 80 light
cned up the whole horizon thl; no intelligent
person after reading them could fail 10 under
stand the whole subject and his Views upon il
lust a well a, the Senator did himself. His
latest clucidaton Of the silver question is in
reply to an inquiry addressed 70 him by the
Cincinnati Board Of Trade and Transportation
as to his views concerning tho repeal OF the
sherman act and the whole situation as ii now
appears. He says
The Democratic party Of New York MARKS ont my
plth II il INV comm sion and my chart. ! shall
heed IFS purport and conform 10 Il, directions. FOR 1t
I, councrsien"i aud sealed with the sal % ia"
Empire STATE and regard II as TIE highest honor Of
a long career devoted to the service of the state
hat, after year. Executive conduct Of IT,
affairs, they sent M 10 ia" Federal senate Immeai
atcy after my Pronunciation 0! the sherman silver
law and ms declaration then IN favor Of free hi
metallic coinage: neat should have ratified that
choice b. rcicrating with a fresh emphasis Of what
had thcr, cApoundcl the principe and policy 81
Tint greatest Of Democrats. Thomas JciIrrson who
said The monetary unit must stand upon both
metals.
No one who gives this statement careful
study can fail TO perceive that it defines hi
position with the same cloarncss and precision
which Characterized the great 6Iooklyn utter
ancc. The first two sentences alc suIchafg Il
with emotion How finely he puts i; when he
says the Democratic patty of Ncw-iork marks
out his path. To any one who knows the posi-
ton Of the party on the silver question th, is
in itself almos; a sufficient answer When he
adds that it is his commission and his chart,
and that he intends to heed It's puip0rt and
conform t. it, directions because " i; is counter
signed and scaled with the seal of the Empire
State" who could ak more? We might per-
haps have preferred a little more explicit state
mcnt as to whether it is the party or the path
that is his commission and chart, but either
one is good enough, and long as he needs
its purport and conforms to It's directions
either the commission or the chart-wc may be
assured that he is in the path Nor does it
make any difference really whether it is the
commission or tho chant or the path that is
signed and sealed with the seal of the Empire
State. Indeed, we are not prepared to say that
there are any constitutional objections to all Of
them being countersignod and scaled in that
way. Probably no man in the State knows so
well as the Senator tho large variety of uses
to which the seal Of the Empire State may be
safely and proftably put.
1t is in the third and last sentence Of the let
ter, however, that he fairly wrCaks himself upon
expression. No intelligent patriot who honestly
desires light On the silver question can read
that scntcIce over two or three times without
feeling that it is nothing less than "corkcr.-
1t sheds light all round-evcrywhcrc Not only
on the silver question, but on the Senator him
self and his long clrccr." Amid the radiance
he stands erect, bathcd in light, sublime, bald
headed. 1t is really better than tie brooklyn
speech, though largely on the same lines Bet
ter because he has now had longer carecr, and
been ratified and reiterated with fresh empha-
SIS" Then it is nice in him to refer to JcGfer-
son in the way he does. There arc no small
jealousies in Senator Hill. Now that this letter
has been added to the canvass already made