St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-12-23
TOM REED's p

~ At1AsIO -
1t is fair to presume that the minority
report of the ways and means commit
tee is written by Mr.. Reed, the senior
member of the minority. 1t is not only
that the paper bears his unmiStakable
earmarks, but the possibilities of 80, on
which Mr.. Reed has an ever-watchful
and anxious eye, would prompt him to
"sound the keynote" of that campaign
and direct the lines of preparation.
The whole tenor of the paper is criti-
cal. often hypercritical. This is, perhaps.
unavoidable, as the sole position left the
party which Mr.. Reed hopes to lead:
the rear guard, whose captain he would
be, is now confined to an obstinate in
siStence on The rightfulneSS and good
policy of taxing imports, not for ev-
enue, but that domestic makers may
make greater gains 'in order that they
may be able, " etc., etc. Having no
new policy to urge. it is driven either to
silence of captious opposition.
But criticism. to be of any value. to
command any attention or to compel a
revision or reversal of Judgment, must
display an accurate knowledge of fact.
a desire to present facts only, and
an intelligent application of facts in the
reasoning based on them. 1t fails to
command respect or attention, or to de-
serve anything but derision, If instead
of fact it bases itself on fiction so trans
parent as to cross the line which divides
the creations Of the imagination from
those of downright and conscious fall
sity.
This Mr.. Reed does in his opening
sentences, when he condemns the bill of
the majority because by it 1.-THE larger
part of the burden of taxation is trans
ferred from foreigners and brought to
our W citizens" 1t does little credit
to Mr.. Reeds candor. and less to his re-
gard for the Intelligence of the people
whom he addresses. that he can thus
soberly, In a state paper, Iepeat a state
ment so glaringly absurd and false that
it deceiveS no now. The declaration
that ''the foreigner pays the tax is eX-
cusable in Mr.. Mckinley, whose imagi-
nation rides his reason bareback and un-
Dridled; but it is accountable for in Mr..
Reeds mouth only because he permits
his ambition and his partisanry to ride
his reason as they will. He knows bet
ter.
As far as the report is directed to the
concessions made to the manufactures
in its protective features, we must adj
nit the business of the criticism. The
majority of the committee admitted it
in advance, and sought to avoid its force
by avowing an unwillingness to with
draw entirely and at once the support
which has been mistakenly given manu-
features, and on which it assumes they
still rely. With this we have no SYM
pathy, nor do we believe it necessary.
1t is a compromise not Of methods, but
of principle. which should never be
compromised. Lowell sagely says that
compromise makes a good umbrella,
but a. poor roof; that it is a temporary
expedient, often wise in party politics,
almost sure to be unWise in statesman
ship"
That a full and complete redemption
of the pledge of '92 is not possible at
this time-and we know the views of the
chairman of the ways and means we'll
ODOuGA W hllOW tiQI lO ID CSSdlllS all
that he knows he can now accomplish,
and that it is far short of what he would
do-is the most conclusive evidence of
the demoraliZing effect of protection on
character, and of how it t~ransmutes I'M
~SelfiShness. manly independence and
Self-dependence and broad patriotism
into greed, Selhshness, and that narrow
localism which sinks the nation in the
native hog trough. Men who call them
selves Democrats, who may believe
they are such, who were elected as such
on the Chicago platform. declare they
will oppose a bill because it reduces the
burden of taxation which brings I'M
earned increment to some petty indus
try which flouriSheS in their districts.
When legislation produces such results
it Is time for all patriotic men who see
the danger of tito the nation to demand
the complete and speedy excision OF the
baleful policy which breeds it.
But Mr.. Reed will have to pardon the
country if it looks to see him wink al
his fellow-augurs as he solemnly be.
walls the disastrous effect the Wilson
bill will entail on the country. We can
we'll believe that if Mr.. Reed really be.
lieved this he would sit silent in his
seat, aiding, if anything, the passage of
3 bill so sure to overthrow the party
that enacts 1t and so surely restore him
and his party to power, if he be a
prophet. We apprehend, however, that
under all of this lugubrious fo~reboding
there is an uneasy sense in Mr.. Reeds
mind that the bill will defend and JUS
tify itself to the good will of the coun-
try when in operation.
OF DOUBTFUL PROPRTETY,
The bill introduced into the senate on
Thursday by Senator Mitchell, of Ore
gon, for the consolidation of the state OF
Nevada with the soon-to-be state OF
Utah has much to recommend it to pub
lie favor. Nevada, with a population OF
little more than forty thousand, and
which iC CONSTANTLY daoraosio~ -