St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-10-05
AN IGNORANT CRITIC.

The London Chronicle has been max
ing study OF American politics of late,
and, as is usual with journals across the
water, arrives at conclusions that fill it
with amaZement, and Will undoubtedly
create quite as much amazement, though
of different sort, on this side of the
Atlantic. The sudden uprising of the
PopuliSt movement" gives the Chronicle
great cause for wonder and regret. If
that movement may be said to be an up
rising it has certainly created no marked
degree of alarm in this country. 1t is
true some half a dozen representatives
OF that nondescrlpt political organic
ton have managed to secure an entrance
into congress, ana are there endeavor-
ing to make up by an excess of bloviancy
what they lack in point of numbers.
The noise they make may in part have
led the London newspaper to infer that
they constitute all important element in
our country, but no assumption could
be farther from the truth.
But people who live in e lass houses
should not throw stones, and the further
criticisms of the Chronicle upon the
American government come with bad
grace from an English journal. 1t al
iegeS that ''votes are sold and bought
openly. This is grave and lnexcusable
error. In the United States, as in Eng
land, there are dishonest men who traffic
i'll votes; but they do so by stealth, and
when detected are punished as rigor-
ously here rs in any other part of the
world. 1t is not true, however, TIL at
mir. Cleveland himself is passing
through the unpleasant exposure of this
kind of deal" The Van Allen matter
is probably the deal referred to, but in
this there never has been so much as a
hint that MIR. Cleveland was privy to or
cogniZant of any bargain. 1t further
refers to the testimony of responsible
Americans themselves to show that the
present government of the city of New
York is composed of men of whom
majority have been at some time or other
indicted for criminal offenSes. If any
prominent American" has made any
statement such as that above quoted he
has deliberately lied, for no such state
of affairs exists in New York or in any
other American city. The officials or
New York may not be above reproach.
No one claims immaculateness for them:
but they compare very favorably in
mental capacity and moral worth with
the officials of any country of Europe.
Neither the government of Great
Britain Lor that of her municipalities
has been so far exempt from faint of
corruption as to entitle English papers
TO fling dirt at their neighbors. The
legallzed sale of commissions in the
army and navy Of Great Britain, but re-
Gently abolished, was the cause of many
scandals, some of them even reaching
and besmirching the skirts of royalty.
The purchase of votes in open market
was fragrant, and the hastings were
often the scene of the most disgraceful
bargain and sale. Social scandals in
volving people of the highest tank are
far more frequent in Great Britain than
in the United States, and in other re.
spects there has been far greater lack
of political honesty in the island king
dom than has ever been displayed here.
Let England look to her own honor be-
fore criticiSing that of the United States.