The herald., 1893-12-23
Mr.. CARLiSLE'S REPORT.

There is no reason per Sc why good
lawyer and bright politician should nee
eesarily be q great fnancier. The two
professions are essentially unlike. Dan
iel Webster was the greatest kind of a
lawyer and made an Incompatible Sec
retary of State, but there is no cause to
suppose that he would have distin-
guished himself at the head of the Treas
ury. In fact, there is every presump-
ton, from his peculiarly incompetent
management OF his own pecuniary af-
fairs, that he would have cut an indif-
ferent figure in that department. Chase
was distinguished lawyer, and con-
Quoted the gigantic operations of the
Treasury Department during the war,
but it was scarcely fnanciering that en-
gagged his attention. In those dayu ''ev-
erything went" and whenever the cap
italists asked for anything they got it.
The peculiar system of finance evolved
by Chase is generally believed to have
made the war entail debt at least twice
as large as it ought to have been. Then,
in addition, Salmon P. Chase, as Chief
Justice Of the United States, in the case
OF Bronson vs. Rodes, declared that the
acts OF Salmon P. Chase az Secretary of
the Treasury were unconstitutional. A
man who is at liberty, or assumes that
he is, to override the constitution of his
country, ought to be able to show con-
siderable versatility as fnancier.
Mr.. Carlisle is generally conceded to
be an able lawyer and we presume no
one would feel like disputing that fact.
He has demonstrated, during his several
careers ss speaker OF the house OF rep
resentatives, that he is splendid par
humanitarian. He should have been
Mr.. Cleveland secretary OF state instead
oi Gresham, and theve would then have
been at least the benefit to the United
States in the discussion of all public
questions of his unusually lucid and
trenchant presentation of any matter
that required treatment at his hands.
His mind is strong and direct and char
acterized by exceptional common sense.
He realizes that he has not had time, in
the multiplicity OF his political and pro-
fessional engagements, to study ques-
tions OF finance very exhaustively. He
has, therefore, adopted in its entirety
the scheme OF finance of the New York
bankers. 1t is ready made and could be
the more easily assimilated. He did
this probably on the idea that as they
have substantially all the money il the
country they know all about money.
Aud no doubt they do-and they pro-
pose to profit by their knowledge.
In his report accompanying the presi-
dents message Mr.. Carlisle pronounces
himself in favor OF the issuance of bonds
to be sold at the discretion of the sec
retary Of the treasury to recruit the gold
reserve and with view to an existing
end expected deficiency in the revenues.
With commendable frankness he says
that the repeal of the purch asing clause
Of the Sherman act has altogether
changed the fiscal policy OF the
government. making it responsible for
the payment in gold Of nearly half
billion dollars worth of silver hlga-
tions OF various kinds. This nly
too true as long as the admins on
Of the government takes that " of
the matter. By a series OF indeiensi BILE
hodge -podges. most of them OF Rspubli-
can origin. the whole national debt of
the United States, originally payable in
any form OF lawful money-golds silver