St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-10-03
THE ISSUES OF TIE CA NJ
PAlGN.

| THE ISIS rs OF TIE IA NJ
| PAlGN.
| The North American Review for Oc-
tober has two articles on the issues OF
! the coming election, the. one by the
| Hon. William l.. Wilson and the other
by the Hon. Thomas 3. Reed. Mr.. Will
son, by virtue, not only of his ability. but
| of his position as the leader OF the Dem
ocratic house of representatives, ami
| MIR. Reed by virtue of The position he
has won in the past. and also as a strong
presidential possibility in 90, are men
who speak by authority. One may eX-
| pect to iind in these articles, therefore,
| 4 clear, concise statement of the issues
involved ard the questions to be deter
| mined by the voters in November.
The personal characteristics of the
two men are shown in their articles.
| Mr.. Wilson discusses the question with
| the calmness and clearneSS of the
scholar, while Mr.. Reed shows the
adrolt politician, skilled in fence, quick
! to take advantage of the weakness of
his opponent, and shrewd in presenting
the strong points of his argument and
|
ponents. Mr.Wilson prefaces his state
ment with an account OF the difficulties
| of procuring q reform in this country,
| owing to the disparity of the repre-
sentation of the people in the senate
and the difficulty OF etfecting changes
in that body. The issue as he presents
| il is the simple one as TO whether the
| people of this country shall continue the
Democratic party in power, or shall
| turn over the next congress 10 the Re
publicans.
The issue, be thinks. will be settled.
not upon the carping criticism or he
| publican speakers and writers, but upon
Il review of the past experience with
both parties and from knowledge of
the general policies and tendencies of
each when intruSted with power. lie
goes Oh to enumerate the chief reforms
which were called for by the revolution
which ousted the Republicans from pow
er in 1892. These were the repeal OF the
Sherman purchase act and the federal
election law, reform in the pension ad-
miniStratiOn, economy i'll expenditures.
an extension of the reform in the civil
service: and lastly, but,as he says. pre-
eminently, the repeal of the Mckinley
act, and return TO tariff taxation for
revenue only"
Two obstacles confronted the Demo-
cratic party in carrying out THESE meas
ures. One was the nominal more than
real control of the senate, OIL more than
| one Democratic senator in which party
| fealty sat lightly; and the second was,
''the party came into power when the
| sky was already darkened with the
clouds of financial storm which soon
| broke in great fury. despite the faithful
efforts of the administration to allay it. J"
He refers to the efforts made by the
| Harrison administration to avert the
/ storm until it was safely out of RESPONSE
| bility, by turning into the treasury the
$50. COO,0O0 deposited by the national
banks for redemption Of their notes.
| and the increase of the cash assets by
counting the s2O.OOO,OOO of subsidiary
coin as an asset. He mentions the ad-
mission of Secretary Foster that an
addition to the income of S50,000,000 a
year would be necessary to run the
government, and he might have men,
| toned the preparations of the same
| secretary to issue bonds 10 supply the
| deficiency of revenue Occasioned by the
Mckinley act. The Sherman act was
repealed, although the long delay occa-
stoned by the senate robbed it of the
larger part of its benefit. The federal
law was removed from the statutes; the
administration of the pension bureau
was so rotor med that there remained
unexpended some $4,000, 900 of the APP.
propriations for this year; the civil
service law has been extended and made
to shelter the fourth-claSs postmasterS,
though these have been unhappy vic
tins of every former headsman's ak,
while there has been net reduction Of
some $40, 10000 in expenses.
While the act substituted for the
| Mckinley act is disappointment to the
tariff reformers in many parts of the
schedules, and does not make the re-
auctions promised. every voter knows
why this is the case, and the universal
| censure visited upon those responsible
for it is satisfactory indication of the
spirit that animates the party. The bill
which was passed, however, with all of
its defects. is, he says, most solid in.
i stallment of tariff reform. and will dc
much toward tightening taxation and
securing freer trade and larger market
for American industries. Its chief
value, he says, is that ''it marks a
change in our tariff legislation and
| starts US we'll on the way for genuine
| revenue taxes"
Mr.. Wilson does not, as Mr.. Reed
does, leave in obscurity the future pur-
pose of his party if its power is contin-
ued, but declares it frankly and brayely.
Every law" he says, land every sys-
tenn has its momentum. Protection,
left to itself, eventually eliminates in
| prohibition. while the momentum of
even an imperfectly framed revenue
tariff is steadily towards the goal of
commercial freedom.
None of these things" he says,
would have been accomplished had a
Republican congress had control" He
made the point that only twice since
1874 have the people dared to trust the
Republicans with the control of the
house of representatives. In 1881 the
house was Republican. with Mr.. Keifer
as speaker. and the result was the tariff
act OF 1888. In 1889 they were again
entrusted with control, with Mr.. Rec d
as speaker land general autocrat." and
the result was the tariff act of 1890.
| Two SESSIONS COMPARED.