St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-06-18
WHEN THE SHIP COMES IN.

1HeIe Is I'LL olu SlOry OF poor, QdlI-
demented pauper woman who was,
notwithstanding all the ills that beset
her, always cheerful, and assured her
neighbors that she would be very rich
some day. 'When my ship comes ill.,"
she would say. II will have plenty of
gold, and jewels, and fine clothes.
Only wait till my ship comes imp
The financial officers of the govern
ment are much in the same condition
as the old woman of the story. The
treasury is being daily subjected to a
heavy drain. and bankruptcy seems
Imminent. The people ar. alarmed and
solicitous for the future. But the
equanimity of the treasury officials is
never for moment ruffied 1--WE will
have plenty of money very sooD," they
assert. Just wait till our ship-beg
pardon-just wait till the tariff bill
passes and we will have tons of gold in
the treasury-more gold than we can
count-and the country will lack for
nothing
The old woman's ship never came in.
and it looks as if the tariff bill would
never pass congress. 1t looks as if there
was lack OF management somewhere.
There are many leaders who are work
ing at cross purposes; there are many
policies, each of which has its particular
adherents; there is no agreement upon
any matter essential to the end in view
the settlement of the controversies
that are distracting the public mind and
jeopardizing the business interests of
the country. Each special industry is
clamoring for protection for itself and
for free trade in the commodities pro-
duced by others. The coal miners want
the producers of wool 10 give them
cheap clothing i'll exchange for dear
fuel, and the wool growers want the
iron mills 10 sell them untaXed imple-
ments at cheap rates in return for cloth
ing made Of wool that is literally PRO
ted" Each interest is opposing the
entire measure because it has been de-
MED all that it demanded. The maker
of carpets declares the bill unjust be-
cause as large reduction was not made
upon lace goods as upon tapestry or
Brussels carpets or Turkish rugs. And
so it is all along the line. The jealousies
of the several interests combine to rem
der doubtful the passage of any me as
ure that shall lessen the burdens of the
people in even a remote dsgree. Per-
APPS ''horizontal BILL" such as that
proposed several years ago by Congress-
man William r. Morrison, would have
created less contention than the present
one. although it would not have cor
rected the inequalities of the system as
we'll as the bill now pending.
No one now is so Sanguine as to be-
lieve that the tariff bill as it now stands,
or even as it originally passed the
house, will afford complete relief from
the evils Of the protective system. Tar.
ifs cannot be wholly abolished in day.
They are like disease of long growth
or habit of long standing. The attempt
to eradicate them suddenly may cause
the death of the patient. The old toper
must TAPER of''-reduce his supply of
stimulants daily so as to accustom his
system gradually to natural instead of
artificial stimulation. The country has
been so long accustomed to the artificial
stimulation Of tariff taxation that the
sudden abolition OF the entire system
would be fraught with great danger.
We must correct the evil by degrees.
The pending bill is but the beginning of
the treatment. 1t is to be regretted
that it does not strike the root of the
disease; but this may be the best course
in the end. 1t affords measure of re-
lief, and, inadequate as it may lie, it
will he generally accepted as all earnest
of better things to come. But the mex
cnsable delay in acting upon the meas
ure gives the public good ground for
complaint. The tariff reform ship has
been long, on its voyage. 1t started out