St. Paul daily globe., 1894-10-08
MIR. REEDS OK AND MULE.

In the article on the issues Of the
election. in the North American Re-
view, to which we have referred, Thom-
as B. Reed displays all that facetiOus-
ness which has earned him so we'll
merited a reputation for that quality.
The larger part of his article by far is
given to the Emergencies existing in
the Democratic party OF the question of
protection and free trade. He makes
the most possible out of the mOrtifying
fact that there are Democratic protec-
tiOnIsts in the senate and in the house
who have done their best to defeat the
people. All this is harped on to aid his
argument that the Democratic party
cannot be trusted to legislate because 1t
is divided in itself.
9 He illustrates this by saying that 1.-The
ok is most valuable animal. and so is
the mule; but, yOhed up together, they
make most incongrunuS team. neither
speedy of foot. beautiful to the eye nor
restful TO the mind. Nevertheless. either
e is az Woodworking, reputable animal,
made for better things" 1t is too much,
Of course, to expect Of Mr.. Reed. or any
other strong partisan, fairness in treating
his political opponents. Had he been
actuated by desire to present the situ-
ton fairly and canddiy, he would have
said that the Democratic party was uu-
fortunate in having among its members.
and Especially among its representa-
tiven, men who had experienced the
personal aud selfish benefits arisingffrom
protection, and were 10th TO to yield
them up at the demand of their party;
but he would have admitted that the
obstruction made by such men was but
temporary. and that they must give way
to the movement OF the great mass of
the party, which was moving toward a
full redemption OF its pledges.
But Mr. Reeds comparison Of the OK
and the mule is one that can be used to
suggest possibilities in his own party.
Let us suppose that the tariff question
has ceased TO be All Issue in both parties,
and the Republican party, restored to
power, finds itself confronted with the
next great question. which Is only
waiting for the tariff to be out of the
way in order to take its place as the
leading question for discussion and
settlement-the question Of the silver
coinage. What then would be the
dilemma in which Mr.. Reed, either as
president or speaker of the house of
representatives, and his party would
find themselves?
One needs but to read over the resolu-
tions of the conventions of that party in
its state and congressional platforms, or
to consider the conflicting and opposite
views of the leading men Of the party,
to see that Mr.. Reed would be confront
ed with team composed of an OK and a
mule which even his capacity for driv-
ing would find intractable. He would
find Cameron. Wolcott. Teller. Dubois
and other Republicans representing the
free silver element in the senate, with a
contingent of Republican representa-,
tives from all over the nation in the
house who had been instructed by their
conventions to vote for the free coinage
of silver; while. ON the other hand. he
would find the gold monometallists Of
his party as insistent upon the eXclu'
sion of silver from the mints as the
other element were tenacious for Its
free admission. He would find his party
much more hopelessly. divided. more
representative of the OK and the mule
team ON the silver question than is the
Democratic party on the tariff question.
in the proportion that free-coinage Re-
publicans would exceed protectionist
| Democrats.