St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-07-14

more closely than the barbarian fol-
| lows such as he has. AS long as
| we are satisfied with dirt and dis
| ease where cleanliness and health
! have been shown to be equally pos
| sible, and as long as improvement
in these fundamental particulars is
! not the paramount and absorbing
| issue at all in our cities, we cannot
claim truthfully to have reached the
highest plane of civilization.
| BROUGHT 1T ON THEMSELVES.
The blow has fallen. The st. Paul
| Pioneer Press and the Minneapolis
Tribune have been challenged to a
duel to the death, by word of mouth,
by that gallant and irrepressible
! champion of silver, Mr.. G. A Towne,
of Duluth. We feared as much. Our
news dispatches showed that the
! calamity was impending. The Pho
neer Press acknowledges receipt of
Mr.. TONNES defiance and publishes
| it. The Tribune will probably re-
cover sufficiently from it's consterna-
| ton to make answer later. And in
| the meantime Mr.. Towne wears his
chip doughtily upon his shoulder,
and dares either of them to disturb
or displace it.
1t was inevitable. No man can
forever with impunity beard the
lion in his den, the Douglas in his
hall" Sooner or later the mon
arch of beasts scatters his assailants,
and the stern Scotsman chases the
| trif1ing foe from his gates. Then
they have scant pity, because they
| invited disaster by their unseemly
and insulting recklessness. Only to
| little wanton boys, that swim on
bladders" do we pardon thought
| less daring. When full-grown men
awake the wrath of the mighty, they
must be prepared to accept the pitt
less consequences. Mr.. Towne is not
wholly insensible to his own dignity
and the magnitude of his own in
| tellectual operations. He has suf-
| fered from criticism, from innuendo,
from the quips and crackers that
these annoying foes have spread
about him. Now he turns to rend
| them.
His modest proposal is a forensic
and norma tntin fol CHI
which he, single-mouthed, will de-
fend the cause of silver against any
and all persons whom these Repub-
lican journals may appoint to rep
resent their cause. Numbers do not
alright him. Like the valiant
James j. Corbett, who has ex-
| pressed a desire to meet, one after
the other, without respite or inter-
mission, all aspirants to fistic hon
ors in this country, until he shall
have done them up" severalIy and
individually, he proposes to walk
over the whole journalistic arena.
Neither age and wisdom nor youth
and levity alright him. With con-
f1dence born Of a consciousness of
the mighty powers within him since
he shook off the degrading sway of
the Rothschilds, he bids defiance to
the serried foe.
On the whole, the public will take
this kindly of Mr.. Towne. If he could
carry out his idea, it might even be
an improvement on the convention
scheme, and the gayety of nations
would not be wholly robbed of it's
due. For what a thrilling spectacle
it would be! Think of the orators
who would rush to offer their serv-
ices in this wildly thrilling cause
Imagine the editorial forces of the
Pioneer Press and the Tribune
massed upon the platform. Hear
them calling to their aid the vet
Grams who talked at that harmony
dinner" in st. Paul-about the war
and the foreign situation-and said
of the silver question, For God s
sake, keep away from it." Imagine
how the brave delegates to the
Cleveland convention would rush to
the onset. 1t is a spectacle which
Minnesota cannot willingly permit
to fade into a mere picture of the
fervid imagination.
Alas, we fear that Mr.. TONNES
second plan is destined to fare no
better than his first The Pioneer
it's retreat with a wealth of per-
sifiage that cannot be soothing to
the militant soul of the youthful
orator. The Tribune maintains a
panied silence. But Towne, we be-
lieve, will persist. Not with mild
sarcasm is he to be turned down.
With the eagerness and determine
ton of the scholar he has start
ed upon a search more reconcile
than ever engaged the Archaeological
or the deliver into the ruins and
relics of forgotten civilizations. He
proposes to find out what the Re
publicans of Minnesota think about
the silver question. Nobody knows
that but Chimmie Fadden; and he
answers, What tell" Whatever
opposes his arduous task he will
sweep from his path like straws
that before the wild hurricane fly"
We are sorry for our esteemed con-
temporaries. But the oversight is
theirs. They should not have forgot
ten the existence and the views of
Mr.. Towne. Now they must reckon
with him. Great as is their punish
ment, they must meet it with the
unconsoling reflection that they have
brought it upon themselves.