The Evening dispatch. [volume] (Provo, City, Utah) 1891-1895, 1895-01-18
FINANCIA4INC0MPETENCY

y esterday tn, papers brought the
news that His Imperial Majesty the en-
peror of China had issued proclama-
tion to the effect that he had resolved
to die if that were necessary, to re-
store the good old China of few years
since, and complacently asking his
aunts, his uncles and cousins, in
deed all his immediate family to do the
same. This has suggested to us the
thought that in view of the financial
ncompetency of our tinkering states
men, especially in the matter of de-
fciencY, if it would not be an excellent
thing if his majesty, Uncle Sam, were
to arrive at the same conclusion, and
call upon his senators and representa-
tives in congress to do the same or de-
wise some means to relieve the country
of the distresses to which it is sub
jected. The financial PoIt Arthur of
the United States has been stormed by
the hook-nosed, schent per schent foe
of equal chance, whose name is Roth
childs, and we are in devil of a fix
worse defeated than ever His Ma
Jesty of China was. If death is good
remedy for military disaster, why is it
not also good antidote for financial
incompetency and the woes which fol-
low in its footsteps? If every incom-
petenJ in congress and senate were to
die tomorrow and the vacancies were
filled by calling the whole Sioux tribe
of Indians to serve in their places,
things could not be any worse than
they are, nor would the bond issues
come with more ceaseless regular
ity. His Majesty of China simply or
dered the throatlatches Of the
incompetents who lost to him
Port Arthur, to be loosened.
We have not yet heard if the remed5
has proven eficacious or not, but it
has this to recommend it; if it does no
good it can do no harm. We are quite
willing to try it with regard to our in
competents, on our faith in the judg-
ment and good sense of His Majesty the
Emperor aforesaid. If it should turn
out to have been miss cue, we could
find plenty of satisfaction in the
thought that the country had lost but
little, and that little could be readily
supplied in the way we have above in
dicated.
1t is perfectly hideous that we have
been staggering along here for twenty
two years, getting out of one shallow
expedient into another and not one
single step of advance has been made.
The only one of the eXpedients worth
the paper on which it was written, the
Sherman purchase law, was weakly
abrogated simply to show that we were
not afraid. Since that hour, we have
been blundering on helplesSly in the
dark, falling out of one financial
quagmire into another still more foul
and reeklng, and the end is not yet.
This result is disgrace to the age in
which we live. If this sort of fir ancial
''skill" is not speedily substituted, the
people will issue proclamation pretty
soon and for every incompetent China
mans head which rolled into the dust
at the behest of his Emperor, thous.
and or "a million heads of American
financiers will helplessly fall from their
shoulders. How great tide of dis
gust and misery is rolling through
the hearts Of American people be-
cause of this helplessness of it's
government, can only be guessed at in
the light Of the result of the elections
on the 9Th Of last November, a reversal
of popular verdict which reduced
triumphant democratic majority, to
pitiful and helpless minority. Yet we
have two years in which to restore
matters, and three precious months of
that brief time is frittered away to no
purpose and without one healthy,
lusty or sensible effort being made.
Why does not some financial Moses
rise up and say, 'Follow me and be
saved" That would prove a remedy
of worth, but alas we haven't the
Moses. Upon what evil times have we
fallent How weak, how pitiful we
have becomel