The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-09-02
SOMETHING HAPPENED. .

"The country experienced an era Of
lican rule until 1892, and then some
thing happened" Thus Maj. McKin-
ley, Thomas B. Reed, Senator Thurs
ton and all the little fellows along
it, and the papers reiterate it, And
the ergo is Restore us to power and
we will restore prosperity. Either these
fellows have short memories, or they
rely on memories of their hearers and
readers that are mere tabula rasa, on
which what Is written today is erased,
like schoolboy's slate, for tomor-
rows entries. They probably have
short memories. 1t is charitable to
account for their error of fact on that
ground. Let us review the facts.
The house Of representatives is the
peoples house. It goes back to the
country every two years for approval
1t comes fresh from the people with
their verdict. 1t holds the purse
strings. There have been three periods
since the war when the Republican
party held the house, the senate and
the presidency and had full control.
The first was from 1861 to 1875. Was
this one Of prosperity" For some,
yes. Whisky ringsters, star reuters,
Credit Mobiliers, salary grabbers and
congressional jobbers. For the peo-
DJa9 RJaok Friday opd tho oop;o of
1873, the railway riots and trampdom
Disguised with Republican rule and
sick with the prosperity" it gave, the
voters turned the Republicans out of
the house and gave the purse to the
Democrats. They held it during the
Forty-fourth, Forty-fifth and Forty
sixth congresses. Then, in $780, full
control was again given, followed by
the tariff act of 1883 and the panic of
1884, and the house became and re-
manned again Democratic until the
famous Fifty-f1rst congress, when
again all three branches were RepubIi-
canized. Again they signalized their
full control by McKinleyizing COM
followed by the panic of 1893 and re-
committal of the power of the house
to the Democrats. Was this period
Of "prosperity?"
But it was in 1892 that something
happened" What? The complete ex-
pulsion of the Republicans from every
branch of the government save the ju-
dietary. A verdict, never before ex-
ceeded in emphasis, of want of conf
dence and never one with better justi-
fication. But it was precisely that.
they say, that destroyed our indus
tries, closed our mills and turned the
working people into the streets" be-
cause then the Democrats threatened
to wipe out McKinleyism and Sher-
manism, and "the meie apprehension"
of this ''paralyzed industry" They did
wipe out Shermanism, and because
they did not wipe out McKinleyism, as
ordered, themselves got deservedly
wiped out later. But something" had
happened two years before that that
was just as alarming as it. McKin-
leyism was hardly born before it was
discarded. Just thirty days trial of
it was enough; the voters packed the
congressman who had helped it into
life about their business. They made
the largest free list Of Republican con-
gressmen the country has ever been
blessed with. And yet, that awful
threat of free trade was followed by
two years of ''unexampled prosperity"
1t was the handwriting on the wall,
and it was then tina these tender in
dustries should have begun to tremble
If it was the apparition of free trade
that scared them.
If the something that will happen
next November should be the election
of Mr.. Mckinley, 1t will be because
free trade Democrats refuse to vote
protection to silver, and should a res
toration of McKinleyism follow they
will be ready to again make that "hap-
PEN to the fraud that happened" in
1890 and 1892 E@sio
saE.~s