St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-01-09
PLEASE SETTLE THE DATE.

Really, gentlemen, unless you can
agree on some proposition to which you
will adhere, time spent in discussion is
useless. We concede that how far the
Democratic party is responsible for the
panic of 1893 and the business depression
that followed is a fairly disputable mat
ter. We expect you to insist on it and
are prepared to go to the length of adj
hitting that you really believe it; that
is. that you are sincere and are not
what you do not yourselves believe. 1t
strains our credulity to the point Of
fracture to do this but never mind that,
if you will only agree among yourselves
when it was that the Democrats did
that awfully nefarious act.
Now here, for instance, is the Des
Mcines Register, one of the strictest Of
your sect, edited by a member of your
national committee, who, with his pa
per, is the admitted organ of that
somber-hued candidate for the presiden-
tial nomination, Senator Allison. 1t re-
Dukes some contemporary for intimat-
ing that the Mckinley act was in force
and remained in force for over a year
after the panic struck the country and
that, therefore, the Democratic free
trade" tariff could not have caused the
panic. 1t replies with some acerbity
that it was enough to alarm business
interests when the November elections
showed that the Democrats had carried
the country with their devastating,
misunderstanding policy. Then, on
the other hand, here is our evening con-
temporary of the same kidney, which
business interests did not become panic
stricken until after the legislatures had
elected the senators that gave the DEM
ocrats control of that body, and with it,
of the entire administration. Now it is
immaterial to us which of these two
dates you adopt, but you really should
stand by one or the other of them; for
it is distressing, after driving you from
one position, to have you bob up so Sc
renely in another. 1t Is quite as divert
ing as a flea hunt.
We can understand the date chosen
by our evening contemporary, for it is
bit absurd and not at all compliment
tary to the business men of the country
to say, as the Register does, that it
took thnp, civ 20
and the couple of months allowed for
their panic to incubate, by our twilight
neighbor, is clearly better tactics. This
even is subject to doubt as to it's sound
ness, because every man in the country
who knew or cared to know anything
about the matter knew within a week
after the election, not only that the
house and president would be Demo-
cratic, but that enough states had gone
Democratic to insure the control of the
senate. This really leaves the matter
where the Register put it; but it, as we
saids only shows that the men whom we
are accustomed to regard as alert, quick
witted, keen to scent danger or opportu-
mites, the business men who are sun
posed, by this hypothesis, to have panics
In their strong boxes to be let loose
when they are frightened, are after all
such set of dullwits that it took them
over six months to learn that the Dem
ocrats had come into power and would
actually reduce taxation However,
that Is another matter; the present one
is to get our differing brethren into some
kind Of harmony as to what they are
pleased to term their facts.