The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-06-13
TAKING WATER.

passed on this administration as a
prosperity breeder, we cannot but ad-
mire the cool effrontery with which
they present their argument to the peo-
pie. 1t has passed out of their minds
that they were talking vigorously and
than year ago.. Here, for instance,
comes the New York Tribune with some
comments upon the recent address of
PRESIDENT Mckinley at Philadelphia, in
which he said, among other things: "a
patriot makes a better citizen than
pessimist. Let !. us keep a stout heart
and steady head, The country is not
going backward but forward" This
calls forth unstinted applause from the
Tribune. It wants the American peo-
| pie to be patient and to prophesy unto
themselves pleasant things in the day
OF adversely. Here are some Of its con-
soling reflections upon the presidents
| address: "a
vastly more good is done by such state
i IN as these, Ieve.-headed and judicious
| ~ any exaggeration of existing difficulties
IL may be frankly. admitted that the diff
culCes are serious But when any one speaks
OF lac natlontS industry paralyzed he sue
! ceeds IN forgetting that the volume of actual
transactions is not in value a tenth smaller
IMAM 1t was in the years of the gr test pros
perity ever attained in the United States al
tnough the volume of payments now repre-
SCENTS much lower range Of prices.
The Republicans would have us be-
lieve that the country is not so badly
Off after all; that it's condition. is i'm
proving, and. that business is coming
out all rightin the end We believe.
1t firmly. We believed it year ago.
The recuperative powers of this coun-,
try areaalmost cboundless. AS soon as
disturbing ropiitions are Quoted and
| agitation gives place to effort, the Gre
/ alive work Of industry will be seen in
growing prosperity on every hand. But
why should we admit this conclusion
OF honesty and common sense? Why
should we not follow the example of the
Tribune and every other Republican
paper. set several years ago and con-
tinued through the whole of Mr.. Cleve-
say that business prosperity depends
on the observance Of business princi-
pies. They did not ask for a suspen-
sion Of judgment. They did not tell us
mists. On the contrary. big and little
of them-Tray. Blanche and Sweet
heart-were all in full accord, yeIping
that the country was going to the
dogs because Of Democratic free
trade" From the day that the result
of the election of 1892 was known I'M
til the day that the ballots were cast
for the presidential election of 1896
every Republican pretended to be a
pesstmist. and every man Jack Of them
was doing his best to intensity existing
and to create new distress
We shall never know how much of
the disaster of the years through which
we have passed was the sole creation
Of this evil partisanship. Let half of
the men in any city state publicly that.
in their belief, "a certain business house
is shaky, or a certain bank about To
close it's doors. and those concerns are
doomed to failure. Although they may
have been perfectly solvent and doing
a profitable business at the outset. they
cannot stand up successfully against
steady pressure Of Islander. faIsehood.
suspicion and distrust That is the
work that the Republican party has
done for four years in this country.
More men than we commonly think of
are credulous enough to accept as COS
pei anything that comes to them from
their party leader or their party news
paper. There were hundreds of thoY-
sands Of people in this country who
felt their first fear Of the future and
made the first contraction Of their bust
ness from no other cause than what
they heard in the partisan press after
Mr.. Cleveland's election. The whole
brood of Republican pessimists was
abroad and clamoring necessarily;
DINING into the ears Of ill-informed
and timorous persons continuous proph-
ecies of Disaster We have no doubt
whatever that, had it not been for this
this countryF would have escaped by
far the greater part of the misfortunes
that it has suffered
Now theses same people. finding re-
sponsibility Shifted to their shoulders:
finding that they made promises of i'm
mediate prosperity after Mr. McK;n-
ley's elections which they cannot low
perform; feeling the reaction of public
disappointment and fearing the effect
of prevailing conditions upon them
selves. beseech us to be patient and
moderate and reasonable and optimis-
tic, and to. postpone to the indefinite
future the realization Of those good
things that were to drop into waiting
mouths last November. They are TAX
ing water with a. vengeance They de-
serve neither mercy nor forgiveness. 1t
Is the right Of every Democrat to point