The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-04-28
THE WOOLLY EAST.

we nave listened to so many dia-
tribes from the Eastern press on the
violence and unreasonableness of
Western legislatures, and the peryading
desire in this part Of the country to
conf1scate private property, that many
people have come to the conclusion
that the great distinction between the
East and the West is that the latter
exists only to make a series of fero-
cious attacks upon the capital CT the
former.
The Eastern press has lectured the
West numerically, and the latter has
listened with bowed head and cried
when large number Of Western leg
1slatures were in session, you could
not pick up newspaper from one of
the larger Eastern centers without
meeting list Of the measures that
had been introduced, aimed against
property in one shape or another. Men
who have visited the East for business
purposes find investors there both
alarmed and indignant because they
say that this section is bent upon wan
! ton assaults on property rights. 1t is
not a little refreshing, therefore, to find
that. in this respect, the greatest state
of the East, the one where there is the
largest aggregation of capital and the
one from whose metropolis comes the
most violent assaults upon the honor
and character of the West, is as wooIly
as any Of it's fellow members Of the
! Union.
We much regret that We have not at
hand a complete list of the proceed
ings Of the present legislature Of the
state of New York. 1t was elected by
the Republican party, pledged to pro
tect capital and restore prosperity. AS
we said Of the legislature of Mime
sofa that has just adjourned, no gran
ger combination and no Populist as
! sembly could. conceive or execute q
worse programme than that which has
been laid down by the Republican leg
islators gathered at Albany. An arti-
| Gle in the last number of Bradstreet's
begins as follows: "a very riot Of leg
| islation, affecting injuriously and even
destructively the economic interests of
New York state, has been initiated by
! the lawmakers, whom it is the Gus
| tom, with a broadly satirical courtesy,
to style the Albany Solons"
1t appears, from what follows and
|
es, that all of the attacks upon indus
tries and different forms Of investment
that have made their appearance in
any Western Legislature were we'll to
the front at Albany. Antitrust bills
similar to these introduced here, bills
that would not injure a trust at ALL
If organized outside of the state. but
would prevent merchants from buying
or selling it's products, were pushed
to such an extent that large mercan-
tile companies prepared themselves to
emigrate from New York. A tax on
transfers of personal property was au-
thorized, which is the most onerous
ever proposed. Without describing its
details, it is enough to say that it inn
poses tax of from 10 to Is per cent
on every transfer of personal estate
exceeding 100000
A strong effort has been made to
wipe out the civil service reform of the
! state, and this would undoubtedly be
done were it not fortified by the con-
stitution, and may even yet be accom-
| pllshed by indirection. The bill that
has the backing of the Republican ma
chine authorizes a rating on competi-
tive examinations for appointment Of
oo per cent for the contests contained in
! the examination papers, and so per cent
for general test of fitness" which
! is to be left to the discretion Of the
appointing power This means, Of
course, that every applicant would be
rated fully half his standing accord
ing to his political relations to the head
Of the department. A gigantic scheme
Of pauperization was also proposed, re-
! curing the state to pay 81 a week for
the support at home of every child
under sixteen years Of age who NAV
be committed to public institution on
recommendation of the Gerry society.
! These are only a few items of the
! New York show, but they are enough
| to warrant the comparison which we
have drawn between East and West
and show that the former cannot afford
to shy any more rocks at the latter.