The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-06-29
WHERE is ALDRICH ATs

Readers of the proceedings Of the
senate have been struck by the sudden
and prolonged retirement of Senator
Aldrich and the appearance in his
stead as guide, philosopher and friend
of the Dingley bill of Senator Allison.
From the day that fateful first day
of April, when the Dingley bill, in all
its symmetry, it's scientific adjustment,
planed and polished by the fatiguing
labors of such indefatigable workers
as is our own Tawney, bearing its
freight Of prosperity, sailed or floated
proudly out Of the doors Of the house
of representatives, swept past the
marbled wisdom of statuary hall and
entered the sacred precincts Of the
senate, it was Senator Aldrich,in whom
all tariff wisdom is incarnate. who
had been it's custodian until his I'M
expected retirement 1t was he who
discovered and announced to start
led nation that there was no revenue
in the hold of the craft; that 1t bore
deficits only, and that its cargo must
be entirely overhauled, some Of it jet
tisoned,and replaced with revenue pro-
ducers. When he had done with it
Mr.. Dingley and his colleagues knew
it not. 1t held more sugar and less
wool; more hides and tea and beer, and
! less cottons and woolens.
Whereupon there was uproar. Amid
it all Helmsman Aldrich kept his rud-
der true. His sugar was mistrusted
and distrusted and alleged to have been
sugar trusted. Hanna has brewers and
vendors galore among his cOnstitu-
ents, and to the beer tax he interposed
an emphatic init" But the uproar
| over sugar was the loudest; it was
the storm center, the area of low ba-
rometer The winds of oratory roared
about it. The air about the helms
mans head glistened with the javelins
of the press hurled at him. The eau
Gus deserted him. Spooner came bear
ing the olive branch or compromise. 1t
gave the sugar trust less than it
wanted, less than Aldrich thought he
had secured for it, but more, much
more than Dingley had given it. And
Aldrich was forced to yield. Then IT,
was that the form of Aldrich disap-
peared from the helm, suddenly, mys-
teriously, unheralded; the fog enveloped
him and hid him, and Allison, the COM
PLEASANT, the yielding, the suave, the
non-committal, the plant, took his
place, and forthwith what Of Dingley-
ism had been jettisoned was restored
and what Of Aldrichism had been put
in it's place was Jonahed, and COMPARE
tive peace and quiet reigned. Stated
with their swill the hogs stretched
themselves in the straw and grunted
their content.
But where Is Aldrich? Why
do the subsequent proceedings inter-
est him no more? Did he go eff
in anger to initiate Blaine, to smash
his silken tile and tell his colleagues
to go on with their driveling idiocy?
Did he wash his hands OF a measure
he was sure would be a more prolific
breeder of deficits than the reviled one
for whose place 1t was intended? Did
he purpose to have his skirts clear
Of blame when the awful fact burst on
the treasury that revenues were less
than outgo and more bonds must be
sold? Or has he gone back to make
his peace with the magnates of the
sugar trust, to explain to Havemeyer
and Searles how the towards in the
senate ran away under fire? Why
is all this left to conjecture? Adapting
the imprisoned language of Cobb, Of
Alabama Mr.. Vice President, where is
Aldrich at?