Omaha daily bee., 1899-01-04
ONE OF MORRILL's sATIREs.
The Opening of n Remarkable speech
He Made Years Ago.


Senator Morrill, Of Vermont, whose death
has just been announced, was one OF the
clearest headed and wittest members of the
senate. Four years ago, when he had long
passed four score years, he made a remark
able speech in the senate, taking for his
topic Some Marvellous Senatorial Bills and
Quack Panaceas for Real and Imaginary
Grievances This speech was provoked by
nine crazy financial measures, chiefly intro
duced by the long whiskered populst, PETER
OF Kansas, which were reported, adversely
OF course, by the finance committee. Sen
ator Morrill, called attention to the fact
that these bills, IL enacted into law, would
call for the expenditure by the government
of the stupendous sum OF S93. 500, 600. 600 in
legal tender money. The speech did more
than anything else to expose the folly OF
the populist financial schemes and in OPEN
ing his remarks Senator Morrill, convulsed
the senate by saying: "1t is hardly neces-
sary to say these hungry bills big, bigger
and biggest, nine Of them, asking for nine
or ten times more money than there is now
in use by the whole world, were unani-
mously reported adversely by the commit tee
on finance. Nothing more. as the COMMITTEES
conceived. could have been expected, save
brief post -mortem obituaries. The bills,
many of them, have been reluctantly intro
duced by request and therefore not tenderly
nursed, even by their able and eminent god
father. Responsibility for such eccentrici-
ties ought not to asked Of senators and
should any member be charged with their
real authorship l hope we would be able to
plead in defense an alibi.
with no reasons offered for the intro
duction of these billion dollar bills, suf-
q
appear to have been that they were all
death-stricken from an overdose of the legal
tender nostrum at their birth, administered
by the accoucheur. One OF these bills pro-
posed an Issue Of legal tender money forty
times greater per capita than any we have
ever had; another to purchase all the silver
bullion that may be offered at s129 per
ounce. though it fetches now in any market
only 62 cents per ounce. Figuratively
speaking. the bills were all Of one brood and
Of the same feather-birds of imitation, none
game. none worth charge of powder, but
legislative dodoes, unlikely to be ever seen
on the earth again. No one who reads these
bills will need to be further bored by argu-
ments for their condemnation without bene-
ft Of clergy. l do not suppose there are
more vagaries. I do not suppose there are
afoat here than in other countries. Occa
sonally they come forth here, without
fatherhood. frisk about through dog days
and then disappear. leaving no bubbles in
sight to show where they sank. We have
some imposing financial theories wearing the
mask OF political reform and sure to give to
the world the millennium and not more so
than was the philosophers stone to turn
everything it touched into gold. The eager
ness Of many politicians and Of some parties
In the minority to obtain ascendancy in
the control OF public affairs leads them to
present pretentious and kite te-fyng platforms
for popular support, which, after the gusty
winds OF single season, only fatally be-
witch antiquated oficeseekers, wrepulers
with no wires to pull and a few juvenile
cranks tarrying at Jericho