Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1900-09-18
Answer TO L. A. PradtS Article
Published in the Record of
the 18th.
DEAR PILOT -


nunciamento to the faithful at home,
directing them to help save the country
from the big bogy man, VIM. j. Bryan,
and preserve the altogether heavenly
appointed and sanity VIM Mckinley
and all his assistant saints from the i'm
pending disaster
The letter of our friend is a strong
proof of the alleged fact, that serious
differences exists in the official house
hold of our esteemed president, that the
cabinet is on the eve of breaking up
and would go to pieces were the mem
bers not restrained from with drawing
by motives of gaIlantry, similar TO
that which impels the captain OF Il
sinking ship to remain at his post until
the vessel goes down
The gentleman is funny as is his
wont, but nevertheless, while advocat-
ing the cause of his beloved chief in his
own inimitable humorous way, he
shows that wide difference of opinion
exists between him and his chief, with
reference to the political questions in
volved in this election
President Mckinley says the money
question is The allimportant one. With
MIR. Pradt this question is of no import
ance at all, except in so far as it in
wolves his own contribution to the cam
paign fund, which is rather personal
than national affair, and we are given
to understand in passing, that our
friend succeeds ''in keeping his money
in circulation
With Mr.. Pradt, the all important
questions are Imperialism and Militar-
ism, and he has entirely overlooked the
full dinner pail.
While he cautions me and other mis-
led friends to fear the wrath of the
powers that be, let me caution him not
to treat the full dinner pail argument
so cavalierly, for the junior senator
from Ohio may believe such course to
be treason against himself. Evidently
our friends on the other side are not
pulling together.
Mr.. Pradt has probably seen the futile,
tedious and labored argument of his
chief, and of the New York ex-commis-
sioner of police, and other high digni-
taries and dispairing of their effort to
disprove the tendency of the policy
of the administration towards govern
ment not recognized by the constitu-
ton, not in conformity with it, he takes
up the weapon of ridicule and attempts
to laugh out of court, the fact that the
President governs in Porto Rico
and in the PHILIPPINES solely by virtue
of his authority as communicating chief
of the army and navy, though there
was really no war in Porto Rico, and at
all events has not been for over two
years, and we have been assured very
frequently that the war in the Philli-
pines is all over.
Perhaps the funny argument of Mr..
Pradt is as good as any other. 1t GER
tainly has one advantage over that
made by the Presidents; it is not in
tended to be taken seriously, and in
that it distinguishes itself favorably
from the long and serious argument of
the President
The gentleman tells us how the Pres
ident has taken him into his confidence
and what new dignity is in store for
him under the new order of things and
incidentally he is made acquainted
with the punishment to be melted out to
the recreant Beers of Marathon comfy,
among which the writer is given first
place by the courtesy, or perhaps | had
better say, fiattery, of the Washington
General.
According to him, the writer is to be
taken to Washington Immediately after
Jan. LIST, 1901 (by imperial rough riders
no doubt and as fit punishment for his
refusal to bare his head before the inn
periai hat of His Excellency VIM. Nc
Kinley, he is condemned to count the
gold in the treasury and to melt up the
silver dollars into paper weights; dur
ing the time to read nothing but Carl
SchurZ' speeches on the silver question.
So far as the melting of the silver
dollars'are concerned, the dollars owned
by the government, the punishment
would be only one in name, not one in
fact The gentleman must have for
gotten that the government has no
silver dollars in the treasury. He prob
ably had in mind the silver which was
called seignorage, and of which there
were some 80 or 60 millions in bars
when that gentleman first came to
Washington, but alas, that too has gone,
coined by our honest government into
dishonest 80 cent dollars at the ratio of
Is to l, and good portion of it at
ratio of l5l to /, and not enough of it is
left to made a decent paper weight,
heavy enough to wheigh down one
sheet of paper when bouyed up by
writing down upon it the brilliant con-
eeptions of our friends boundless inn
agination
But then, the counting of all the gold,
IN that the ADMINISTRATION displays little
good sense; the punishment is made to
do the people some good.
OF course, if the new government
wants to start in with true know
ledge of the ready funds on hand, it
must have democrat to do the count
ing that is very certain; and the people
will probably agree with the admins
tration on that point, and make sure of
it anyway, by having democrat do the
counting after the 4th of March next.
But why should such work be CON
sidered a punishment. After much
study ! think ! have solved the riddle.
The administration, understanding
better than anybody else, the fearful
temptation of hoard of gold, thinks it
can place the culprit in situation
where his heart is lacerated by desire
to possess, which can never be grati6ed,