New-York tribune., 1906-05-26
4 FIAT MONEY sTATEsuAy.

The Hon. Charles A. TOWne and the Hon
BOurke Cochran are by common consent the
two chief stars in the galaxy of statesmen and
orators now representing Tammany Hall-and
incidentally New York City-in the popular
branch Of Congress. These two lawmakers
have many qualities in common. Both are agile
and versatile and both have the knacl of fight
ing as well on one side of 4 given political
fence as on the other Mr. Cochran has been
in politics longer than Mr. Towne, and has
acquired philOsophic breadth Of view not vet
attained by his younger colleague Like the
Hon. Charles II. GrosvenOr, Mr.. Cochran smiles
ndugenuy when charged with intellectual In
consistency. Consistency. he holds, is the virtue
OF small minds, and he declines to be measured
by the petty standards of thinkers whose only
ambition Is TO keep their records straight Mr.
Towne. we regret to notice, does not rise to
this broad and placid level. He is troubled
by imputations of instability, Of Over-readiness
TO adjust old ideas to new conditions This
sensityeness to criticism seems to have led
him into an impradence which at this iuncture
viii 90 a long way toward impairing his use.
fulness as Tammany statesman
Mr.. Towne has been heard from very SPAR
ingly at this session of Congress At dinner
a month or more ago. somewhere ont in Mis-
souri,, he explained his inactivity on the ground
that Speaker Cannon wouldn't give him a
chance to distinguish himself But he prom
sed his hearers that as soon as he got back
TO Washington he would turn in and expose
something or somebody Most newspaper read
ers may have forgotten this prophecy. But the
other day Mr.. TOwne got his chance and made
good his direful promises. His exposure -
however. took a turn which will hardly be rel
ished by the Democratic leaders here who have
been endeayOring to regenerate Tammany Hall
and put it on a safe and sane" basis.
Mr.. Towne seemed particularly anxious to
repel the charge that he was guilty of p0liti-
cal inconsistency in turning Democrat on the
free silver coinage issue and then abandoning
that issue by cooperating with the elements
in the Democratic party which nominated Judge
Parker for President and indorsed his declara-
ton that the gold standard was firmly and
irreyOcably established" The facts were hard
to meet. and TO establish his consistency Mr..
TOWne was forced to announce that, what
ever outward appearances might indicate. he
had never wavered inwardly in his allegiance
10 the cause of free coinage and n 5O-cent
dollar. The principle of free silver coinage he
contended, was right and just and he was
ready to apply it whenever the opportunity Of
fered From his remarks it is clear that he
still thinks the government IS justified II II
feels like it, in minting 30 cents worth of silver
and circulating ii as Il dollar Among other
Things Mr.. Towne was reported as saying:
The Democratic party stands in Driuciple
! where it stood in 1896 We do not 6a-
mshd free coinage OF silver to-day Whv? Be
cause we 90 not need II. If necessity should
arise by an unexpected and unanticipated rapid
ana continued diminution Of the production of
gold ana we could not educate the people into
the adoption of rational nancy svsten, ,,,e
would ask again 10 coin the silver
The free silver coinage snake is scotched
not dead, and Mr.. TOwne is ready to renew
the agitation Of 1896 when the times are rlpe