The morning journal-courier., 1908-06-27
Saturday, June 2T, 1908.
HORSE SENSE.

The possession of good working horse sense Is something to be proud of on the one hand, while 1t Is, on the other, an indication that the possessor of 1t is safe person to be entrusted with power. It is healthy sign of the times that the public prints are turning feverishly from the rawlings of the professional muck rakers, to iden- tify by that expression a large and varied class of dreamers, 10 the say ings of normally sane people, who make no pretensions to being greater than their fellows, and who are great CT than their fellows on that account. They are the men of horse sense.
 Since the death of Grover Cleveland the newspaper readers of the country have had necessarily spread before them an endless number of incidents in his career, which were dominated by that quiet mental calm. which Is known as horse sense. Illustration after illustration has been given of the simplicity of his mental habits, Great questions of policy did not throw him into fit of vituperation or frenzy of apprehension. He sat down quiet ly with them and applied to them the ever effective measure of right and wrong, and when in this simple way he had reached conclusion he car ried 1t out. He knew that the prob lens of life are more often made complicated by injudicious handling ehan by an inherent complication of their own. Lincoln knew 1t before and his knowledge of the fact mater ially aided him in the enormous work he was called upon to do. The men who have done really great and last ing service for their country have been invariably men of that temper ament. Mere noise breeds no immor- tality.
 It may be that we owe this sud- den attraction for horse sense to tho emphasis laid upon 1t by the grief provoked by Mr Clevelands death. gg Ie ic welcome, and stranger things have happened in the world than that 1t may exert a powerful influence in the settlement of the election next fall. The horse sensible assertion made by Secretary Taft at the Yale alumni dinner, when alluding to the probable work ahead of him has gone gallop- ing over the country: The Yale spir- 1t of progressiveness without the spirit of destruction" It is an asser- ton which provokes confidence and turns one's eyes toward the morning of a new hope. His clear repudia-
 
 tlon of government ownership Is an- other illustration of the power of horse sense to break down experi- mental philosophy First govern ment ownership means inefficient ser vice at higher rates; second 1t would mean an increase in the public debt of ewelve billions of dollars; third 1t would place in the hands of a reckless executive "a power of con trol over business and politics that the imagination can hardly conceive and would expose our popular insti- tutlons to danger"
 Former United States Senator John c. Spooner belongs in this horse sen- glble class of publicists He talked to the members of the Yale Law school alumni association in manner to make them sit up. He warned them that popular government de- bends upon the even distribution and protection of powers as between the three branches of government; the usurpation of power on the part of any one impalrs the structure as a whole, 'the last hope of liberty In this government Is an upright, fear less, incorruptibe Judiciary" And then he added these impressive words: "If in the lapse of time you find q political body advocating any measure which seeks to impair the founda. ton of government as laid down by the founders, as you value your oath of office fight it,' Still other Illus trations of this wave of popular con. slderation of homely truths could bf given, but these are enough to give an assurance that this country has not yet been swept from It's moorinEs and has not yet surrendered to the mega phonic leaders, who have been at the window for sufficient length or time No wonder business men arc hopeful of the future.