The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1869-03-12
The Appropriation Bills.

We have repeatedly stated, and
every Democrat ia the Legislature
knows. that there vas ample time on
Thursday, before the Constitutional
amendment could come up, to pass
the appropriation and election bills,
if the Democrats had withheld their
designations. The Republicans pro
posed to make a pledge, that if they
would remain and pass these bills. or
as many as there was time for, no at
tempt would be made to bring up the
Constitutional amendment before the
hour set for it.. The Democrats re-
fuse } to accept the pledge, or to listen
to any arrangement that delayed their
resignation a moment. They were re-
solved to destroy the Legislature.
And they had another object in view
besides preventing the ratification of
the Constitutional amendment. They
4. could have defeated hat by hand
ing in their designations at two
O'clock. But by delaying long
enough to give the Republicans a
chance TO pass the appropriation bills,
the necessity for an extra session
would be destroyed, and they could
not come back to pocket another at
l0Uaace Of mileage, and another issue
Of stationery and postage stamps.
There was the motive for the resigna-
ton, which they would not delay an
hour for any pledge or assurance that
the Constitutional Amendment
should not be put in the way Of rec
essary legislation. Such pledges were
just what they didn't want. Necessa-
~ legislation was just what they
would defeat. Ii was more to their
purpose to beat that than to beat the
Amendment. OF this action Of the
Senate upon the appropriation bill,
the Sentinel says:
That bill passed the House on
Wednesday, and it was sent to the
Senate the same day Ia ample time to
hare passed that branch also. When
it was read in the Senate, instead of
acting promptly upon it, as the ma
jority had the power to do, and there
would have been no objection to such
action by the minority, Mr.. W%olcott,
a Republican Senator, moved its ref
erence to the Finance Committee,
thus putting it out OF the way, for no
other reason than to force the Demo-
Gratis to permit the passage Of the
Suffrage Amendment"
If we hadn't seer this extract, we
could hardly have been convinced
that it was within tho bounds of
human-well, fallibility, to put it
pleasantly-to talk such hopeless
nonsense. The Appropriation Bill
was in the Senate or Wednesday
afternoon, and to delay action it was
referred to the Committee on
Finance" The Sentinel may not
know, but everybody else does, that
the appropriation bills always go
through the hands of the Senate
Finance Committee. II would he a
strange proceeding. indeed. for the
entire expenses of the State Govern
ment, for two years, to be settled by
one house without any examination
by the other. The Senate has the
same right to add, reduce, or strike
out appropriations that the House
has, and a reference to the Finance
Committee is the only process by
which such action car be intelli-
gently taken. But the reference to
that committee on Wednesday after
noon enabled the necessary examina.
ton, for an intelligent concurrence In
the bill to be made, and on Thursday,
till two and a half O'clock, it could be
discussed, without any danger of the
4" niger jumping out of ambush and
forcing the constitutional amendment
on the Democracy. The rub " was
not the customary and necessary re-
ference to a committee in the Senate.
That made no delay; that could not
have defeated the bill, if the Demo
Gratis had been willing to pass it.
Thursday gave ample time. But the
Democrats didn't want time. They
didn't want legislation. That would
make an extra session unnecessary
and save an immense expense to the
people. They wanted a chance at
more pay from the Treasury. And
they got it by resigning several hours
sooner than they needed to, if they
really desired nothing but the defeat
of the constitutional amendment
indianapolis Journal.