Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1876-04-14
HAs THE AOUSE-aE'- EP IL E.
SENrA lives DONE ANYTEHgN

HAS THE-Rn HOUSE REPRE-
SENrA lives DONE ANYTHING
No House of Representatives Tor
twenty years has accomplished more
10 the same space of tine than that
which nov sits in Washington. II is
the fashion Of the hired organs of the
and of the Journals
thatscalH themselves Democratic but
which are afd cted with chronic dis
ease Of complaint that they manif at
continuously under the guise of lDde-
pendence. to say that it has done moth
ing. But il has done, and continues
TO do as much, and just as effective
work as was ever accomplished by
legislative body. Not until the end
of the first week in January did
the real business of the session COM
mence. When tue House assembled
two thirds of it's members were new
meD, entirely unknown to each other,
and not accustomed to the routine OF
the House. It was. uLder these cir
cumstnuces, only natural that the Or
gat,izsiion of the body should have
coneum d the time that i dill. There
was a struggle for the Speakership, not
only among NTH, but among sections,
and the strugyl was long and bit
ter one. When MIR. Kerr was finally
chosen there was q far more difficult
and important task Of arranging the
committees, of organizing the srmy, of
putting the line in order, SO that it
would be as effective as possible in the
contest that was before it. 1t was fore
Swallowed that the struggle would be
fierce and earnest. The minority was
thoroughly trained, splendidly disci-
plined and ably led. Finally, all the
preliminaries for the battle were ar
ranged, and after the holiday recess
had taken place the work of legislative
reform began.
In the sixty working days since then
what has been accomplished ? The
Republican papers and the so-called
independents say-"nothing." But what
are the facts The appropriation COM
mittee, under the leadership of Mr..
Randall, has examined into. every
source of expenditure of the govern
ment. and no one not familiar with
legislation, and few of those who are,
can have any idea of what stupend-
GUS labor that is. In the appro-
priation bills that have been
passed by the House millions of
of dollars have been saved the public
treasury, and in the bills. upon which
no Legislative action has yet been taken,
but which have been considered in
committee, additional millions will be
rescued from the control of the ad-
ministration. To be sure it will re-
quire the assent of the Senate and of
the President to give these reform the
effect of law, but the House will have
done its duty in pointin out the way
to reform and retreDchment. Mr..
Morrison, the chairman of the ways
anu means committee, presented a
bill, and his committee is now con
sidering it, which, if passed, will do
more to relieve the business of the
country than any bill which has
passed congress since the Republican
party come into power. It is direct
below at the outrageous, swindling
tariff which, taken all in al, lis the most
INDUSTRIOUS congiomeration Of legisla-
tive fraud, corruption and rascality
that disgraces the statue books of any
civilized country. All the rings and
ring men who ha e been preying upon
the country since 1861 are up in arms
against this bill, and all their organs
from Maine to Florida, and from New
York to San Francisco ienounce it as
unwise, foolish and impolitic. All the
monopoies are opposed to It. The
lobbyists are all against it, and when
it passes the House, they look to the
Senate and to the White House, the
headquarter OF all that is corrupt and
rotten in the government to strsngle
it. Is all this nothing ?
If We come down to the minor COM
mite es We fnd. the same stern, bold
and we'll directed fight against the
fortified and strongly entrenched po-
sition of the corruptionists who are
endeavoring to retain their hold upon
the treasury. General Banning, at the
head Of the military committee, has
cut down the army appropriations;
West Point has been shorn of its ex-
travagant proportions: in the consular
aud diplomatic service large saving
has been effected; and in the Legislative,
executive and judicial appropriation
bill as it now stands, the country has
the opportunity to see how many mil
lions of dollars have been stolen and
squandered upon that branch of the
government during the last fifteen
years. But the greatest work of all is
the uncovering OF the rottenness and
crime of the chief officers of the gov
eminent and of their princi pal subor-
dInates. For years and years it has
been boldly asserted that the admins
tration was pure and undefled. But
what Lave theinquires into its manage
ment shown? The footsteps of the |
bride taker and the thieves have been |
tracked into the executive mansion,
and if the President himself has not |
been proved to be a sharer in the |
plumber of the rings, q cloud of
suspicion has been thrown around him |
which will envelope him to the last day |
of his life, and will hang like a pail |
over his memory when he is dead. A |
Cabinet officer has been caught cheat
ing the living and robbing the dead,
and for these crimes has been i'm
peached in the name of all the people |
before the Senate which has just been
into q court for his trial. An |
eX-leader of the House of Renreaents-