Ashtabula weekly telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1880-1886, 1880-05-28
The Folly Of the Extra Session Re.
peated.

HbhuNNs
President Hayes repeats in his latest
veto message the objections to the
dangerous practice of taclling uuon
Appropriation bills general and perma-
nent legislation" which he SET forth
last year in his communications to Con-
gress on the same subject.
The management of this business by
the Democratic majority has been eX-
ceedingly stupid throughout from
every point of view. If the Democrats
really believed the repeal of the Elec-
tion laws or their amendment to be a
public necessity they should set about
repeating or amending them in the
most direct and effective way They
should take care to present the ques-
tion distinctly and free from extraneous
matter. They should avoid giving the
President a good reason, or even
plausible preteXt, for refusing to APP
prove a bill which they might pass for
the purpose, on any other ground than
that of its own merits. Instead of do
ing this they submit the question in the
form of q coercive measure. They
furnish the President with an objection
which is not necessarily founded on the
proposed change itself-an objection
which has great weight with the people,
since the people dislike coercion or the
appearance of it, even in respect TO
matter which on its merits they might
be inclined to favor. The Democrats
have therefore done what they could
to defeat an end which they patriotic
ally profess to regard as expedient and
desirable.
On the other hand, supposing their
purpose to be purely partisan one, as
suming that they wish only to make
" capital for the campaign" their
course is awkward and laundering.
They should have put themselves in a
position to go before the people and to
say: 1--WE have submitted this question
of the Election laws to the President on
its naked merits and he has rejected it.
The Republican Administration and the
Republican party have taken the re-
sponsibility of keeping these laws upon
the statute book In that event the
Democrats would have secured the
credit, if any, due to an earnest and in
telligent effort to repeal or amend the
laws, while the Republicans would have
been obliged to bear the blame, if any,
belonging to their continued enforce
ment. But as the case really stands the
Democrats have enabled the Republi-
cans to say that the Democrats have not
met the question squarely and fairly;
that they have endeavored, instead of
repeating the laws, to nullify them; and
that by the attempt to force their meas
ure as the alternative of the failure of
an important Appropriation bill, relat-
ing to large number of expenditures
other than those of the Marshals, they
have adopted policy of coercion re-
sistance to which is not only right, but
is certain to secure wide popular SYM
pathy.
This policy is not justified by any
consideration of urgent haste. In
dawdling overits business Congress has
wasted time enough to pass a score of
bills to amend the Election laws. The
Democrats might have passed these
and have compelled the President to
consider them upon their merits; and
in the event of his disapproval they
could have gone "to the country and
could have arraigned the Republi-
cans" and could have made "capital
for the campaign in far more effect
i've way than by mixing with the mat
ter the appropriation Of money neces-
sary to carry on the Government. As
the case now stands, whether they re-
solve to retreat or to repeat the folly of
the extra session and appeal to the
people upon laundering record, they
will probably get the worse of the con
troversy which they have invited
~ y EUeni1sg Post (Ind.).