New-York tribune., 1880-06-17
TITS CONGRESS.

IHe DemOcfallc party Has run away
from legislative duty. The people trusted
it to make laws but it has schemed and
wrangled, dawded and doubled, through
session of unusual length, without doing the
most important part Of the work lntrusted to 1t.
Some things it was too spiteful and malicious to
do; some it was incompetent to do; some 1t
failed to do through disl0yalty and others
through cowaldice. 1t runs away leaving
officials unpaid, and nccdful provision
for many branches of the public service
not made. 1t runs away leaving the
Treasury compelled to coin useless silver at the
rate of So, 900 900 per month, to the great peril
of the public welfare and of business pros
perity, because its dcmagOgues did not dare to
confess that they had passed or insisted upon
foolish measure. 1t runs away leaving the
Government without provision to meet the
bonds which mature or become rcdeemable next
wear, and thus places the Treasury at the mercy
of speculatOrs.
In many minor things, the supcrlativc cow
ardice of the party in charge of Legislation has
been shown. 1t runs away, not daring to
admit that Senator Kellogg is entitled to his
seat, though if vote had been reached
majority would have so decided 1t runs away
cases of contested seats, because it wants 10
turn out men who were really elected, but has
not the pluck to send votes of that sort to the
people this Fall with the evidence already
taken. 1t runs away not caring to vote yea or
nav on tariff bills or currency bills, or Southern
claims by the hundred which members mean to
grant If they have a President in the White
House 10 sign them. Perhaps these claims
would not have failed even now, had there been
n chance that the President would approve
them for Congress, however afraid to do any
GOOD thing, has not been afraid to steal. The
impudent and Infamous River and IIarbOr bill,
which robbed the country of the greater part of
$8,OOO,OO0 appropriated, required a kind of
courage which ought to be scarce in legislative
halls. But it may be that timldlty was the Tul-
ing motive even here, and that members did
not dare to go home without voting fat jobs for
greedy and knavish constituents, because they
knew that they had little claim to the support of
voters of the better sort
The Democratic party does not know how
much this Congress has done to make Demo
cratic success impossible. Possibly it realizes
that much mischief has been done by wild and
revolutionary talk. Perhaps it perceivcs that
votes for the pensiOning Of rebel soldiers, for
the payment of rebel claims, were not cXpc-
dent, But Congress surely cannot fully under
stand the effect of its dilatory, doubling, do
nothing policy in respect to matters affecting
the public credit. Nor can it understand, we
must believe, what will be the effect of its
futile assault upon the election laws. and its
refusal to vote money for their execution.
The steady accumulation of silver which
l..
pend or modify the Coinage Act, may possibly
compel Secretary Sherman to adopt strong
measures this Summer Months ago he stated
publicly that he did not feel authorized to dis
burse silver in payment of ordinary expenses of
the Government until he had enough on hand
to meet all expenses Of certain classes in the
same way. He is bound to maintain resump-
tiOn and to defend the public credit, and
therefore cannot force silver upon those who re-
ceiye interest on the public debt. Hence he
will be compelled to use 1t in other payments, if
Obliged to use it at all. But has Congress con-
sidered what would be the public state of mind
if Secretary Sherman, having asked Congress in
vain to suspend silver coinage, should call
public attention to its refusal, and proceed to pay
out SILVER to wOrkmen, clerks, pensioners, and
other claimants9 How long would it take
Democratic members to convince their con-
stituents that it was nevertheless wise to force
silver dollars into use 1t is possible that Mr..
Sherman may find no other way of preventing
a dangerous depletion of his gold reserves
if so, the responsibility for any inconvenience
to the people will rest with tho Democratic
majority in Congress.
No one can now fOresee what may be the con-
ditlon of the money market next Fall. 1t may
become impossible for the Treasury to make
any adequate provision for further reduction of
the interest OH the public debt by refunding.
The responsibility for great yearly expense
which might have been avoided will then rest
with Congress. II imports fall of, as they