The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1881-03-11

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WAsHxHoS, ID. c., Feb. %, 1881.
! Editor Democrat.
II is now pretty conclusively demon
strated that subsidies do not thrive in a
Democratic Congress. All the schemes
brought forward in the last six years
have utterly failed, and the last one to
come to grief is the Brazilian Mail en-
terprise of Mr.. John Roach. For three
years there has been strong lobby at
work here in the interest of this
scheme, and its advocates confidently
expected to succeed this winter; bat
the Senate has just pressed the thing
out of all shape by vigorously sitting
down on it. There was no party poll
tics in it, for some members of both
parties were for the measure; but the
majority of adverse votes came from
the Democratic side. Mr.. Blaine has
been the leading advocate and attorney
for Mr.. Roach, and the Democratic
newspaper here backed him, for con
sideration. it is understood bat it lakes
Il mighlier and more Influential journal
/ than the I'ost IL persuade Democratic
/ Representatives that they ought TO
stultify themselves hy voting for
schemes which the party in Congress
and in ull It's platforms has consistently
condemned The day oil subsidies has
PASSED. The experience Of the United
States ia granting them has not been
such as TO warrant entering on that
line again under the drlusive idea Of
increasing our foreign commerce.
Since the defeat of Commissioner
/ Bentley in the effort TO attach his trav-
elling pension court scheme to the pen
sion appropriation bill nothing has been
heard from him, and it is generally be
| lievei that his head will be one Of the
first to drop into the executioner's has
| ket after the new administration iz i'm
augurated. The Pension Bill, as it
passed the Senate, is now in the House
awaiting concurrence in the amend
ments Itappropriates Sos, ,2s2, ,30G.GS,
being the largest pension appropriation
bill ever perfected either by this gov
ernmcnt or by any other, aud is more
than all the pension appropriations oi
all the governments on earth combined.
This is not entirely owing to the ar
rears OF pensions law, although before
that was enacted the pension expendi-
lures were l..ually less than one-half
the amount now about to be appropri-
ated. The wholesale pensioning of the
survivors of the War Of 1912 has
helped to swell the aggregate. There
are now on the rolls over .hirty-hve
thousand widows and survivors Of that
war It is remarked at the Pension
Office that no one engaged in that Sai
seems 10 have died in the last half cen
tury. The effect of this immense
swelling Of tho pension roll is TO post
pone indefinitely the pensioning of the
survivors of the Mexican War. A con
vention of the Survivors is 10 meet al
Louisville on the 90 |, and strong
mem rial will be sent to Congress ask
ing that the claims of the Mexican sol
diers be considered. The justness Of
these claims is acknowledged, but there
is general indisposition to further in
crease the pension budget. 1t is esti
mated that there are only eight thous
and survivors of that war, but from
the way survivors of the war of 1915
have turned up there must be about
one hundred thousand.
The removal by death of Fernando
Wood from the Ways and Means Com
mittee has raised the question whether
that committee would not now be in
favor of tariff reform. But even il
there were time to take up the subject
the committee would still be opposed
10 it. Speaker Randall is not tariff
reformer by any means, and when he
appointed that committee he left the
free-traders and reformers long way
in the rear. The fact that one or two
votes have been close signifies nothing.
A member of the eommittee who, with
others, would he glad to have Mr..
Hurd's resolution reported favorably,
told me to-day that they were still in q
hopeless minority.
\ PHoNo.