Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1882-03-18
March rs, 1852.
W.iSIINGrOY LErTER.
Legislaiioa By Lo55y. .Htssirs Rqiiroa
C0accptions Debt Reduction.
Washington, ID. c. March 7th, 1889.

(Fr0m our Regular COrrespondentl
Washington, ID. c. March 1th, 1882.
This was Congress evidently not preordain-
cd 10 tinker the tariff or reform the revenue
laws and, if The America eoplc want any
thing done in this line, they will have to
,lect a Congress, two years hence, pledged to
dothe work and what is important, make
that Congress keep its pledge. This is not
e!sy to do, for the moment Congress comes
10 Washington, i no longer inL4.oS tie
ozone of it, district, but sucks the rich ma
iaria of the Capital. This is a metaphor,
au- it means that representative Is no
longer entirely under the influence of his
constituency or the sentiment that 81 cited
him, but under the influence Of the lobby.
rke lobby is hydra, 4 dcyil-iish, a sphinx,
and a boss 1t has a variety of shapes and
costumes, AMI lis methods arr bribery,
witchcrait, and corruption. | do not say
that every congressman will succumb to one
or all Of these methods. buta sufficient mum
Der will succumb to give the lobby the bal
ance of power in our national legislature.
During the last ten years, public attention
has been much diverted by partizan politics
and eiiete issues, and this diversion has en-
ablcd the lobby to entwinc lis endless coils
like the mighty serpent which in the vision,
crushed the universe together If the lobby
had but one head and one lust it would be
more dangerous than it is, but, like politi-
cal parties, it is somewhat rent by divisions
and IS often forced TO " pool its issues il
order 20 approach lis ends.
The most important questions when Con
: gresS assembled were the revision of the
tariff and reduction Of taxes. The first
question has been indefinitely postponed or
buried in a committee. II is safe to say that
the present Congress will not change tn
internal revenue laws Meanwhile. the ma
ti0nal Indebtedness is being reduced at the
rate of nearly Slj0,000.000 per year, and, il
this rate of reduction is kept up, but little
of the debt will remain ten years hence.
The most gigantic scheme recently pro-
posed BY the lobby is a transcontinental
railroad, to be subsidised BY extensive
land grants in the interest of the
Labor League. The profes,ed object Of the
movers Of this scheme is to build road
that monop0lists cannot gobblp, and one
that is to be run in the interests Of the peo-
ole and not of capitalists. The idea j.
good pity that it is and can be rnly an
idea
Captain Eads, who opened the choke
mouth of the Mississippi to commerce, and
built iron clads during the war in less time
than it takes a country cobbler to make a
pair of shoes, is still urging his plan Of q
ship railway across the continent through
southern Mexico The plan looks too big
flr human accomplishment. but that is the
way every big thing has looked until it has
been accomplished If Captain Eads can
muster a more powerful lobby than the
present transcontiuental railroad magnates,
who are opposed to all competing plans,
whether by Panama or Southern Mexico,
we may yet live to see the dry land naviga-
ton of ship on wheels.