New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-07-27
FALSE and INCOMPETENT.

It seems to be the fate of the Democratic
party that every move it makes In the House
discloses It's incompetency or its falseaOods.
When the session began the party resolved
that the one thing necessary to enable 1t to
meet the requirements of the Nation in matters
of legislation was a change of the rules.
Anxious to remove every excuse for delay, the
Republicans assisted in altering the rules. But
after eight months time the House is even fur
Their behind with its.work than it was two years
ago. It has accomplished practically nothing
in the way of new legislation, and failed even
to pass the appropriation bills before the expira
ton of the fiscal year. The public service is
now carried on under resolution extending
last years appropriations. On the calendars OF
the House are large number of important
measures which have been passed by the Sem
ate. But there is no prospect OF their being
acted upon by the House. The only explana-
ton of this state of things is found in the in
competency of the Democratic majority.
For years the country has been told by DEM
ocratic orators that it had no Navy. The Dem
ocratic House refused to appropriate money TO
be expended by Republicans to meet this re-
ouirement In the present House the Republl-
cans expressed an entire willingness to assist
IN appropriating the money necessary to con-
tinue the rebuilding Of the Navy. After
months of time devoted to the subject unani-
nous report was brought in by the Committee
on Naval Affairs making an appropriation OF
sc, 42s, 900 for that purpose-a mere fraction
of the sum asked for by the Administration.
In that report tie Democrats state: We are
absolutely helpless against an invasion from
LII hot Cnunpoiffaa WOul ii
he state to publish the fact to the world, were
it not already everywhere else better known
than to the people of America" No effort was
made to consider this bill until last week. 1t
was finally passed on Saturday, after having
been cut down one half. Nearly year and a
half ago an appropriation was made for two
new cruisers and two gunboats. A Democrat
Secretary of the Navy has kept that money
die in the Treasury all this time, and has not
even let the contracts for those vessels Either
the past utterances of the Democrats in regard
to the Navy were gross falsehOods, or else tile
party leaders are wholly incompetent to deal
with the subject. Their own leaders prefer to
admit their incompeteDcy.
A commission was sent to Europe to investi-
gate the question of how best to secure guns for
the defence Of the coasts. Other commissions
gathered information in this country. The
result was a report to Congress by Demo-
cratic committee stating that we are without
adequate means of defending our foreign or
our coastwise commerce, and the cities sect
tered along our sea-coast are lutely at the
mercy of any second-rate Power of the world"
1t was further stated that after an appropria-
ton should be made of sufficient magnitude to
establish the plant to fabrcate guns it would
take FIVE years to make them and begin the
work of placing the coast in satisfactory state
of defence. How did the Democrats meet this
question, at time when outrages on our vessels
are being comm tilted by a small province of a
foreign Poweri 1t not only refused to make
an appropriation that would be of any use, but
proposed to squander half million dollars on
further experiments. Almost every other i'm
portant question, particularly where the
National honor is concerned, has met with
similar treatment Is such party ft to govern
fha Nation