The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1886-11-10
The Fiftieth Congress.

Ihe pOilllCS OF various districts and
in the fortunes Of moro or less well
known members Of the House, and
there has been decided reduction
in tho Democratic majority, probably
by rather more than one-half. If
this lad been accomplished by The
loss OF Il score or more Of districts,
amounting to, say, onc-cighth Of the
Democratic strength, while the re.
maindcr had been retained, we could
arrive ut some definite conclusion, by
taking into account thc average ma.
.jority, as to the general verdict Of the
country in the Democratic policy in-
Congress. But The net result is
brought about hy nrtut number Of
changes on bot!! sides all over the
country, tie republicans having lost
many seats which they were confident
Of hoiring, retained others by small
llHIorit,r", AMI made gains where
thel AHd Nn'a 0: no hope cG making
tnuin.
Nor is it easy to 1ctcrt Say very
clear principle Of scl&ci:ur hy which
the changes that have occurred lave
been madc. As we rointcA out ne.
fore the election when t!a muniua.
tlonS had been generosity nnd". thc
contest in most Of the districts was
made largely Oh loc;,i OF personal
grounds. 1t is, therefore, ON q large
body Of relatively isolated elections
that any Judgment Of the next Com.
gross has TO be based. Looking at
the matter in this way, the most con-
splcuous feature is perhaps tic fact
that the Republicans have lost three
seats and gained one in Massachu.
sets. Ranncy's defeat in The Third
District was due mainly to what was
considered his pra ?tical trcachcry to
revenue reform, by voting against
taking up the Morrison bill, after dc.
clarlng himself in favor OF revision ;
and though this vote was plausibly
defended. thc character Of the man
prevented the defense from having
th@ wright it otherwise would have
had. liiH col.tclmptuous attitude to-.
ward civil s,yvI"r reform AMI his
suh9erNicncy - :Hc Bell Tclvi Iuna
monopoly also counted against him.
BurnctCs election in the Ninth and
Russcll's in the Tenth District were
victories for revenue reform and for
civil service reform rs we'll. That
OF Russell is a great gain for the
cause Of sound Legislation in ever
regard, On the other hand, Lover.
ing's defeat by Cabot Lodge in the
Sixth District was largely due to the
fact that the farmer, according TO the
Springfield Republican, "privatrIy
arrayed himself against the Adminis-
tration III way to disgust Il good
many in his OVID party"
The solid Republican delegation
Of minnesota is broken up. and
thrcc Of its five members arc Demo.
Gratis. The causes OF This change
are not entirely clear, but they prob
ably have arisen as much from local
sentiment as from the feeling ON any
general issue. AS countcrbalancing
any changes brought about Ivy the
action OF revenue rclormcrs, the Re.
puhlicans can fairly point to the de.
Feat OF Col Morrison, the tariff re.
form leader 1,ur crc"Ucncc, in Illinois,
TO the rather narrow escape Of Speak
cr Carlisle in Kentucky, to the clcc.
ton Of Gucnthcr in Wisconsin, to
the gains in Virginia, and to sundry
districts in which the Democrats sus.
tanned projection rs much as their
opponents. But the offset is more
app& ent than real. Col. Morrison
has been Il very faithful, but not II
very Successful or skillrul leader for
revenue reform, and Mir. Barker, who
defeats him now for the third timc,
is not q bigotcd r'otcctioui5t. Nor.
rison's place rs iraHvT can bc nilrd,
and his successor IN that post 5honii
have ~ stronger following uud Il
clearer field than Mr.. Morrison has
enjoyed. Mr.. Hewitt viii, orcnurSc,
be missed, but rather as Il maker Of
speeches than as maker Of votes.
The attitude Of the new Congress
toward Tie administration cannot be
iorctold. The present one, SO far as
the majority are concerned, is sulky
and grud@ing. The next will hardly
be that. 1t must be either cordially
friendly or opcnl y hostile. Tine
chances are for hearty support by
the more intelligent leaders and &C.
qucsccncc by the followers. 1t is Il
matter that rests a good deal with
ly. as we "rc confident he wiIl in the