The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1889-02-21
And in Case the Senate Refuses to Comply, He
Will Decline to Sign Measures in Which
Republicans Are Deeply Interested.
The Statehood and Direct-Tax Bills
Passed and Sent to the President.
Democratic Opposition to the Bill Repeating
the Tobacco Tax-Latest Washington Cos
sip About the Harrison Cabinet.


The President Seeks to Intimidatc the Re~
publican Majority in the Senate.
Special to the Indianapolis Journal
WASHINGTON, Feb. 20.-President Cleve-
land threatens dire vengeance on the Re-
publicans in the Senate for refusing to con-
firm Webb, the very doubtful Republican.
or mugwnmp, to be District Commissioner,
and Thompson, of South Carolina, the solid
South Major, to be Civil-service Commis-
sioner. The Presidents friends in the
Senate say that if these nominations are
not confirmed the chief executive will re-
fuse to sign any of the bills which the Re-
publicans want signed. They say he will
refuse to sign either the direct-tax or the
omnibus Territorial statehood bills, both of
which finally passed Congress to-day, and
will be sent to the White House
as soon as enrolled. 1t is now
q question whether the Republicans
in the Senate can be frightened into doing
that which they do not want to do, and
which they know to be wrong. They have
not up. to this time, shown the slightest
lack of courage, and it is not at all likely
that they will at this late day. No one
would be injured half so much by failure
to sign just measures as the President and
his party; nothing could bury him and his
party half so deep as refusal to sign either
the direct-tax or the omnibus bill.
Senator Sherman thinks the defeat
by the President of the direct-tax
bill would destroy every Democratic
hope of party success, and relegate the re-
tiring President to private life perpetually.
Representative Springer declares that If
the omnibus bill is not signed be will head
a delegation of Democrats who viii ask
President Harrison for an extra session or
the Fifty-frst Congress for the adoption OF
the same measure. All the same, the major
ity of Democrats in both houses fought
both of these bills bitterly. and they would
never have been passed had it been possible
for Democratic caucus ties to defeat
them. There were just enough DEM
ocrats in the House who would
not be held by caucus instructions,
most of them members who will 60 out
of Congress in nine days from now, TO give
the Republicans majority, and although
the Democratic party in the future. viii
should be remembered that both measures
were first introduced in Republican Sem
ate, and that neither would have been
passed by a Democratic House IL they coaid
nave Deen ueltateu ny INC DemoCIdos as ~
body acting under the instructions ofPres-
dent Cleveland 1t is a clear instance of the
minority of Democrats running away from
the instruction of the majority. The final
adoption of these bills was fought bitterly.
The general impression is that both will be
signed, although it will be a very
distasteful task for the retiring chief mag
istrate. There are many prominent Demo-
Gratis in Congress who tonight say the
President will not sign the direct-tax bill.
III cannot become a law without his Sig
nature. The South opposes the bill; the
South controls the nominating convention,
and Cleveland expects to be nominated
again.