Arizona weekly citizen., 1889-09-21
WEEKLY CITIZEN. SATURDAY SEPTEMBER q, 1889
NO EXTRA SESSION.

NO EXTRA SESSION.
 session of Congress has been finally taken up and definitely acted upon by the President and his Cabinet, result
 ing in the conclusion that no such ses sion is necessary or would be expedient
 This decision will occasion neither surprise nor regret. This session will be too short, it is true, and it is really preposterous to wait thirteen months after Congressional election before con vening, especially when the term of a Congressman is only two years. But that Is the law, aud in the absence of any special reason for shortening the in teryal the provision should be respected. The statute should be changed and made to conform to the common sense of the case.
 The House of Representatives of the Fifty first Congress, as matters now stand, without taking account of deaths since election, contains 164 Republicans to 16l Democrats. This is a very mar row margin, and might possibly involve an embarrassing complication in the election of Speaker. By December all existing mortuary vacancies will have been filled and the new States will have held their elections. It is a moral cer- tainty that the Republican majority will la<,. l IL. by these new States.
 The reason assigned for not calling an extra session is that the returns of the Congressional elections Of October in the new States might not all be in for a week or two, and by the time it would be practicable for all the members to be on hand 1t would be almost the date for the regular session to begin. Another good reason is that there are several State elections to be held Nov. ,, and. while they are not Congressional elections, they are important ones, and no doubt the Congressmen in them will want to take more or less part in the campaigns. These States are, We believe. Maryland, Massachusetts. New Jersey, New York. and Ohio. The Legislature chosen in Ohio has the choice of United States Senator in the place of Coal Oil Payne The canvass there is warming up. and promises to be almost as exciting as the one of last year. Governor Foraker has just begun the campaign, he being at the head of the Republican ticket once more. The result there will be watched | with interest, for it will be the first poli- | tical struggle of any considerable mag nitude since the Presidential election. | But if there were no campaigns on hand, | and the present Republican majority in | the House were large, 1t would still be true that no good reason could be given | tor calling Congress together in advance | of the time set by law.
 When President Harrison was inaugu- | rated there seemed to be very general | impression that it would be necessary to | call an extra session, but month after | month has gone by and nothing has oc- cured to suggest that the country is in danger at any point. Our foreign and | domestic affairs are moving on smoothly Our Democratic friends are sorely pressed for something to find fault with ana ring the alarm bell over. If it were not for Commissioner Tanner they would be in a distressingly bad way Having no legs to speak of, he cannot well run away from their abuse, and he Is not that kind of a man anyway. H. IS continually being lied about. That would continue just the game if Con- gress were in session, and is not a mat ter Of much consequence one way or the other. Happy the nation in which the only point of attack for its government are that its old soldiers are being pen stoned too iberally. An opposition which can find nothing else to criticise would do well to take rest. The people generally will certainly accept it as evi- dence that the country is indeed safe, and the farthest possible remove from a condition of things calling for an extra session of congress. Ocean.