St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1890-02-20
DISTRUST IN THE REPUBLICAN
CAMP.

Col. Alex. K. Mcclure of the Phila-
delphia Times has been to Washing
ton and finds that the republican
prospects are materially weakened
bv Speaker Reeds dictatorship and
has also found republican leaders
who are willing to admit it. Col.
Mcclure says:
"There is fretful distrust among
the republican leaders as to the out
come of the autocrat power assumed
by Speaker Reed, and soon to be con-
firmed by the new rules of the House.
| have not met one considerable re-
publican leader, and l have not seen
many of them, who does not fear
that Speaker Reeds sowing dragons
teeth, which will ripen in fearful
harvest of profligacy, decentralization
and disaster. While none will speak
to the world on the subject, there are
very few, if any, OF the party leaders
who expect the republicans to hold
their, majority in the next Congress,
AUD { hes belieye that the policy of
4 AZ s3a[ IA VjIl be accepted in the
& zzczE Aef63Sftfr as one of the most
= ye5s L esf43ses of party disaster. 1t
e n ~ ~ i15 m Measure doubtful as to
Fthcs fate q the Surplus. 1t will all be
appropriat ted. and more than the
surplus, unless the few wiser leaders
shall be much more successful than is
now expected. The new pension
bills, which none of the leaders really
favor, but which all must support,
will alone more than destroy the sur
plus. Even the most conservative
pension bill that is considered likely
to pass would require an increase OF
fully 500, 100000 the first year 1t
gets into operation, and whether the
service pension bill or the dependent
pension bill shall be adopted, fully
S1OO.OOO,OOO will be required to full
fill the provisions of the new pension
legislation. 1t is probable, also,
that the door will again be opened
for new arrearages in pensions, and,
if so. that alone will add $50, OOO,
600 to the pension expenditure in
one year. Even Speaker Reed has
taken the alarm at the pension tide,
and clandestinely opposed the new
rule giving the. pension committee a
special right to the floor. Under the
most economic pension legislation
now possible not only the entire sur
plus must go for new pensions, but
it is probable that pensions alone
will produce q treasury deficit IN
1891, and that new taxes must be
imposed to increase the revenue to
the standard of expenditures. There
will be no reduction of tariff nor tax
es this season. The administrative
features of the tariff will be amended,
and the misfit tariff on silk ribbons
and on worsted will be corrected,
but there tariff revision will end.
The party leaders contracted with
the wooden manufacturers to increase
their protection, now an average OF
6S per cent tax on the 65, 900 900 OF
consumers, and demanded and re-
ceived their cash contributions in
payment. The same leaders also
4 contractedswith the rural growers,
4 IL l3{} ,liafez1p labor to protect, to IN
'S;zsf "a ssr kIlk;staxes on wool, and de-
S j11;5nt1etl and received spot cash pay
20 s13t5It III aflvance They dare not in
81 81 Gf Sd taxes on either wool or wool
Hens, and they dare not reduce them
although all know that they should
be reduced, and their only safety is
in doing nothing in tariff tax revi
sion. They know that they are IL
great danger on the issue before the
people next fall. l am quite safe IL
saving that after the next fall cleo
: tions the bulk of the republican ma
tional leaders will come out openly
for free raw materials, including free
wool and free iron ore, and the Penn
svlvania leaders will be in the front
of the movement. Most OF then
: would come out at once for free raw
: materials and cheaper necessaries o
: life, but they dare not do so. They
can suffer defeat and the loss of the
next Congress, and then accept thu
l admonition and strike out boldly fo1
: free raw materials, but the whole
: western and northwestern state:
would be lost to them if they declar
ed for free wool in this Congress
Free raw materials will surely come
: and come soon, and the leading ad
+ vocates of that feature of tariff re
: form, not later than 1892, will b.
the republican leaders of today.