Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-08-28
DEAD OR sLEEPINGe

A number of Republican Senators who
have been interrogated by circular from q
colored organization, 40 to the reason why
the Federal elections bill failed, give theil
reasons in ertenso for saying.that the meas
ure of legislation is not dead but sleeping,
As the people to whom Senator Quay and
others write in this vein are professedly
threatening discomfort on the part of the
colored Republican voters because that bill
was not passed, their attitude may be re-
garded as considerably affected by the dis
position to conciIiate that element Still il
is to be taken as an avowal of the position,
even of those Republicans who secured the
postponement of the measure, that the. cleo
tions bill shall be passed eventually:
1t may be regretted that the Republican
Senators did not have the independence to
point out to the Afro-Americans-wh
they may be-that the elections bill is an
attempt to revive the policy of Government
control of Southern elections so far as they
affect national politics, which was
abandoned fourteen years ago as imprac-
ticable and is now deprecated by the intelli-
gent Republican element of the South. As
they do not do SO it is pertinent to point out
the reasons for thinking them in error.
If the elections bill were founded merely
on the principles of abstract justice, without
any desire of party advantage, of course
there would be just as much call for it at
the next session of Congress as at the present
one. But there has been little concealment
of the fact that its sole inspiration is the
desire to keep the House under Republican
control. When the Speaker announced the
programme at the Americas Club festivities
in this city, he based it frankly on the ar
gument that by such means the Republican
control of the House could be prolonged in
definitely. The inspiring motive of the bill
was therefore to control the elections for the
next House. But before the bill can be
taken up again the next House will be
elected and the occasion for this legislation
will have gone by.
1t is this fact which makes the Republican
managers of the House SO bitter in their
denuncistion of the Senate's abandonment
of their programme. They realize that it
turns their work into labor wasted, and they
fear that 1t involves the loss of their rule
over the lower branch of Congress. If at
the coming elections they are able to retain
control of the House it will appear that the
legislation is unnecessary and supereroga-
tory. But they evidently have little ex-
pectation of that; and in the other event,
which they seem to regard as probable, of
the election Of a Democratic House, not
only would their primary purpose be de-
feated, and the popular verdict against
them be check on the Senate, but possi-
bilities would be shown which would
render the legislation very questionable
simply from the partisan standpoint.
The election OF Democratic House of
Representatives this fall, would foreshadow
the possibility of a Democratic President
in 1892; and the vision of this elections bill,
applied by Democratic administration, is
calculated to give the Republicans pause.
The light in which they would regard such
a measure inforced, say by the administra-
tion of David B. Hill, in the States of
Pennsylvania, New York, Indiana and
Ohio, is sufficiently shown by the fact that
they never thought of bringing forward any
such legislation during Cleveland's ad-
minIstration.
The Republicans must still profess
sentimental fealty to the elections bill. But
their recent step shows that they have begun
the commendable course of reflection on it.
Further reflection is likely to leave the leg
islation indefinitely on the shelf.