The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1891-12-24
FREE SILVER COINAGE.
Eastern Desires Get Little Considera-
ton from Crisp.
ANTl-CLEvELAND COMMITTEES.
The Ways and Means Committee Made Up
SO as to Fritter Away Time and Hide
the Real Purpose of the Democrats
Washington Gossip.

WASHINGTON, Dec. A.-The makeup OF
Speaker Crisp's committees is still sub
ject for speculation here. The committee
on coinage is one in which great interest
centres. AS almost everybody expected,
il is distinctively and overwhelmingly
free coinage committee. Mr.. Bland, of
course, is chairman, as everybody knew
that he would be, no matter whether
Mills or Crisp should be elected. If Mills
had won, however, Bland would have
been handicapped; as il is. he has been
strengthened and fortified so that his po-
sition il impregnable and his onset Will be
irresistible. IL is true that two of the
Democratic members opposed TO free
coinage have been chosen from New York
and New England, for it would have been
impossible TO find them anywhere else eX-
cept perhaps in New Jersey and Pennsyl-
vania They are Tracey OF New York and
George Fred Williams of Massachusetts.
Mr.. Tracey was u member of the COM
mittee in the last Congress and
is one of those rare beings, an
"honest-money Democrat" - "gold-bug
Democrats" as Mr.. Bland styles men who
agree with the New York Representata-
tive. George Fred Williams of Massachu-
setts, of course, is host in himself, but
he can cast only one vote in the commit
tee. All of the other Democratic mem
bers of the committee are strong free
coinage men; so is Mckeighan, the Farm
ers' Alliance Representative from Ne
braska, who is also Democrat. SO is
Mr. Bartine of Nevada, one Of the four
Republican members Mr.. Taylor of Illi-
nois, who served on the last committee,
is a mild anti-free coinage man, and
Messrs. Stone of Pennsylvania and John
son of North Dakota, both new members,
are understood to be opposed TO free coin
age.
While the Ways and Means Committee
is composed, as To the Democrats, OF Tree
traders or radical tariff reformers," all,
or nearly all, of them are adherents of the
piecemeal policy, as opposed TO the whole
sale policy of Cleveland, Mills and Co.
Mr.. McMillin, who ranks next TO the
chairman, as he did in the Fiftieth Con-
gress was an ardent and enthusiastic sup
porter of the Dark Lantern" bill, which
he helped to frame So were Turner, OF
Georgia, and Wilson, of West Virginia,
who also helped to frame that measure;
and il is greatly TO be doubted whether
any one of the three is an enthusiastic be-
lever in the impractcable and absurd re-
tail scheme, the paternity OF which Chair
man Springer proudly claims, although
the real author of il was Editor Jones,
of ''The st. Louis Republic" Messrs.
Montgomery, Cochran, Whiting and
Shivels all supported the Mills bill in the
Fiftieth Congress, although Mr. Whiting
was opposed TO certain features of 1t.
Messrs. Bryan and Stevens, the other
Democratic members, were not members
of the Fiftieth Congress The Republican
members of the ommittee-Messrs. Reed
McKenna, Payne. Burrows and Dalzell-
all supported the Mckinley bill in the
Ffftieth Congress, and. of course, their
views'have undergone no change. The com
4. ..t
Importance than it would be if the design
or intention of the Democratic party in
congress were not to fritter away time and
do nothing in regard TO tariff legislation,
except TO agitate the question until after
the Presidential election. IL is a COM
mittee born of party dissension, dishonesty
and factional jealousy, and will do moth
ing except unsettle business by making
violent albeit meaningless and futile, de-
monstrations against the existing law.