The Forrest City times., 1892-08-12
A GOOD RECORD.
Truth About the Work of Democrats fin the Hoase-Some fncts that " i'll he
 Remembered by t,s People.


 WASHINGTON august B. Mir. Dock cry of Missouri, of the general appro- priation committee, will have printed in the Record tomorrow the record of the democratic house. On Monday the democrats and republicans will both present their side of the case to the public through the press. Mir. Dock cry said;
 following brief summary Of the record of this house in respect to some of the important questions that have come before it for consideration. Of the 9S35 bills introduced, this house has passed 20 of public and 225 of private, of which 22f have become laws. Be sides these the house has passed 1I3 of senate bills, both public and private, that have become laws at this season 397.
 Among the important bills that have passed the house are those ad- hitting New Mexico and Arizona to statehood in the American Union, this high privilege having been denied them by the republican party at the time of the admission of the Dekotas. Wyo- ming. Idaho and Montana, solely be- cause it was recognized that they would be democratic states. These bills sleep on the calendar of the re- publican senate. The democratic house has also passed d bill to author ize home rule for the territory of Utah, permitting the citizens of that territory to elect their own local officers, whilst in no wise impairing the provisions of the Edmunds act prohibiting polygamy. The bill has not been accorded con sideration by the senate.
 "The democIatic house has also passed bill commonly known as the anti-option bill, which prohibits. under severe pains and penalties. gambling in farm products, the effect of which has been, as claimed by the farmers, to lower and depress the price of al- most every product of the farm. The senate has declined to pass this meas | ure.
 l '''rhe democratic house also origi- hated the bill which became a law absolutely forbidding Chinese immi- | grafton.
 The democratic house has also | passed a bill ill the interest of labor,
 which will hereafter prevent contract
 ors upon any public works, either of
 the government of the United States or of the District of Columbia, from
 employing the services of laborers and
 mechanics for longer period than
 eight hours in any one calendar day. | except m cases ot extraordinary em-
 ergency. The bill secured the appro- val. of the senate, and is now law.
 "The democratic house has also pass ed bill to promote the safety of em- ployes and travellers on railways by com l polling common carriers engaged in in- terstate commerce to equip their cars with automatic couplers and continu- | ous brakes, and locomotives with driv- | ing wheel brakes. This measure is | obviously important to vast number of laborers, when We recall that for the 1 fiscal year ending June 30, 1890, there were employed in the handling of | trains, as trainmen. switchmen, yard | men, engineers, fremen and conduct ors. l53, ,235 persons. Out of this vast number occurred l450 deaths and l3,- | IT. injuries, the result of some form of railway accident, the total number killed in coupling cars being 369 and ! injured 7S4l. This alarming mortality | is manifestly due to tue defects sought | to be remedied by this bill, in as much
 as statistics show that on passenger trains, where the automatic couplers are employed, the fatal accidents aver
 age but l for l,700,00o passengers
 carried, and the injuries l for every
 100000 passengers carried.
 The democratic house has also pass ed, despite continuous and repeated
 hlibustering on the part of the repub-
 lican minority, a bill providing for the
 forfeiture of certain lands heretofore l granted for the purpose of aiding in
 the construction of railways. The public domain of the United States,
 since the organization of the govern
 ment, has comprised SIS, ,sS6, ,9S7 acres
 including the 22S ,9S7 ,lS7 acres ceded
 by the original states, the Louisiana
 purchase, the purchase from Texas, the
 Gadsden, Alaska and Florida purchases
 and the territory acquired as a result
 main l55 ,504 ,99i. 5 3 acres, area greater
 than four times that ot the state of | Missouri, has been granted to railroad corporations. Of this area 27 SIS, ,77S.-
 52 acres were granted by the govern
 ment to the states for the construction of railroads prior to March i, 1861.
 The grants under democratic admin istration, however, were made to the states under such limitations and re- l StrlctionS, notably in the case of the | Illinois Central, as to yield profitable | revenue to the states. It has been the policy of the Democratic party to pre-. serve the public domain for actual | settlers, and upon it's return to power l in this house after the tidal wave of 1874 1t inaugurated the policy of wrest- 1 ing the public domain from the rail | road corporations where the terms of the granting acts had not been fully met. The Forty eighth and Forty ninth congresses forfeited 50, ,4s2 ,240 acres, whilst not single acre has been granted to railroad corporation since the return of the Democratic party to the control of this house. This bill, which passed the house July &, 1892, forfeits 54 .323, ,996 acres of these grants and restores them to the public do- main for the use and occupancy of the people of the United States. Consider alton has been denied this hill by the republican senate.
 "The house has illustrated in it's tariff legislation that fundamental doctrine of the Democratic party, that all taxation should be for public pur- poses, and so levied as to impose its heaviest burdens upon luxuIies and Its lightest touch upon the necessities of life.
 Ut goes without saying Mir. Speaker, that were the Democratic party in con | trol Of the executive and both branches |