Barton County democrat., 1892-08-25
THE RECORD or THE SESSION.

THE RECORD OF THE SESSION.
Hanpered by the Results of Republican
Legislation.
The first session OF the Fifty-second
congress began amid republican predic-
tions Of disaster to the democratic
party and ended with graceful recogni-
ton of the wish of 2 repu blican presi-
dent.
Its work will be the subject of much
controversy and necessarily an issue of
no small Importance in national cam
paign which involves the election of a
now house of representatives as well as
that Of a.president and a vice president
For this reason judgment of its acts
will be influenced morestrongly than in
intermediate years by partisan inclina-
tions- It is obvious, however, that no
better or fairer method of judging its
performances from a political stand
point than by comparison with its re-
publican predecessor can be devised.
This is test which democrats will
welcome and to which republicans
must ubnnit.
The democrats of the house did their
best to tighten the burdens Of taxation
on the people and industries of the
country. Under the lead of the ways
and means committee bill was passed
making wool free, in the hope of re-
viving the dropping woolen manufac-
turing interests and encouraging the
WoOi-groWer.
The same bill abolished the compen-
satcry duty on woolen goods. The re-
salt of this would have been the cheap
enitig of clothes which had been made
much more costly by the Mckinley
law.
Another bill made free the binding
twiue used by the wheat-growers and
the cotton-ties used by the planters of
the south.
Another made ore containing both
silver and lead free, the purpose being
to cheaper one of the most common
articles of domestic and industrial USE
The bill to reduce the enormous Nc
| Kinley tax on tin-plates would have
| put ~ end to contemplate fraud, and
! would have saved the people of this
country from SO, 900, ,O00 to S15, ,O00, 900 q
year:
! the senate the republican majority
! promptly pigeon-holed them. In the
! interest Of certain manufacturers of
/ cheap pushes, shoddy and certain kinds
|
| cheap clothes.
In She interest of the cordage trust
they refused cheap binding-twine to
| the wheat-growers.
| In behalf of the hoop-iron makers
Pittsburgh they insisted upon dear
cotto1-ties for the southern planters.
ToShelp the makers of plate they re-
| fused to pat an end to the robbery OF
the people who buy dinner-pails, pots,
pans and rooing-tin, and retained the
| tax chat increases the price Of canned
| goods and has already closed up score
OF earning factories, depriving labor OF
| its work as well as making food dearer.
In brief, all of the bills which the
| democratic house passed for the bene-
| fit o& the people were killed by the
| senate.
| The house dealt with the free-coinage
measure honorably and rnanfully. The
| democratic majority, realizing that It's
FIRST duty was to the people who elected
it for the purpose Of reducing taxes,
defeated the effort to force it to the
| front.
Besides attending to its Legislative
| work the majority in the house exposed
| Raun1's iniQuitous administration of the
pension Office and showed the president
20 be his protector.
2he material results of the session
VIII not be OF great advantage to the
! country for the simple reason that re
| publican legislation of the billion dollar
congress, q repu blican senate and re.
publican president have prevented the
democratic house from carrying out the
reforms desired by the people.
The political situation is unchanged
by the session. 1t remains what it was
in the campaign of 1890. The democrats
have tried to reduce expenditures, but
they could not. They have tried to
drive the administration to reform the
abuses in the pension bureau, but they
have been met and overcome by the
presidents obstinate adherence to {
| scandalous administration. Above all
the democrats have tried to abolish
some of the evils and to tighten some
of the burdens of the Mckinley
tariff law. They have attacked some
of its most fragrant abuses and some O
the worst trusts 1t has eugendered. bu
the friends of trusts and monopoly con
trolled the senate and sat in the white
house, and the efforts of democratic
tariff reformers We're lost except a!
| they show to the country that the party
is still bent upon accomplishing th'
task which the people assigned to it il
|