Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-04-07
WOLCOTT is WEARY
He Tires of the Fight for Free
Silver Coinage.
A PHILLIPIO AT BOTH OLD PARTIES,

sneers at the President and Cleveland
and a General Scoring of All Anti-SiI-
Ver Men-COlorado Unit for the Bland
Bill and Not Interested in Much Else
A Caustic Speech by the Junior Sem
ator from That State - Capital CITY
Notes.
WASHINGTON, April THE feature of
the senate's session yesterday was the
speech Of Wolcott, and the feature of the
speech was the acrimony exhibited by a
senator, and especially a Republican
senator In open senate toward the execu-
tive OF his own party's choice. But the
most noticeable thing in the senator's ex-
preston of dislike for the president was
contained in the first paragraph of the
speech, which speaks for itself as follows:
Mr. PRFsIpENT:-wem may as well face the
UuOh on the sltNer question. The bill for free
tonnage mas been put TO sleep in another body
ana Will not be again resuscitated. l,obody
had expected the measure to become a law
under this administration, for the present
chleI executive In his public utterances last
summer foreshadowed his veto in unmistaka-
ole terms, and those in his councils have OPEN
l! proclaimed II since. His assurances were
made while the stock market was depressed
Inc Dull operators were able to use them
Ior slight advance, and therefore some
temporary result was attained, but another
Eushsn banking house was reported in trou-
Die about Argentine securities and the market
IN lhe classic language of the street, 'slumped'
again This was the only net result of the in
tlmatlon made by the president of the United
States while congress was not in session of
"hat he would do if a measure, which could
not then be pending. should be passed by both
houses OF congress. The game was hardly
worth the candle, as the market on Wall
street showed.
The Administration "Agin" Him.
After remarking that if a vote were had in
the senate on taking the silver bill from the
calendar II would fail the senator proceeded:
This, therefore. is a proper time hayirg suf-
iered defeat, to gather up our wounded and
oeao determine where the deserters are hid
Ing, fortlfy our entertainments for the next en-
counter, and stop, if possible. the destructive
rear nrlng which not only damaged but sur
prlsed US. The first great force opposed to the
blu was, in this congress as it has been for
three years, the present administration. No
stone has been left unturned. no effort unem.
ployed to compass the defeat of the measure
HAD II been an open contest it would have been
easier to meet; the offices and patronage are
much, but they are not all. People have been
befooled by the claims set forth in the annual
messages and elsewhere that the administra-
tlon was really at heart bi-metallist.
With a Qualification.
1t assured us that it looked forward with
ardent and hopeful anticipation to the time
when gold and silver would go hand in hand,
the sure detenseef national credit. This was
for western consumption. One little qualifca-
ton was added That 1t would first be neces-
sary to secure the consent of other nations,
England included; a consent we are as apt to
Secure under existing conditions and with the
methods employed, We are TO catch larks
when the heavens fall As if Great Britain which
demonetized silver seventy-fve years ago
and has thriyed on it at the expense of her own
colonies and other nations ever since, would
be apt to change her policy until we had
demonstrated our determination to adopt the
double standard.
Some General Assertions.
A national convention is soon coming on,
however and direct answer on the silver
question seems rather embarrassing and better
to be avoided-and it necessary to prevent
the necessity of a veto if possible. And so the
miserable work began. The offices were par
celed out and the whip cracked, and the
wavering members were influenced. 1t has ap-
parently been effectively done; but. Mr.. Presi-
dent, there is always tomorrow. Nobody is
deceived, but it would have been a graceful act
In an outgoing president 10 have permitted
congress to vote according to its own inclina-
tlon On one measure of national importance.