Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-03-29
BLAND BOWLED OUT,
Speaker Crisp Virtually Kills
Free Coinage With
One Fell Blow.
A COMPLETE SURPRISE.
Reeds Successor Refuses to Return
a Cloture Rule, Unless
HIS PARTY PETITIONS FOR IT.
Too Many Members Anxious to -Ehirk the
Responsibility.
Mr.. BLAND OUT IN A LONG INTERVIEW
A COMPLETE SURPRISE.
HIS PARTY PETITIONS FOR IT.
Too Nany Members Anxious to -Shirk the
Responsibility.
Mr.. BLAND OUT IN A LONG INTERVIEW
ESPECIAL TELEGRAPHIc LETTER-l
BUREAU OF THE DIsrAroH,
WAsuruaroN n g March 2,

ESPECIAL TELE9hAPHlC LETTER.
BUREAU OF THE DIsrAroH,
WASHINGTON. D. c.. March Is.
1t is not often that two great and vexin
subjects are laid to rest in q day as matter
of exciting news, but that seems to be tn
case with the silver bill and the Berin
tempest The silver bill is almost certainl,
athing of the past
l cannot agree with a somewhat genera
expression of opinion here, that the fire
coinage members of the House are great,
incensed at Speaker Crisp tor the somer
sault performed BY him this morning on tn
silver question, and that they are fairl,
crushed by the feeling that the bill is deaf
beyond resurrection. 1t is not to be doubted
that most of the silver men are glad of th'
opportunity to drop q thing which hac
begun to burn them, and that Mr.. Blanc
himself is not inconsolable. He knows tha
the country knows that ne has valiantly
done what he can for the passage of his bill
and that if he is stopped from further pro
ceedings it will be from necessity.
CrIsp's Action a Complete Surprise.
The Speakers action, however, was 9
complete surprise The silver men had no
suspicion that such a movement was con.
templated. Mr. Bland knew nothing of it
until he came to the Capitol at noon to-day.
He assured me late last evening that a rule
making q special order and providing
against any dilatory motions, either on rule
or bill, would be reported to-day OF, at the
latest, tomorrow.
1t was graceful act on the part of Mr..
Crisp to keep his friends in the dark in this
manner, and the only excuse for him is that
he had not fully made up his mind until a
very late hour last night Let this be as it
NAV, this announced determination to refuse
to vote in the Committee on Rules for a
special order, unless petition. asking for an
order, with the cloture included, were
brought to him signed by a majority of the
Democrats of the House, has put quietus
on the Bland bill An attempt was made
by some of the silver men to secure sigma
lures to such petition, but at the outset
they met with so much discouragement that
they soon abandoned the canvass
Not Many Sorry to Dodge the Matter.
Every free coinage member who favors
postponement, every half-hearted member
who desires to dodge, every one who is dis
couraged with the Unexpectedly close vote
on the motion to table the bill last week,
rejoices at the opportunity afforded by the
action of Speaker Crisp to let go of the
troublesome question. Many of the
stsnchest free coinage men of two weeks
ago have been frightened BY the members
and they hail with delight the chance Of
being forced, as it were, to abandon it.
Speaker Crisp himself explains his new
attitude by saying that i was evident the
silver men had over-estimated their
strength, and it was only fair to the party
in the House that no cloture rule or special
order should be made unless it were de-
manded by majority of the party.
1t is Just possible the silver men may
stiffen their spinal columns and yet make
an attempt to secure the necessary sigma
lures. Gossip runs somewhat that way
among the most active ones this evening
As for Mr.. Bland and his lieutenant, Mr.
Pierce, they fatty declare they will do
nothing.
Not Logging After Petition SIgners
To make their position consistent they
censure the Speaker, but they do not feel
called upon to run around, foolscap in hand,
begging signatures to petition praying the
Speaker to do what would have been simply
a logical sequence of the proceedings of
last week, and which was practically agreed
upon before Mr.. Bland made his motion to
adjourn in the small hours of Friday morn
ing, last week.
Had not Mr. Bland felt that he had
positive assurance that rule would be re-
ported fixing time for a vote on the bill he
would have endeavored to keep his bill be-
fore the House, and the flibustering and
the legislative session of last Thursday
might still be present fact. This is the
one fact on which the Speaker is open to
criticism, that he has really acted in bad
faith toward the silver men. As have
said, however, it is probable that most
of that element, and possibly Mr.. Bland |
himself, in his inmost heart, heaved a sigh |
of relief when the Speakers attitude was
announced to-day. Assuredlv, even with |
better success than they have had, the silver |
men might be said to be disastrously routed, |
so far have they fallen short of their claims |
Mills and Springer, who declaimed strongly |
against injecting the silver question into |
the campaign, have had their Judgment |
vindicated. Harter is happy. The Massa-
chusetts Mugwump kindergarten is aglow |
with shining faces
Only Campaign Policy, After All.
OF course it was campaign policy, and |
not financial or enconomical policy, that
has really accomplished the defeat of the
bill. In another year, with the same Dem
ocratic majority in the House, the bill
would have been passed by anywhere from
SO to 100 votes. 1t is even now possibly
only postponed until after the elections.
The fight will be carried into the Ma
tional Convention and the agitation kept
up, and one of the least improbabilities of
the early days of the short session is the
passage of the Bland bill. The silver men
have failed, however, in the grand purpose
for which they labored. They desired to
pass this bill by good majority, commit
the party as far as possible to free Silr.r
and thus force a free silver plank into the
party platform. Their failure to pass the
bill win leave the way clear for the Ma
tional Convention to take very conserva.
live view of the silver question.
IICHTNEP |