The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1892-08-12
WASHINGTON LETTER
WASHINGTON, Aug. s, 1892.

gaSeu IN Strengthening up some Oh MS
business which had accumulated dur
ing the busy hours of the closing days
Of Congress. He goes home this
week to take an active part in the
campaign. Speaking of the session,
he said he was satisfied with the work
of the democratic majority, as whole,
and that he knew Of no reason why
any democrat who considered the sur
rounding circumstances should be
otherwise. He is confident that
Cleveland and Stevenson will get
every electoral vote in the Southern
States.
Representative Kilgore, of Texas,
was asked, just before he boarded
train for home, if there was any prob
ability of the peoples party carrying
Texas. "No, my brother, MOI" He
replied in a bluff and hearty tone. 81
have heard a few predictions which
pointed to that impossible calamity,
but those prophets were without
honor in any part Of the earth. There
will be but mild shower Of third
party ballot just slight sprinkle"
The administration followed Con
gress, and to-day there is only one
member of the cabinet in Washington
and he is only here temporarily.
The announcement that Mrs.
Harrison was seriously i'll was no news
to any efficient Washington news
gatherer; they knew it months ago,
but a majority Of them wrote cheerfully
about her condition in Difference to
the known wishes OF Mrs. Harrison
and her family, who have had from
the first the sympathy of every one.
There is little hope that Mrs. Harrison
will ever be other than an invalid
again, although she may live for years.
AT her age the human system, par
ticularly the stomach and the nerves,
does not readily recuperate when
once broken down.
Representative O'Farrell, Of Vir
ginia, summed up the situation in that
State thusly: "The democratic party
in Virginia is in line, and the third
party movement will have no effect
in our part of the country. Mr..
Field, their candidate for Vice Presid-
ent, is from our district, and l am
sure he will not add any strength 10
his ticket there. He made speech
the other day in his own county, and
the leading local paper said editorially
tnat he would not get dozen votes
in the county,"
When it was remembered that the
democrats Of the House We're con-
stantly confronted by an unfriendly
Senate and Executive they have rea-
son to feel proud of whatthey accom-
plished during the session just closed
Among the important bills passed by
the House and unacted upon by the
Senate were those for admission of
Arizona, and New Mexico as States,
and the one authorizing home rule
for Utah; the anti-option bill; the
bill COMPEL railroads to equip their
cars with automatic couplers; the
bill forfeiting 64,3aS996 acres Of un-
earned land granted to railroad by
previous legislation, and the various
separate bills repeating or modifying
some of the most oppressive sections
of the Mckinley tariff law. These
bills stand for what the House wished
to do, and what the democratic party
would have done Had it CONTROL ed all
branches of the Government, as it
hopes soon to do. The bills which
become laws are too well known to be
recapitulated here. The only feat
ura of the first session Of the Fifty
second Congress which causes any
disappointment to democrats is the
aggregate of the appropriation made,
but when the trouble is taken to
analyse the situation it will be seen
that many millions of the money
appropriated was called for by pre-.
vious legislation for which the dem
ocratic House was in no way re-
sponsible. Senator German places it at
500, 600, 900. The same Senator
also called attention to the fact that
II VIII be necessary under the present
laws to make the pension appropria-
ton to be made at the next session of
Congress at least $40, 10000 larger
than the enormous one passed at the
late session, and that other large ex-
penditures will have to be made,
which will, in his opinion, make it
necessary for Congress to levy other
and additional taxes in order to raise
the money.
Representative Dockery, Of the
House Appropriation committee, has
been studying up the pension question,
and he thinks that the annual approp.
ration will continue to increase for at
least six years to come, and by
that time the annual expenditure for
pension will be quite $2a5,ooo, 900.
Mr.. Dockery, like others has to give
nm the conn p1rir, wbep ,claJ y,h ara