Huntsville gazette., 1893-04-08
THE BILLION DOLLAR HUMBUG.
Reformatory Work of the Defunct "Eco-
nom1cal" Congress.

| Reformatory Work of the Defunct "Eco-
| nomlcal" Congress.
| 1t is within the memory of men now
living-that is to say, it was about two
years and half ago-that a great
| party in this country rose up as one
man, and, lifting both hands with the
| palms outward in the manner of one in
distress, began rolling its eyes in such
way that young persons were
alarmed, and watchers Of the skies,
mistalling the glow from the whites Of
so many eyes, said: This prefgures
new dawn" Many persons got ready
| to take Office under it. 1t was the dem
ocratic party in the midst Of one Of its
ructions. 1t had appeared that the APP
| preparations made by the republican
| congress to carry on the government
reached nearly 1889, 900, 000 lacking ten
| or a dozen millions to make in round
numbers a billion. Near enough, they
said, to call it billion for short. The
democratic party was writhing over
| the extravaganza, the prodigality, the
criminal waste of such an expenditure
| The newspapers broke out with excla-
nation points, scare heads, double
| loaded editorials iDquiring when
this would end, and gen
eral bottom-side-upw all over
them, which indicated that the
expense of carrying on the
government was borne principally by
the editors of democratic newspapers,
and if things kept on in that way
they would either have to stop the
wheels Of government or suspend pub
| lication. Either one a calamity. Many
democratic orators were in circulation
throughout the country quivering with
emotion from town to town openly and
| publicly dripping with cold sweat over
the dreadful outlook, and the number
and variety of disasters that would
surely overtake the country unless the
democratic party were put in control
| In this town there were persons so
deeply affected by this state Of things
| that they used to leave off work and go
to the nearest saloon to talk about it
and find out if possible what the coun-
try was coming to. The feeling was SO
profound that hardly any body dared to
talk about it except in close proximity
to facilities for drowning sorrow. In
several instances some of the most ex-
perienced and levcl-headed statesmen
who stand behind the bar when the
legislature is not in session permitted
regular customers to suffer several min
utes from thirst while they discussed
the pcrils into which republican
congress had steered the government
or shed bitter tears at the thought
that billion dollars had been spent
and the democrats were mot in it. "
Some of these persons remembered
with sadness that if the democratic par
ty had been continued in power through
the last thirty years the govern
ment would have been conducted with
much greater economy. There would
have been no war, no national debt TO
paw interest on, no pensions to speak
of. and, what is more. no botheratlon
with the labor question, as the system
Of labor approved by that party per-
mitted no question Of wages, hours or
rights. This induced melancholy re-
iections, but they were INDUCED
silently; no public reference was
made to this aspect of the case
The present agony was simply because
the republicans were driving the conn
try to the bow-wows by extravagant
appropriations Singularly enough.
the same supersensitive party few
years before had been standing on its