The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-12-31
Have No. bone Thrir puty.

Have They Done Their Duty.
Speaker Reed, Chairman Dingley and
others Of the leaders Of the House are
quoted as saying that they feel that they
have done their duty in the matter OF
providing for the difficulties Of the treas
ury, and that they now wash their hands
Of the whole subject That must be a
very comfortable feeling which they say
they have. But. as matter Of fact, have
they done their duty?
Let us consider what the President ask
ed them to do and what they have done.
The President pointed out the diff
culties under which the treasury is la
boring. He said, in substance, that the
treasury had sufficient money, but that
Legislation was needed to maintain the
country's credit-to maintain gold pay
ments. What has the republican House,
under the direction Of Speaker Reed.
Chairman DINGHY and other republican
leaders done? They have passed a bill
putting wool and lumber on the dutia-
bic list and making a horizontal increase
in the tariff on all other dutiable articles.
and they have passed a bond bill
Why did they pass a tariff bill? They
say to provide more revenue. The Pres
ident, however. did not ask for more rev
enue. He did not ask for il. because it
isn't needed. The tariff bill viii not con-
tribute anything toward removing the
treasury's difficulties. 1t looks, therefore,
as if the tariff bill was passed as a repub-
lican campaign measure-a measure that
it was thought would be gratifying to the
protectionists.
But what about the bond bill? Is that
such a measure as would benefit the
treasury? 1t provides for per cent. coin
bonds that must be sold at par. 1t does
not even provide that legal tender notes
received for the bonds may be held in
the treasury. thus preventing the notes
from again being used to draw gold out
of the treasury.
If the bond bill should become a law
it is doubtful if the bonds could
be made available, because, all the
indications in financial circles are
that they could not be sold at
par for gold. But assuming they
could be sold at par. and gold obtained
for them, Speaker Reed and Chairman
Dlngley have excellent reasons for be-
lieving that neither the bond bill nor the
tariff bill has any prospect of passing the
Senate. The silverites of the Senate, who
are in the majority in that body, say
that they will let no bond bill become a
law that has not a concession to silver
attached to it. That being the case, what
reason has Speaker Reed, Chairman Ding
ley and other republican leaders of the
House to feel they have done their whole
duty in the matter of the treasury's diff
flculties, and on what ground are they
justified in saying that they wash their
hands of the whole subject? As a matter
of fact, congress has done nothing yet
in response to the Presidents financial
message, and there is no prospect that
it will do anything The responsibility for
assisting the treasury out of its difficult
ties rests as heavily now upon the republl-
cans IN congress as at any previous time,
and Speaker Reed and the other repubI-
can leaders can not get rid of their re-
sponsibility by asserting they have done
their whole duty. They have done some
thing, but what they have done is for
political effect rather than the good of
the country.