The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1895-01-11
Washington Letter.
From our regular Correspondent
WASHINGTON. Jan 4th. IS9:

From our regular Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Jan 4th, 1895
The extra session bugaboo was raised
by the administration democrats to
frighten hesitating democrats into
the Carlisle currency bill and to debter
republicans from placing obstacles in
the way Of any legislation approved by
the administration but now, like the
genii released from the bottle, the bug
aboo has grown so great that it threat
ems to overshadow everything else.
The question of the calling of an extra
session of Congress, which was first
merely in a might-have-to-be light,
has now nearly reached the must-te
stage If something is not done, by
this Congress to stop the drain of gold
from the Treasury, and there isn't one
chance in thousand that anything
will be done, it will not be matter
of choice with Mr. Cleveland He will
have to call the ~e~ub,;Ca0 Congress
together in order to get something
done.
Very little hope is now entertained
by any democrat that the Carlisle cur
rency bill will be passed by the House
in it's present shape and not much
that it will be passed in any shape,
and none whatever that it will be
passed by the Senate But the ablest
financiers in Congress agree in saving
that if the currency bin were to be-
come law tomorrow it would do
the Treasury more. harm than good
Even Secretary Carlisle, who is willing
to pose as author OF the bill, admits
that it would not help the Treasury
for sometime to come and that he is
not altogether certain that it ever
Meanwhile the drain on the gold in
the Treasury continues and the re-
ceipts of the government continue to
be much less than its expenditures.
These facts have aroused the republi-
cans to the necessity of formulating a
plan for legislation at the the extra
session, if one be called. They don't
want an extra session; would much
prefer having until next December to
think about legislation, but true to the
tradition of the party they will be
found ready to do their duty whenever
called upon.
1t can be stated on high authority
that the republicans in the Senate
have no idea of shielding the demo-
Gratis from any OF the popular disap-
proval they have earned since they
all branches OF the govern
ment. Several republican Senators
may when the urgency appropriation
bill gets through the Senate, seek to
have the appropriation for the collec-
tion o. the income tax struck out of
that bill, but they will not be support
ed by any considerable number of re-
publicans Nothing would please the
democrats who have realized what Il
mistake the income tax was, chief of
whom is Mr. Cleveland, more than to
have republican Senators defeat the
for the collection of
that tax. That would enable the
democratic party to play its favorite
and usual double-faced role in another
states where the in
come tax is popular it would claim to
have passed the tax and would
charge the republicans with having
prevented its being collected. and in
States where the tax was unpopular
it would point out the failure to- ap-
propriate money to enforce the law as
its own act. Those are some of the
why republicans will aid in
getting that appropriation through,
rather than join in putting obstruc-
tions IN its way.
The troubles growing out OF the re-
peal Of the reciprocity clause of the
tariff law have only just
begun, as the administration is now
finding out. France and Austria
have unoficially intimated their-in-
tention to follow the example of
Spain and retaliate upon the United
States if some modification of the
sugar schedule of the tariff law cam
not be secured AS there isn't the
slightest probability that any modifi-
cation can be tten through Con-
yress at this session the outlook for
more retaliation is promisin.-entire-
y too promising.
January Sth has been set for the
nearing of arguments on the demur-
.er filed by the Department OF Justice
n the suit brought to test the consti-
of the Income tax. Ii the
demurrer be sustained and the suit
thrown out on the technicalities rais-
d, steps for the beginning OF new
suit against which those technicali-