The daily Caucasian. (Raleigh, N.C.) 1895-1895, 1895-03-05
THE CAUCASIAN.


he carrier upon whom it should fall.
THE CAUCASIAN.
THE FIFTY THIRD CONGRESS-
On yesterday, the Fifty third Con
gress took its place in history. 1t
may be useful to gather up some of
the lessons it has taught.
1t is certain, that no other Con
gress since the foundation OF the Re-
public, ever came into being, encour-
aged by so much of high expecta-
ton, as invited this one to achieve
ment. For q third Of century the
government had been in the hands of
a party, whose theory and practice
had centralized as much of power in
the national administration rs was
possible. The same party had used
the customs laws to build up and
foster an lnsolent manufacturing
caste, at the expense of the farmers
and consumers of the country. They
had loaded the country with an enor-
nous debt to maintain the Union,
which they converted into gold bear
ing obligations, by means that were
secret and unfair. They had taken
care to make this debt the basis of a
banking system, which gave few
private corporations power to con-
troll the finances of the country. They
had dishonored silver by robbing it
of its functions as money. They
had subsidized the transpor-
tation lines of the country, by
-pPayiHe-thew- ANONYMOUS bonuses:
They had invited into being, and
had encouraged the growth of all
sorts of trusts and combinations
against the freedom of trade. They
had sought to perpetuate their
tenure of power, by allying them
selves with the rich and powerful, in
every section of the union. The
Fifty-third Congress was elected with
a distinct understanding, that it
would undo all the wrong that the
Republican party had done; and re-
store to the people all the rights and
privileges which had been taken
away from them. At the same time
that this Congress was called into
being, a chief executive of the same
party was chosen, in order that there
might be no doubt, that demanded
reforms should be secured Truly,
more was expected of the Fifty third
Congress than has been expected of
any other Congress in the history of
the country.
For thirty years the Democrats
had been in opposition. They were
put into power and their old enemies
were put into opposition. They had
promised a tariff for revenue only.
They had promised repeal of the
internal revenue. They had promis-
ed the restoration of silver. They
had promised an end to the subsidy
system. They had promised relief
from the tyranny of the banks. They
had promised economy in all our ex-
penditures. They had promised a
rapid reduction of the national
debt. They had promised all these
things and the people expected them.
These were the expectations of the
people. How sadly they have been
disappointed we know. We have
tariff that is still protective. We
have one hundred and sixty-two mil
lions more of debt than we had when
this Congress came into being. The
scale of extravaganza in expenditure
has been continued. Silver has been
still further degraded. The national
banking system is still here. The
Internal revenue system has been
weakened in no respect or particu
lar. There have been no serious at
tempts made to better the condition
eff the suffering masses. There is,
therefore, only one conclusion that
any honest man can reach ; and that
is, that the Democratic party has
been false to it's promises; and is not
worthy to be believed in anything it
may promise hereafter. It's leaders
have thoroughly discredited it be-
fore the country and the world; and
no man may be SO stupid as to put
faith in anything it may hereafter
say.
The fifty-third Congress was ex-
pected to redeem the Republic from
misrule. 1t has done nothing else,
but show that its leaders are false
men, unworthy of being believed in
the future.
We, by no means, mean to assert