The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1895-03-08
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENTS.

| MIR. EDIToR:-Thr lird Congress has
passed into history and the acts of that
body will now stand for criticism. What
will he the verdict: With such men a>
| Chandler. IIoar Frye Lodge, of the Sen
ate and Dinglcv. Reed. Cannon. and the
| like of the House. who can see no good in
a democrat. but all wodlnc>S i'll their own
party. of course the judgement will be Il
hard one. With that sentiment of the
| country. that takes Il broad and generous
view of things. we may look for better
and faircr estimate of the work of the
Congress that has rSt died.
In the last letter to Your paper, | en-
dcavorcd to show the cause for the de
preston of business, and that cause is
traced entirely to want of confidence
among the masses of the people, as to
what may be the policy Of the government
as to its finances. There is to-day no lack
of money in the country. but its circula
ton is restricted. because of the fear, that
silver may he adapted as Il measure of value
along side of gold. In other words the
fear arises from the danger of Il free and
unlimited coinage of silver. But this fear
is past forever as every ctfortof the silver
men failed of success, and the country can
now breathe easy until the meetin" of the
next Congress. In the meantime. the in
ternational Congress to which this coun
try will send delegates. may have been
able to reach some basis of agreement by
which the commercial world will take sill
yer at Il fixed ratio of value. This seems
| to be the only hope out of the difficulty,
because this country could not afford to
set up in the silver business alone. Such il
course must soon result in national bank
ruptcy. Well this Congress failed to pass
any financial lcgislation and it is not sur
pri~ing that they did. They failed in some
other quarters where the people had eX-
pectcd different action. But has the Con
"resS just ended been barren of good re-
suits. BY no means. In the first sessi) IN
they made Il good record. Let us recount
this service to the people. The federal
election law was repealed, the Mckinley
tariff was also repealed, and the Sherman
silver purchasing law met the same fate
There are many other laws of IA minor
consideration for which that Congress
may claim credit. 1t mi ght have done
more. but we must accept what has been
done, and he no, too harsh in our judy
ment. As we have already said no adj
ministration since the foundation of our
government ever assumed control of its
affairs under such disadvantages.
The abuses that had grown up. after
thirty years of republican rule, the eNtrav-
aganccS that had been cultivated and in
dulged in. were all to be met and managed
under IA promise and Il pledge for reform
Wherever it was possible the pledges have
been redeemed. but under such adverse
circumstances 1t was task of no common
magnitude that confronted the Democrats
But have our people nothing to be
thankful for in the way of congressional
aiu: Look at the tariff alone. and see if
there Is not great cause for thanks The
labOring man now sees Il law that is in his
interest indeed. because with wages not
reduced a penny. he buys twice as much
with day labor rs he could under the
Mckinley law. This is an object lesson of
daily occurrence, and the poor man. or he
who earns his support by his daily toll
must be convinced at last that he has been
mistaken all these long wears in listening
to the story that the Democratic party is
an enemy to the class that he represents
This indeed will count for much in praise
of the action of the late Congress. But in
reaching our estimate of the work and its
character performed by the BIRD Congress-
we must not overlook the great business
depression, CONNIE .cial Stagnation and
wide spread social disturbances that had
grown up, and become the legitimate off
spring of the thirty years of republican
rule. The task was one that might well
dpIDdi INC bIdNtSt anu SlpUttSt patriot, ana
its performance required all the courage
and persistence of the true lover of his
country. We cannot therefore chime in
with those who entirely condemn the late
Congress, and speak of it rs an utterly in
competent body of men. We cannot ar
ray ourself with those who say that COM
plcte disappointment, takes possession of
us, when reviewing the acts of this admin
iStratiOn: but on the contrary must say
that though much has not been done. that
was hoped for. and greatly needed, vet Il be
ginning has been made, and we trust that
again our party may have the opportunity
of carrying on the good work 1t is a
common saying nowadays - discredit
the Democratic party, and our political
enemies walk amongst us with an uneX-
pectant, and self satisfied air and with
that Il am better than thou" look but all
this we must bear and begin at once to
grid on our armour for the coming fray.