Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1895-12-29
SILVER MEN IN THE SADDLE.
Plan of Senate Reorganization to Re
 Dictated by Them

Plan of Senate Reorganization to Re
 Dictated by Them
 Many republicans at Ehe national capital fear that a mistake has been made by that party that will bear un welcome fruit in the approaching pres idential campaign. They say that re- lines by the republican party is blum der which should have been avoided. No doubt now exists that the senate will be organized during the coming week, with the republicans in control of all the important committees.
 The finance committee will have a comfortable working majority of free silver republicans. Probably the com mittee will be enlarged to B members, and an effort is being made to retain the same preponderance of free silver. ism in the new committee that ob- tained in the old. By this means the republicans hope to be able to defend themselves with the assertion that un. der their regime the free silver ma- iority in that committee was precisely the same as under the democratic l IT.. that now the republican party must take the responsibility for whatever is done, a responsibility which the den- ocrats are glad enough to escape.
 Some of the New England and east ern republicans who are earnest advo- cates of sound money think is,a great mistake to assume such responsibility at all. They say it could have been avoided by simply letting the organiza- tion of the senate drift along as it is. They point to the general belief that as matters now stand the republican party will win next years presidential cam paign without much trouble and con- tend that everything that tends to change the situation is a risk of loss of strength. They believe in policy of letting well enough alone. They argue that the republican party will not gain any strength if the people understand to what extent that organization in the senate is dominated by free silver ele- ments and this reorganization has ex- posed that fact to all observers.
 It is literally true that the republican party in the senate is completely at the mercy of the free-silyer men. Of the 42 republican. senators now occupy ing seats 19 are classed as silver men, or ene=half of the whole, with two or three other republicans occupying a sort of middle ground between free sil- yer and bimetallism. When the two re- publican senators from Utah are admit ted and the party memberships brought up to fl there will be among them q silver men, still near to one-half of the total.
 It is true also that no reorganization of the senate without the recognition of silver was practical. The silver men had the party at their mercy and were not disposed to give up bit of their advantage. They have been promised the help of the populists, if their help is needed. Not only do the silver re- publicans and their populist allies con trol the finance committee, with power to suppress any measure looking to re- form of the currency system, or to bring in a free-coinage bill at any time they may conclude such agitation will serve their political ends, but the silver fac, ton is virtually in control of the senate itself and master of the situation as to the tariff or any other legislation. For these reasons some of the older and more conservative republican senators think the reorganization scheme bad politics. calculated to weaken public confidence in their party.
 It is unfortunate that with President Cleveland in the white house and two to one majority for sound money in the house of representatives the passage of a free-silver bill through the senate would have no practical effect. The senate is a free-silver body, however, and is likely to remain one throughout all of the administration which shall succeed President Cleveland's present term.-Chicago Times-Herald.