Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1896-01-06
WASHINGTON LETTER.
ESPECIAL ooRRRsPoNDENcE OF THE MONITOR.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 80, 1895.


because they believed him to be con
scientious and straightforward. That
time has passed. Mr.. Cleveland has
shown himself to be trickster. And
in nothing has he shown palmer than
in that hysterical message appealing
to congress for financial aid. Altho'
that appeal was made when congress
was ready to adjourn for the holiday
races-many members having started
for home-the republican majority at
once gave up the idea of a recess and
worked even on Christmas day to re-
spond to the appeal, by preparing
tariff bill, not exclusively for protec-
ton, but to increase the revenues of
the country to the extent of $40, 000,-
600 and bill authorizing the sale of 3
per cent coin bonds to maintain the
gold reserve and of the issuing of 3
per cent treasury certificates to meet
any immediate deficit. These bills
have been passed by the House, al
though not few republican members
voted reluctantly for the bond bill,
rather than have it said that the re-
publican House had refused to aid the
president, and forty-seven of them
voted against it anyway.
1t is now clear that Mr.. Cleveland
did not want the aid of congress. That
was plainly shown when he, through
Secretary Carlisle, declared that the
House bond bill would not help the
ID ND
struck out and ''gold' was substituted
therefor. That was asking an impos-
sibility, for Mr.. Cleveland knew per-
fectly we'll that the House was stretch
ing things to agree to a bond bill at
all,and that bill for gold bonds could
not get one hundred votes, let alone
pass. But that isn't all. 1t is now an
nounced that Mr.. Cleveland will not
wait to see whether the senate will
pass the House bills, but will proceed
to make another issue of bonds, and
that it will be made large enough to
carry him through the remainder Of
his administration, and they are 60
ing to that same old syndicate, altho'
a pretense is to be made of giving the
public an opportunity to subscribe for
them.
The five reasons which Representa-
tive Henderson of Iowa gave for sup
porting the bond bill that passed the
House are weighty. First, the bill
does not require a bond issue; only
authorizes it, if necessary; second, the
bonds if issued would bear a lower
rate of interest than those issued by
the administration, land those it is now
arranging to issue under the old law;
third, it compels the administration
to give our own citizens chance to
buy any bonds issued before offering
them to foreign bankers; fourth, it
does not retire the greenbacks, but
empowers the Secretary of the Treas
ury to keep them out of the possession
of spectators when necessary; fifth,
it prevents the administration selling
bonds to meet DEFICIENCIES in the rev.
enue as it has done. This bond bill is
a long ways from representing what
republicans believe ought to be done,
but it does represent what can become
81
that is the princi pal reason for it's hav
ing been put through the House. The
administration already has authority
to issue bonds and no secret is made
of it's intention to use that authority.
If those bonds could be issued under
the House bill many millions of dol
lars of interest would be saved. That's
the long and short of it, it isn't a
question of principle as much as of
dollars and cents.
The House committee on foreign af
fairs will report a resolution asking
the president for information con-
corning the alleged utterances of Am
bassador Bayard in public speeches.
When that information IS forthcom
ing, if Mr.. Bayard has been correctly
reported, he will hear from the House,
and it will not be a commendatory
message, either. The same commit
tee will ask for all the papers in the
Waller case.
1t sounds odd to hear men discuss
ing the probability of half of the cleo
toral votes of Texas being cast for the |
republican presidential ticket next |
year, but men who know the situation
in the state are doing that very thing.
Mr. Frank Welch, a Texan, who is
now in Washington, said: "There is
hardly any doubt of a successful COM
bine between the Texas republicans
and populists, and their combined |
forces ought to be able to knock out |
the democrats, as the present gov