The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-01-11
PERFUNCToRY PARrrsANsH1p.

Many of our Democratic cotemporar-
les are finding fault with congress.
charging not only inactivity but cul-
pable negligence. They point to the
fact that when it met some six weeks
ago the country was in financial dis
tress, so much so that this distress
WAS the burden Of the presidents mes
sage, and yet they say congress has
passed no measure looking to relief.
The trouble is not with congress but
with Mr. Cleveland, himself There
he stands. the embodiment and person
ification of eg0ism, with a veto in his
hand, demanding bonds, bonds only
bonds. which an existing law permits
him TO issue in the absence of any new
legislative enactment. Congress would
relieve the situation right speedily, SO
far as revenues are concerned-and
want of revenues is at the bottom Of
the whole trouble-but congress knows
that the fatal veto would be inter
posed. Cleveland only talks and
thinks Of the shrinking volume of the
gold reserve. 1t is this same bond
selling for gold which causes the drain
be SO much breads. If he should offer
one hundred millions Of bonds to be
paid for in treasury notes or green
backs instead Of in gold, there would
be a scramble for greenbackS and gold
would go begging or flow back into the
treasury, and The greenbacks would be
pulled out. Men who want bond Sc
curitieS as an investment would swap
their gold for greenbacks at every OPP
pOrtunity. If the S100,000,000 of bonds
were offered for silver dollars, it would
be the same thing. Investors would
rush TO the treasury for silver and if
they couldn't get the silver dollars any
other way they would pay a premium
for them, and pay the premium in
gold or greenbacks, whichever they
could get most conveniently. The
same principle lies at the bottom Of
the whole currency question. The rea-
son silver is not worth 16 to l is simply
because it is not given an equal show
with gold. Had silver the same show
as gold then its ratio-value would be
solely controlled and fixed by the rela-
tive productions of the two metals. If
but ten times as much silver as gold
were mined then the ratio would be
10 to /.
Iprr+-T Ia ,Ot hoe ell hn
Venezuela business started legislation
with a rush and the way is open for
a short session Of congress. The pen
sion appropriation bill has already
been compiled and other apprOpria
ton bills are well on the way. Be
fore the end of the first month the
house had passed both a revenue and
a bond bill. each Of which under Ordi-
nary circumstances or conditions
would have taken weeks. The SEN
ate is using up some time over the two
bills, but there stands Grover with his
veto. upon the one hand, and the sill
yer men pointing to the millions of sill
yer in the treasury upon the other,
asking that it be utilized. With Gro
yer where he is and the house will
hardly attempt any further tariff legiS
latiOn, even if the first bill passed by
them should go through the senate and
then be vetoed by the president. Then
there is Speaker Feed with his presi-
Dental boom. He can be trusted to
get congress off his hands ait the earl !
lest day, and no speaker in the his
tory of the nation ever rushed bust |
ness as he can and has. He cannot |
run" the senate but no one more fully |
realizes that the popular thing to do |
would be to secure an adjournment by |
late spring or early summer.
The faultfinding of the Democratic |
press is perfunctOry partiSanShip, with |
out any good grounds in either reason
or experience.