The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1896-06-05
WASHINGTON.

WASHINGTON.
Cleveland VetOes the River and Harbo
nI-1ut Both Houses Pass il Owe
Htm.Senate Also Siaps Him by Pass
ing the Butler ANTI Bond Bili-Adioim
ment Near.
AS expected, President Cleyelan,
jumped on the outrageously and reck
lessly extravagant River and Harho
bill Friday with one of his most EN-
phatic vetoes. The veto messag,
shows that the bill contains At items
providing for an immediate expendi
lure OF Sl4. 900, 900. besides So, OOO. 90,
contained in another bill, and author
iZlng contracts amounting to NOR,
than s62, 600, 900, of which $40, 900, OOt
Is due next year. In other words I
is an $50, 900, 900 bill, the biggest il
al our history, and passed, as thu
PRESIDENT points out, sat time wher
the issue of government bonds t.
maintain the credit and financia
standing OF the country is subiec,
OF criticism" He declares that man,
OF the Jobs ordered are in 40 way re.
lated to the public welfare, but are
palpably for the benefit of limited 10.
calities or individual interests - some
OF them are to pay for work which pri
vate parties have actually agreed with
the government to do, in consideration
OF their occupancy of public property
others have been entered upon in dis
regard of the reports of examining en-
gineers and still others are to replace
work entered upon i'll advisedly and
planned. Such bill. he declares,
cannot fail to stimulate vicious pa
ternalism and encourage sentiment
among our people already too prev
alent that the government is merely a
.giver of gifts and not the embed
iment of the highest and best aspira-
lions of humanity" Nevertheless the
House passed the bill over the veto
Tuesday by vote of 220 to CO. 1t
was done by gag law or special rule
forbidding debate. The Senate also
followed suit, Wednesday only five SEN
ators all Democrats voting to sustain
the president, while the vote for the
bill was Sc. The committee report to the
House on the veto defended the bill by
the usual method of falling back on
the Reed Congress, pointing out that
all but p of its AT items are for
works ordered then. 1t also impeach
es the accuracy of some of the Pres
ident's figures.
The administration was given an
other slap Tuesday by the Senate IS
passage of the Butler anti bond bill by
a vote of 30 to %. Two-thirds of the
affirmative vote was given by Dem
ocrats. Cullom, Aldrich, Cannon, Ali.
son, Chandler and Teller took part in
the closing debate. Cullom declared
that 1.-THE consequences of its pass
age were SO far reaching as to be sim
ply appalling. 1t would be the undo
ing of all that had been accomplished
since the passage of the resumption
act in 1873. 1t would mean repudia-
ton. y Chandler appealed to the Sen
ate. on the eve of its adjournment not
to repeal the only law on the statute
book that enabled the president and
the secretary of the treasury to protect
the national credit and the public hon
or during the next six months. He
wished to ''have left with them every
scrap of power that they now had. !"
Cannon not only supported the bill,
but he argued that all the bonds is
sued under this administration are
illegal. He declared that the great
beating heart of the inter mountain
states is for the free and unlimited
coinage of silver, and took for its lead
er Henry NJ. Teller of Colorado. not
John Sherman of Ohio. Teller also
took occasion to say that he didn't be
lieve the gold people need to have any
fear of McKinley's attitude on the
money question.
The Senate's action on the bill, how
eevr. will have no effect and it further
discredits it as body The House is
sure to bury it,and Reed has arranged
to have it done by open vote.
Senator Morrill, made a set speech
Tuesday noimnally on the DINGHY tar
itfbill, but real ly on silver and politics
generally. AS to the tariff he said
they knew a through and Republican
measure was impossible with Cleve-
land in the White House and 1.-THE
leadership of the Senate Populists wob,
bling between the learned and ire
descent farmer Of Nebraska and the
yelled prophet of Kansas. He spoke
of the free coinage subtitute as having
been attached to the House bond bill
by the Democrats and Populists of the
Senate in sheer mockery, and as uncov-
ering purpose to stampede the cOun-
try to silver recommendation. He de
scribed the free coinage plan as one 10
"hypnotise tho markets of the world.
He attributed much of the hard times
to lack of a sound protective tariff. but
said "another adverse and sore be
witchery of all business affairs in the
United Sattes, hardly less potent than
free trade tariff, has been the un-
ceasing agitation of the free coinage
of silver, and on a ratio that would not
fail to reduce the standard value of
our money, as we'll as the whole fabri C
of public and private credit, to one
half of its present value.
The President sent in vetoes of three
moro private pension bills Monday.
The Senate Friday agreed TO the re
peal of the free alcohol in the arts pro-
vision of the Wilson tariff bin legal
izing the action of the treasury depart
ment in refusing TO pay the rebates
provided by it on the ground that there
is no way of distinguishing the alco-
hol SO used and thus preventing whole
sale frauds in the treasury. The re
pea! bill provides for commission to
sit during recess and report some
scheme, if any is possible. for a practic-
able measure.
The House passed the Phillips La
Dor Commission arbitration bill Tues
day.
The House ways and means commit
tee, after an exhaustive investigation OF
the general subject of reciprocity, has
prepared a report showing the valuable
results reached through the Republi.
can reciprocal trade arrangements aud
the disastrous effect the Democratic