The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1896-06-12
The LutP I,amented.

!
k contempt Of the country. The only
: thing IL can be thanked for is that 1t
/, has made it's session the shortest for a
period OF 80 years. But 1t has SO gen
q emily omitted TO do what it ought tt
r have done, and done so many things
that were without excuse, with SO ut
tie that by the utmost stretch can be
y called good legislation, that its record
u would under any ordinary circumstan
y ces, be enough to ruin the party re-
sponsible for it in the coming cam
. paign. But the free silver storm in the
West and the phenomenal folly OF the
Democratic party in bending before it,
with the general unrest and unreason
characteristic of prolonged hard times,
attributed in the West to lack OF free
silver and in the East to the tariff re-
form that has been administered in
homeopathic doses, have all together got
the country into condition where for
the time being there is very little hope
of anything being considered 90 its
merits
The Congress was confronted with a
condition of the treasury that imper-
atively demanded relief. Not only has
none been afforded but none has been
honestly attempted. The Dingley bill
under the pretense OF relief simply
sought to tickle the tariff interests. but
even that was blocked by thsfrec sill
yer combination IN the Senate. In
this emergency, unable to obtain what
they wanted. the duty Of patriotism
and practical craftsmanship alike was
to do what was available to replenish
the treasury. There was perfectly
easy and simple way, one that ought to
be permanent measure and certainly
would anwser as a temporary one-to
| increase the beer tax in way that
would yield s25, 600, 900 a year. But
the Republican leaders would not take
the first step towards it. and the reason |
was subserviency to the wealthy brew
ing interest which has always been |
able to protect itself by promises or
threats of campaign. contributions.
Congress contented itself with howl
ing at the President for issuing bonds
while refusing to provide any other
way OF meeting the governments obi
cations. Not only that, but with full
knowledge of the deficit in the treas
ury it has piled up appropriations
higher than they ever went before. so
that the aggregate for the session is
more than 1920, 900. 600. and when the
President vetoed the River and Har
Dor bill because of the extravagant
pestilent jobs in it, this reckless
squapdcring Congress repassed the bill
almost unanimously without striking
out single job or Withdrawing from
a single steal. h
And to cap the climax, after loading
a deficiency with all this prodigious
after refusing to provide
any moro revenue or to give authority
TIC borrow money temporarily on any I
al AMBIGUOUS iefins, tue 'oeudte dCt- a
ually went to work to plunge the q
country into repudition. dishonor and !;
by forbidding the issue
of any more bonds under any crcum-
stances, and though the House COM =
mittee reported against this most dis
astrous bill the House itself was pre- =
vented by the Mckinley managers and h
Speaker Reeds complaisance to them u
from doing what il could to avert the 0
vii effects of the bill, which has sent y
another wave of distrust of America (,
all over the world, by voting it down ST
in open house, as would have been done /"
il il had been allowed to come up. a.
This was simply Mckinley playing TO il
he free silver galleries. 81
1t would seem that the record of y
shame could not go farther. But as .,
natter Of fact it has got started far Il
he, in a lot of measures favo rably re- al
,orted o" passed through one house or 81 81
he other, to be completed into egis- AZ
alton at the next session, in the bills d.
living members Of state militia a pen al
ionable status. granting pensionsito re- -
married. widows, letting down the bars a
n various other directions in pen Wi
ion matters, besides the service pen IN
ion bill, admitting Arizona and New -
iexico to statehood and so Oh. hi
Practically the only measures of fir
eneficial import that have become laws va
re the filled cheese bill, the repeal of ie'
ne needless free alcohol in the arts er
revision of the Wilson bill and the op
mendment to the administrative tariff TIC
ct to further guard against underval- ou
alton o impor $. is
The pressing problem of in some &c
av protectipp the Government on tic tic
ability on the Pacific railway bonds, RI
'on maturing. $50. 100 item col
18th the unpaid interest. i left I'm apl
uched by legislation election is too pa
ear to permit the doing of plain duty. 1or
he bankruptcy and contempt of court sur
Ills, the two most important measures ma
nanating from the judiciary com he'
ittee we're not even considered by the see
snate. and left hanging with them are -
he Nicaragua canal bill. the bills for -
e reorganization of the army and
iIitia, the Mccall bill providing an
ucatiOnal test for immigrants the la