Pike County press. (Milford, Pa.) 1895-1925, 1896-01-03
A BRIEF REVIEW

congress assembled December
Second, 1895, with Republicar
House of Representatives, a Senate
in which neither purity had q me-
jority and Democratic President.
Such a state Of things could NOT con-
duce to efficiency in legislation, and
the people really do not ezpsct Ca--
gress to do much the prcsents session.
The republicans may indicate then
wishes and outline a policy, but th.
President can veto all mclsurs
which as a Democrat ho does moi app
prove, hence they can accomplish
nothing. If they do attempt legis-
lation they at once become subject
to hostile criticism, and are put on
the defensive, which is not soadvan-
tageous for a party about to enter
into a contest for the presidency.
The house organized by the cleo
ton of Hon. Thomas b. Reed as
speaker. Four years ago when the
Democrats swept the country he
was supplanted in this place by a
Democrat, and many will remember
the filings and jibes of the press Of
that party, and many of its members,
because of his rulings, and the man
,,o,. II, r,-1,;p Io g.pg,,pta1 a f,,,Ys,1,,, ''
- Car" Reed as he was called by
them, has since been sustained and
the wisdom of his rulings approved
by his former detractOrs On the
second day of the session the Prcsi-
dent sent in his message. This
state paper followed a precedent
when he himself had made. 1t has
oeen customary heretofore in an
lual messages to give Il general
epitome of the operations of the gov
ernment in all its departments.
This message included but two
topics: Our foreign relations, and
the condition Of the currency. In
regard to Cuba he strongly urged
non-interference. And in the Nene-
zuela dispute he took stronr ground
in favor of that little Republic, that
her demand that the whole and not
a part of the question as to the dis
puted boundary between her and
Great Britain be submitted to ar
DitratiOn. In this he shows his
sound Americanism
In strong language he calls atteu-
ton to the currency, and shows
the difficulty the government has had
is keeping the pledge of Congress to
maintain gold and silver dollars at a
parity of value, and he urges Con-
gress to adopt some remedy. His
view is that the danger to the treas
ury goldreserye arises from the Io-
peated presentation OF green lacEs
for redemption in gold, and that the
real solution is topay the grceubacLs IS
and cancel them. This course would
necessarily contract the currency
and as a remedy for that he propose
an extension of the national ban
system to supply bank notes in place
Of the cancelled groeubacks. lie
utterly dissents from the idea that
a lack of sufficient revenue to carry
ON the operations of the government,
is the cause of the loss of the gold
reserve.
He is also opposed to the free coin
age of silver and the logical conclu-
sion of his argument is & single gold
standard.
In this message the President
places himself without the pale OF
any party. His views are diameti-
cally opposite to these held by the
Populists, and while they may have
many supporters among the Demo
Gratis yet the party organs repudiate
them. There may be some and
doubtless are quite number of Re
publicans who would favor his
plans, but nearly all disagree with
his opinion that the retirement OF
the greenback is necessary or de-
sirable. The Republicans believe
that a revenue sufficient to meet the
current expenses would overcome
all financial difficulties, and dangers
That there is a grave danger no ono
well informed can doubt, but with
the present diversity Of opinion in
Congress and the power the Presi-
dent will doubtless exercise, nC
one can possibly foretel what the
outcome will be. 1t would seem
that a judicious increase Of the tariff
so as to raise a revenue to meet OK.
penses, and incidentally protect ou
manufacturing and agricultural in.
dustries would solve the problem
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