The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-01-17

Of the government from month to
month. the gold reserve Is constantly
on the decline. and the only course left
for the administration 10 pursue is to
issue bonds--in other words. TO borrow
large sums of money to maintain the
national credit. This is the condition
of affairs today and there is no pros
pect of change In the near future.
President Cleveland exercises no intlu-
ence whatever with the senators of his
own party. In some respects, and to
some extent, the financial policy Of the
administration is In accord with that
of the Republicans. This Is true at
least so far as concerns the silver ques-
ton. Inc Republican house has
promptly passed law, sufficiently in
creasing the revenues of the treasury to
enable it to meet the current expenses
of the government. This bill does not
meet the approval of President Cleve-
land because it is not in the line of free
trade. The administration prefers to
issue bonds and increase the national
debt rather than consent to revenue
legislation that increases the duty on
Imports, The silver extremists In the
senate are not opposed to measures
that SAVIOR of protection, but they take
advantage of the situation by demand
ing that free silver coinage shall be pro-
vided for as the price of their support
of any revenue bill
The president and the Democratic
tors and the silver extremists in the
senators are thus all antagonizing relief
legislation, although they are actuated
by different reasons. Unfortunately
the president and his secretary OF the
treasury, while loudly clamoring for
necessary legislation for the relief or
the financial distress of the government,
are withholding their support from the
only policy of relief that Is possible un-
der existing conditions. The Republic
cans alone are ready and anxious to en-
act relief measures, but are helpless in
the senate. unless aided by small
number of Democratic senators. The
president understands this, but is
eithcr unable or unwilling to exert any
influence over senators of his own
party to induce them to forego mere
partisanisn and for once manifest n
spirit of patriotic devotion to the inter-
ests of the country.
The senate today stands as an OBJ
stacle and an obstruction to the enact
ment of legislation of the most vital i'm
portance to the nation. Senators rep
resenting petty states like Nevada and
Idaho are actually blocking the wheels
~ the national government, and pre-
venting the Legislation that would tend
to re-nvigorate the vast industries or
twenty-five or thirty great common
wealths with their millions of inhabi-
tants. Between the Democratic free
traders and the free silver extremists
in the senate working together with
insane zeal to preyent the adoption of a
statesmanlike and patriotic revenue
and financial policy the bonded debt Of
the nation must continue to increase.
After March 4, 1897, there will In all
human probability be Republican ma
jority in the United States senate. but
it is not certain that even then it will
be possible to adopt a thoroughly Re-
publican policy, inasmuch as there will
still remain in the senate a number of
so-called Republicans who are utterly
at variance with the policy of that
party. The Republican senator's look
in vain to the Democrats for aid In car
rying through measures that would
place the treasury in condition Of
solvency and restore the fallen prosper
ity of the country. Viewed from any
standpoint the prospect is gloomy
enough for the country. Even the Re-
publican party cannot perform impOssi-
bilities. Affairs cannot be righted un-
til Democracy and Populism combined
are reduced to hopeless minority in
the senate.