Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1896-03-27

stop the controversy over the Cuban
question. Either Cuba is or is not en-
titled To our sympathy. As our near
est sea-coast neighbor, whose business
Interests aad political welfare are close
~ interviewer with ours, the public has
decided in the affirmative. The House
has already confirmed that decision,
and now the Senate is spending weeks
IF twaddle in attempting 10 either agree
on disagree with this two-fold express
sion Of popular sentiment. Meanwhile
The Cuban war is progressing, the
American public is waiting and the
Senate is making us very, very tired.
Judging from present appearances
the appropriations OF the pre- sent scs-
sion of congress will reach, if they do
not exceed. the one hundred million
mark. This will be the final showing
in spite of all the retrenchment which
Speaker Reed has declared must be the
order of the day. ii may be assumed
the pOst-electlOn session will bc marked
by greater liberality than the current
one at least, this has been the custom
IN the past-and therefore, the fifty
fourth congress, like the lifty-lirst, in
which Mr.. Reed was also the Speaker
of the House, will achieve the distinc-
ton of being classed as IA billion dollar
affair. Should II plunge into the Mica
ragua canal scheme and guarantee
800, O00, 900 worth of bonds, or If
there were To be scrimmage with
Spain, IA billion, of course, would be
away below the mark. This increase
in appropriations will be made the sub
irct, no doubt, of a great cutlery on the
part of democratic campaign orators
aud democratic newspapers, just as II
would be by republican partisans Of
the press or on the stump if the shoe
were on the other foot. They will
make ponderous array of figures 10
show that more money was appropri-
ated by this one congress than by seNe-
raj ante-bellum congresses rolled into
one, and argue from these the unpar-
donable extravaganza of the party in
control Of legislation. There is no Oc-
casiOn whatever for such II hullabaloo.
1t is the most natural thing in the
world that. as the country grows and
the machinery Of government expands
! and new interests crowd upon the peO-
pie, there should he an increase of eX-
panditures. There was time when
this was hundred million dollar coun-
try. but that is long since past. Since
then the country has gone through vari-
Gus stages OF eXpcnsiveness, and though
/ N Il II tlta thnra har-.a
been instances Of waStefulness. vet, on
+ the whole, it is pretty safe to say that
/ the peoples finances have been fairly
and honestly administered by the rep
resentatiyes chosen by the people. The
! reason why biliOn-dollar congresses
are beginning To be more frequent IS
that this is getting to be blllon-dollar
country. and there is nothing strange
in the demands upon the national eX-
/ chequer keeping step with the nations
+ growth There is no occasion for any
hysterical outbursts because of this
fact. The time will come when the
people of the United States will smile
/ at the mere thought that their ances-
tors were able TO run their government
on 50 limited an allowance as five hun
dred million dollars Al year.
/ Congress is at least the possessor Of
a rare and exceeding ly interesting curl
Osity. Perhaps it has not the museum
value of Dodo's egg, or the intrinsic
worth of "A twenty-carat diamond, but
ii possesses one merit, at least, that
makes it extremely unique as a con-
gressional document. Ii is a PROPOSE
ton that comprehends a great public
benefit, and doe not demand either
loan or subsidy. As this peculiarly
makes It almost an object of suspicion,
it is doubtful if congressman generally
can ever be cOnyInced that there is not
a scheme in it somewhere that will re-
quire an appropriation. A bill was in
trOduced i'm both houses the other day
to incorporate "A Maritime Canal Com
pany that proposes to construct a ship
canal not less than 800 feet wide and
20 feet deep to connect the Great Lakes
with the Atlantic ocean. No appro-
priation, loan or government assist
ance of any kind, except in the form
of "A charter is asked by the incorpora-
tors of the company. If permission is
is granted they agree to complete the
canal in ten years, all on American
soil. This will make an ample ship
route from Chicago to New York City
by way of lakes Michigan. Erie and
Ontario. ST. Lawrence river. Lake
Champlain and the Hudson river to the
ocean. Should congress ind that there
is sufficient capital behind this enter
PRISE To make it successful, the charter
will probably be granted under proper
restrictions. More waterways are
necessary to insure competition against
railroad combination, and lessen the
cost of shipping products from the
west 70 eastern markets. The pro-
posed canal would make profitable
outlet for western products during the