The Indianapolis journal., 1897-03-05
THE FIFTY-FOURTH CONGRESS.

The Congress which expired yesterday
was made up of the best House and the
worst Senate that the country has known
for years. The House began its work with
promptness and intelligence. In response
to one of Mr.. Cleveland's somewhat pan
icky messages about the finances and call
ing for impossible remedies. the House alb
stained from voting the usual holidays and
passed two bills, one of which provided for
the issue of a temporary loan designed TO
relieve the treasury at once and a revenue
bill which would have put s40GOo.OOO into
the treasury. Never i'm the history of Con-
gress was so important legislation so quick
ly devised and passed as the two financial
measures Of the House.
The Senate received these bills early in
January, 1896 Instead of giving them con-
sideration. the majority substituted a free
coinage bill for the bond bill and spent
weeks in the useless discussion of that
heresy. thus inflicting a serious injury upon
the slowly reviving business of the coun-
try by creating a widespread fear that the
Senate would force the treasury TO cease
gold redemption. After long discussion
the free-silver-coinage substitute was
passed and sent to the House. where it was
promptly rejected. Thus ended the first
wise purpose of the House. The second
or tariff bill met the opposition of the COM
bined silver support and the Cleveland free
traders. AS they constituted a majority of
the Senate, the measure was killed without
vote. In the Senate the presence of the
bill brought forth a discussion which in
tensified the anxiety caused by it's action
on the first bill. Several members joined
in proclamation to the country declaring
that no measure for the relief of the treas
ury, the increase of the revenues or in the
general interest of the country should be
enacted which did not provide for free
coinage of silver. Thus did the Southern
Democratic senators, those of the silver
mining States, few Populists and the two
Indiana senator's support the coterie which
made the free coinage of silver the cond-
ton Of any revenue legislation.
The House followed up it's excellent rev.
enue legislation with the passage of other
important measures. all of which died in
the Senate. If the House postal-reform
bill had been passed by the Senate millions
of dollars would have been saved. That is
only one of several excellent measures
which the House passed 1t would have
passed tariff bill if the Senate could have
been made to see the Importance of the
measure. A banking act would have been
passed by the House had not the majority
learned that 1t would be- time wasted. In
short, could the House alone have legis-
lated for the country the deficits in the
treasury would have ceased and the other
defects In the revenue system would have
Republican. The Senate belonged to no
party. If any combination is responsible
for its worthlessness the past two years
it was the clique of free-slver Bourbons
of the South, the silver-state senators and
tie Populsts 1t can be truthfully said
that that combination is responsible for the
Senate's failure and the waste Of its time.
1t can be fairly charged against that COM
bination that it is largely responsible for
what Mr. Bryan calls the continued de-
the Senate was not controlled the past
Congress by one party the other. If it
had been. results would have been different
Its absolute failure is due to the fact that
no known party controlled majority. The
country can hope for better Senates: it
cannot fear one more worthless than that
of the Fifty-fourth Congress.