Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1897-03-25
WASHINGTON LETTER.
From our Regular Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Mar %, 1897.

Nothing more daring has been done in
the House during either of the autocratlc
reigns of Gar Reed than the passing in a
few hours OF the appropriation bills which
failed to become laws at the last session OF
Congress, without reference to any sort Of
Committee, and practically without debate.
Just stop and think for a moment of the
audacity of this proceeding. Here is new
House, more than one-third of its MEM
bers being men who did not belong to the
last House, and who know no more about
the items in til, Sc appropriation bills than
if they had been prepared in Africa. These
bills were brought forward aud the House
was ordered TO pass them sight unseen"
as the boys used to say about swapping
concealed articles, although they carried
many millions of the peoples money, and
it was admitted by some Of the Republic
cans who helped to force them through
that they contained items that were ques-
tionable as we'll as those that were extrav-
agant. And this remarkable assumption
of authority on the part of Gar Reed had
not even the excuse of urgency and lack of
time to have the bills take the regular
course of such measures. There will be
time to waste in the House after the 3lst
of this month, upon which date the Nc
Kinley tariff bill, No. 2, is to be passed.
The sole object was to keep the hands OF
the House tied for the whole of the present
session, by not appointing the regular Com
mittees, another unheard of thing Origl-
mated by the gentleman from Maine, who
still kindly allows the members of the
House to draw their salaries and dispose
of the money without consulting him. and
who also allowed them to vote themselves
extra mileage.
Representative Champ Clark, of Mo !,
made red hot speech in the House on the
new method of passing appropriation bills,
saying in part "The longer man lives, the
more be finds out. First and last, I've
said some unkind things of the U. 5. Sen
ate, and poked considerable fun at it. In
the days of 1894, l was so exasperated at
its conduct that, although l believe in TWO
legislative bodies, was in favor of abol-
ishing it. But in this distinguished presence,
wish to letract all the criticisms | have
against it. thank God that the Senate re-
mains deliberatiYe body. In this House
we are going through the most amazing,
most astounding performsnc which eyer
took place on this Continent Speaking
directly to the Republicans, Mr.. Clark said ::
In the campaign of last year you charged
500 900 voters of this country with being
anarchists. You are the real anarchi its.
What is anarchy 1t is running the affairs
of a country without government. You
wanting to do, but let me tell you, a day of
reckoning will come"
Mr.. Mckinley and other Republicans
oaI Of he co. ~ ~
revolt in the Senate. 1t is given out by
prominent Republican Senators, among
them members of the Senate Finance Com
mittee, which has already taken up the
subject, that the Mckinley tariff bill, No
2, will not do, and that they are going to
amend it SO it will not be recognized. II
is, of course, possible that these Republican
Senators are only making bluff to give
Mr.. Mckinley an opportunity to offer them
inducements in the shape of patronage to
support his tariff bill, but the manner in
which the Senate amended the last tariff
bills passed, is calculated to make Mr..
Mckinley believe it means something more
serious.
There is rumor thatSecretary Bliss has
resigned because Mr.. Mckinley compelled
him to accept the resignation of Land
Com missioner LamOreux, which was
rendered before the close of the Cleveland
administration, and which Bliss had re-
fused to accept because of accusations made
in connection with the Chicago lake front
land case, but the rumor is denied.
Although the output of the administra-
tion pie plant continues limited in guam
tity, the fact is noted with wrath by those
who were not original McKinleyites that
nearly all that has been dished out has
gone to the original Mckinley men. This
too, in the face of Mr.. McKinley's con-
/, tinued reiteration of his intention to recog-
nize no faction of his party in making APP
pointments. Its beginning to dawn upon
the minds of some of the Republicans who
were not for Mckinley before the st. Louis
Convention, that they are being tricked
Whenever one of them looms up as a
prominent aspirant for a good position, il
happens" that he runs against Mr. Nc
Kinley's very convenient rule not to APP
point men who cannot get the Endorsement
of their entire Congressional delegation. 1t
looks very much as though the old anti
Mes. would have to content themselves
with the smaller Federal offices in their
States, while King Hanna takes care of
"our friends"