Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1899-11-13

Senator William V. Allen, who has
always led the populists in that body,
has been retired, while the democrats
have lost such men as Arthur Pue
German of Maryland, Gray of Della
ware, Turpie of Indiana and White Of
California, all leading men in the
councils of the party and powerful
factors in the senate itself. Senator
Jones of Arkansas, who gained promi-
nence and leadership in the tariff
fight during Mr.. Cleveland's admins
tration, and who is now chairman Of
the national democratic committee,
has been forced to lay down much of
his work for his party on account of
poor health. The republicans have
not suffered many changes, though
number of their members have been
retired, chiefly through the failure Of
legislatures to re- elect. This is the
case in Pennsylvania. The legisla
ture having made no choice, the
governor appointed Senator Matthew
Stanley Quay to succeed himself. He
senate will have to say whether or
not he can be seated. There will un-
doubtedly be a heated wrangle over
the proposition, and at the present
divided, and opinions differ very
widely as to what will be the out
come.
If the republicans had a larger
majority in the house there would be
no apprehension at all as to the fate
of any measure the administration
might present or recommend. The
republican majority, however, has
been cut down to thirteen, and while
this may be increased by unseating
some democrats in contested cases,
vet there cannot be sufficient
number of such changes to solidify a
majority in favor of any special
measure. The republicans hold fifty
one seats in the senate, the democrats
twenty six, while the populists and
free silver republicans have only
nine. This gives to the republicans
a clear working majority over any
combination. More than this, there
are several senators included in the
doubtful column who would more
often vote with the republican party
than against it. Besides this, there
are four vacancies-one in Pennsyl-
vania-for Senator Quay's seat must
be considered vacant until the senate
acts upon his credentials; one in
California, one in Utah, and another
in Delaware. These states are now
republican, and if they should elect
by means of extra sessions or if APP
pointees from them should be seated
it would raise the republican majority
to twenty.
But more important than the
personnel of congress or it's leader
ship are the questions which will
come up for discussion and action
during the coming session of congress-
So important are many of it's meas
ures that at one time it was seriously
considered whether it would be ad
visible to call congress in session
earlier than December in order to get
some of the routine business out of
the way before the Christmas holi-
days. The fear is still expressed that
the work of the next congress will
drag the session into the coming
months. One reason given
for desiring to prevent this was that
the national conventions meet in the
summer of 1900 to nominate candi-
dates for the presidency. These con-
ventiOns always have demoralizing
effect upon congress, if it happens to
be in session, and the members,
like to be in their re-
spective states to take part in the
election of delegates. But after con-
the matter it was deemed
best not to call an extra session of
congress. for the reason that an extra
session more or less tends to upset
the business interests of the country,
or at least to keep it agitated. Then,
too, by December the government
would be able to understand the
needs of our new territorial acquisi-
tions and to judge more accurately
what legislation was necessary for
them. That the members of the
house and senate are studying the
questions upon which they will be
called to legislate is evident by the
fact that some of them have put in
the heated summer months in Porto
Rico and Hawaii, some even crossing
the Pacific and going with our troops
into the Philippine Islands. Others
went to Cuba in order that thew might