Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1899-11-23

AHe " ~. :. winch recently uid De-
stride this harrow world like a colos-
sus, is now grateful for small, very
small favors How are the mighty
fallen!
The Fatal Thirteen.
"Paint it red" The custodian of
the capitol appears to have an eye
wide open to 'the eternal fitness of
things" for he is putting a blood red
carpet on the floor of the hall of the
house of representatives. Whether by
design or accident, this carpet in all
human probability is a sort of prophe-
cy of the character of the coming ses-
sion. While neither a prophet nor the
son of a prophet. predict that from
the moment the chaplain says "Amenv'
on the morning of Dec. 4, 1899, till
Hon. David Brewer Henderson de
clares the house adjourned sine die at
high noon March 4, 1901, there win be
war and rumors of war in the most
numerous branch" of the national leg
islature. The Republicans have only
13 majority fatal which is
very slender margin in SO large anG
tumultuous an assembly. Any bad
legislation proposed by Republicans
will be enacted into law only after
heroic struggle and after every par
liamentary expedient has been ex
hausted They can't run over us this
time by sheer brute force. as they did
in the Fifty-ffth congress.
Most probably this will be one of
the longest of all long sessions. When
the dog star is raging his fercest, we
| win still be on the hill engaged in a
slugging match beside which the mill
of Professors Jeffries and Sharkey
will pale into utter insignifcance. They
may do us up, but we viii uppercut
them, short hook, pummel and swat
them till they pant like lizards. II
| they are not extremely careful, we will
! get in a knockout blow on their jaw
or solar plexus. | would not be at all
surprised if we are still at it when the
/ first frost cones. for, in addition to
the usual routine work, there is much
legislation ON the tapis of extraordi-
nary character
| a government is to beprovided for the
Hawaiian Islands. Porto Rico. Guam
and the Philippines, provided we con-
cIude to retain these last named The
bill in the last congress creating gov
ernment for HawGii maximized the al
mighty dollar and minimized the man.
Voting and officeholding were based
not on moral worth, education or
/ brains, but on wealth. The funda-
mental and paramount question was
not is he honest, not is he capable, not
is he faithful to the constitution. the
old Jeffersonian tests. but: What is
his wealth? What is the size of his
bank account? How large is his in
Gomez OF course Democrats win new
er let that bill pass so long as they can
prevent it, for we have been fighting
for more than century TO get rid OF
the property qualification on suffrage,
and ii IS only within the last few years
that we accomplished 1t. Surely we will
not go back to ii without a struggle.
When that bill comes up. intend to
/ offer as an amendment to it my bill to
re-enfranchise the people of the Dis
trict of Columbia and to restore to
them the right of local self govern
ment, and then. if l am not unceremo-
niously bowled out on a point of order,
the fur will fly, and no mistake. The
saddest commentary extant on repre-
sentative government is the fact that
within the shadow of the Goddess of
Liberty surmounting the capitol the
people of this District are not permit
ted to vote on any question under
heaven have absolutely nothing to say
about levying. collecting or disbursing
their own taxes. Their laws are made
by men from all over the Union and
their offices filed by earpetbaggers and
strangers from outside the District,
appointed by the president of the Unit
ed States.
Washington Local Matters.
Two days out of every month con-
gress sits as a common council for the
District passes dog laws, bicycle regu-
Iations etc Ii is no disparagement to
senators and representatives to say
that they are unfit for this work by
reason of a lack of local knowledge and
local interest. Most of legislative au-
thority for the District is delegated to
I three commissioners little czars,
they would be more propN'ly denom-
mated excellent gentlemen, no doubt,
but petty ezars from the force of cir
| cumstances. Now, isn't it preposterous
to say that in this fair Capital City,
s1he finest capital in the world" there
are not men, plenty of them, in every
way competent to fill all the District
offices. great and small? Now. gentle
reader. what excuse do you suppose is
/ given for this wholesale disfranchise-
meRt of the people of this Districts
Don't fall over in fit of apoplexy
when tell you. 1t is argued seriously
and hitherto successfully by wealthy
Democrats and Republieans-by Re
pubIicans, mark you-that IF the mig
gers and poor whites are allowed the
right of suffrage they will vote us into
bankruptcy Isn't that an astound-
| ing argument for a Republican to
/ make in the year of our Lord and Mas
ter 1899, 81 years after Appomattox
closed the bloodiest chapter in the book
of time? The almighty dollar again.
In hoe sign0 vincimus, or we go to the
deuce-which? Poor whites unfit to
vote in sight of the White House, Ell?
Nous verrons-yes, we will see. Mig
gers will vote them into bankruptcy,
ehg Lovely Republican idea, surely. A
man has to pinch himself to see if he is
awake or only dreaming when he hears
| such things said in a city where they
have George Washington's pictures
used as sign and advertisement gen
orally, but particularly on street car
tickets and beer labels. and where eff
gies of Abraham Lincoln abound on
every hand. Now. | submit in all Sc,
robustness that if the colored man and
brother is good enough to vote in Mis-
souri, and Iowa he is good enough to
vote in the District of Columbia.
Philippine Government.
Then the interminable Philippine
question must be settled. at least dealt
with, somehow or somehow else. for
1t is Incredible that congress will abdi-
cate its functions and leave the Filipi-
nos to be ruled by the sword any
longer Ii we own those islands and
propose to retain them, it is the duty
of congress TO formulate some plan for
their government The questions In
aszS