The Opelousas courier. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1852-1910, 1901-12-07
Washington, D.. g., News.
From our Regular Correspondent. ..
WASHINGTON, Dec. 9. 19

From our Regular Correspondent .... =.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 9. 1901.
At last Congress is in session
Promptly at noon today the gavel<
Of Senator Frye, the new presi.
dent of the Senate, and Of Alex,
ander NJ. Dowell, Clerk of the
} House, called those bodies to
order and the opening of the
Fifty-Seventh Congress was there
by inaugurated. In the Senate
4 Senator Hanna was promptly rec
! ognized by the Chairman and, in
a few we'll chosen words, informed
his colleagues of the death of
President Mckinley and moved
adjournment out of respect for
the deceased. The motion car
ried unanimously. t- .
In the House the members were
sworn in, the Speaker, Gen. Hen
derson, and other officers elected,
seats chosen by lot, with the ex-
ception Of that of Ex-Speaker
Galusha A. Grow, who in accord
ance with precedent, was per-
mitted to choose his seat before
the lottery commenced. AS soon
as Speaker Henderson had taken
possession of the chair he recog-
Enized Representative Grosyenor,
| Of Ohio, who formally announced
the death Of the late President
and moved that the House al
jiourn out Of respect to the dead
until Tuesday, his motion, of
course, carrying unanimously~e :.
| The democratic minority, which
completed its organization in cau-
Gus on Saturday, though small in
numbers, is prepared for vigorous
action and strenuous opposition
to the extravagant expenditures
Of public funds which is charac-
teristic of the republicans when
inacontrol of both congressional
chambers.
AS I have already predicted in
these letters, Representative Rich
ardson, of Tennessee, was nomin-
ated for the speakership, purely
complimentary nomination, but
one that carries with it the lead
ership of the democratic forces in
the current Congress.
Mr.. Richardson's ability as a
parliamentarian, his quiet but de-
termined methods of warfare and
the gentle and dignifed manner.
with which he can excoriate his
opponents when their indifference
| to the public welfare demands it,
| all combine to render him exeep-
Itionally well qualified for the re-
sponsibilities of his position.
Republican majorities in both
House and Senate are too large to
permit Of the democrats taking
the initiative in the introduction
of needed legislation, but they
viii persistently and constantly
urge the reduction Of the tariff,
whether they see that such reduc-
| ton will be most surely accom-
plished by the ratification of reci-
procity treaties or by a change of
the tariff schedules.
L An especial effort will be made
to secure the abolition of the war
revenue tariff. It will be remem-
bered that the original war reye-
nue. bill, justified only on the
ground that the country was at
war " it'll Spain, aimed at provid-
ing an extra income Of $100, ,00O,-
600 per annum. Last session, the
republicans having announced
that the war was over, an effort.
was made to secure the repeal of
the law, the democrats using every
means in their power to relieve.
the people of this unnecessary
burden, but they succeeded only in
50 far as they compelled the lepub-
ieans to pass a measure which re-
|duced the Revenues by 30,000,-
900. The remaining $4,000, 900 a
year has continued to accumulate
in the treasury until the surplus
has assumed proportions which
the republican secretary of the
treasury has been forced to admit
are inimical to the welfare of the
country.
"A constant effort at retrench-
ment in expenditures and the cur
tailment of extrayagant appropri-
ations will be exerted and 1T is
hoped that unity of action under
the direction Of an able leader may
accomplish much along these
lines.
Legislation calculated to con-
troll or suppress the trusts will be
demanded by the democrats and
the antitrust measure, which the
republicans buried in the senate
committee last session, will be re-
suseltated and many republican
congressman will be placed in a
position where they will be COM
PEELED to vote for it or absolutely
stultify themselves and violate the