The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1901-03-22

glory, it will be entirely Mr.. McKin-
ley's. The historian of our times will
write over against the name of every
man who voted for the Spooner mon
strosity this legend: "This man betray-
ed the principles Of free government.
Let his name BE mathematical for
everw And it will be just verdict.
OF course an extra session of congress
was undesirable, but it would have
been far better to have remained in
continuous session till March 4, 1908,
than to have precipitated endless hos
tilities with Cuba and a despotism in
the Philippines, and that's precisely
why old Senator Morgan's II hour
speech is performance worthy of re-
membrance and of all gratitude. Leoni-
das at Thermopyl@, Horatius at the
bridge, Davy Crockett at the Alamo
and John T. Morgan in the senate are
companion pieces which men will love
to look upon, but grave and reverend
senators must not be deprived of their
junkets, their fishing trips, their other
pleasures. Consequently an extra ses-
sion must be avoided at the cost Of
sacrificing our honor in Cuba and Of
establishing medieval despotism in
the Philippines.
Reckless Extravaganza.
The more the record of the Fifty
sixth congress in the matter of extrav-
aganca is exposed to the light of day
tho u,orro ~ will oproor IN %,,o ,-,u, 80,
taxpayer. Nosuch recklessnessi in squan-
dering public money has been witness
ed among men since the evil days
of the malodorous reconstruction car
petbag legislatures in the south, when
the people were plundered without let
or hindrance. 1t is pleasant to reflect
upon the infamy which attaches to
that set of thieves and that one of the
most notorious of them "has done
time" in two or three penitentiaries-
to wit, Ex-Governor Franklin ]. Moses
of South Carolina. think he is in the
Massachusetts penitentiary now. If
not, he ought to be. In the FifIy-sixth
congress the looters of the treasury
had it all their own way, and only two
or three successful stands were made
against them, and those only where
comparatively small amounts were in
volved. But I am inclined to think
that the day of the peoples wrath
the dies irR-is coming.
The newspapers, Democratic and Re-
publican, are beginning to take the
matter up. A constant agitation will
arouse the people at last In very
carefully considered editorial the Pitts
burg Post says:
The appropriations by the present congress that
will reach $500, 600 will not be exceptional and
improved on in the future. On the contrary, they
will set the standard of future appropriations 1t
is rare that one congress reduces the amounts APP
propriated by its predecessor. We believe Mr..
Randall succeeded in doing this when at the head
OF the appropriations committee years ago and won
great fame thereby, but such economists as Ran
dali was are rare in public life.
We are rapidly approaching billion dollar ses-
sion, and that, when compassed will be the stand
ard. 1t is much easier to spend than to econo-
mize, and no people in the world are SO lavish of
public money as the American. The Nation
makes this explanation why one spendthrift con-
gress makes the next one almost inevitably as
prodigal. The reason is that the extravagant leg
As!dtltH HNeS n charge on the treasury.
No step backward is the rule There was loud
outcry against ''bllion dollar congress-" but rs
successor'was able to save little or nothing Now
we are rapidly approaching billion dollar sas-
sion, and no dam for the rising flood is in sight.
Each succeeding congress inherits legacy of ex-
traragance from its predecessor Its own hands
are partly tied by anterior legislation committing
the government to continuing appropriations for
this and that scheme, this and that enlargement
Of the public service and creation of new offices.
1t is this which makes retrenchment SO difficult,
il not practically impossible.
We will not stop with the billion dollar session.
This congress will send over to the next schemes
Of extravaganza it was afraid to venture The
people are dcmoralised as to public expenditures,
while log rolling is the vice of our system of ap
preparations. This makes possible extravaganza
that should have no place in spending the money
drained from the people by taxes. No other coun-
try in the world could stand or permits the
profigate expenditures "whooped' through con-
gress by trades and combinations the log rolling
principle. Our legislative methods are bad. Gun
like all other governments in the world" adds
The Nation, ''the American has no man or COM
mittee Of men to make up yearly budget, to de.
termine income and fix outgoes Our method is a
happy go lucky plan Of allowing one set Of men
to make laws for revenue another to frame bills
for expenditures. That we have not gone to smash
under such chaotic management is due partly to
our traditional good fortune. partly to our ex.
panding wealth-which has operated in the same
way that robust health enables man to order his
life recklessly, for time and partly to the fact
that we have had q rough syster Of financial con-
troll. But this has been badly broken down."
The Nation is eminently correct when
1t says that what are called ''fixed ap-
preparations" render. future economies
difficult, If not impossible. For in
stance, the river and harbor bill appro-
PIRATES SO much outright and then pro-
vides for certain continuing appropri-
atoms" for term Of years. These lat
ter do not figure in the totals, but they
bind future congresses in a certain
corco opd oopct;+u+o c%,,,o1,l;,,o. hIo.l,.