Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1903-03-07
CRITICISMS OF CONGRESS-.

The F~ifty-seventh congress. ike
each and all of its predecessors. says
the Washington Post. goes out amid
a chorus Of maledictions so strong
and loud as to drown. for the present,
the feebler strains of praise. But
the censorious clamor will be one
down in a few days. and all the good
work that this congress has performed
will come in for just recognition. Fol
it is no true that the average Amer
lean, or the American public, remem-
bers only the faults and failures OF
our government in any of its depart
ments. consigning its commendable
achievements t. oblivion. Shakes
peare's declaration, 1.-THE evil that men
do lives after them; the good is oft
inferred with their bones" comes
nearer being the exception than the
rule in this age and country. however
it may have been in Rome in Julius
Caesars time.
While each OF the ffty-six predeces-
sors of the congress that dies today
has gone hence amid a fusillade OF
inverted blessings. it is pleasant to
note an improvement in the quality
of criticism. Formerly all the scold-
ing was on one side, all the praise on
the other. The political press was
made up of party organs, and it was
apparently impossible for the organs
of the ruling party to imagine the
possibility of shortcomings in a con-
gress controlled by its political
brethren. On the other hand, the or
gans of the minority discharged what
was supposed to be their duty when
they ignored a possibility of anything
but evil in such a congress. All that
has changed for the better. Criticism
is now characterized by a discretion
that was entirely absent from it in the
days of our grandfathers. While there
is still too much of partisan bitterness
too little appreciation of the equal
sincerity of belief and honesty OF
motives on both sides, 1t is a cheering
fact that the old-time party organs and
the old-time conception Of the necessi
ty for and duty of such a paper is
rapidly becoming extinct. For thi.
reason We find some just and temper
ate criticism of the Fifty-seventh con
gress in democratic papers, criticism
which mixes praise with blame II
fair proportions, while in republican
papers there are many instances o
equal candor.
On the whole, the vit%uperative scold
ings that have been administered t
all OF congresses and the anathe
mas. that have been mixed With thei
elegies cannot be said to have bee
productive Of great harm. The result
of ia years Of legislation by congress
the upward and onward march {
the republic from feeble infancy t
primacy in the family of nations
not this an ample ~vindication of on
legislative machinery and capacity?
For nearly all the progress WI
achieved prior to 1861, including OF
a S continental expansion. democrat
craftsmanship is to be credited. Sint
1861 that party has had comparative
little responsibility for national co
troll. Is the condition of the republ
today. as compared with its situate
on March 4. 1861. just forty-two yea
ago. a condemnation or republic,
rule? Has the democratic party dr
ing these forty-two years given CO
vincing proof that its restoration to
former position would be well for t
country? For an answer to that gu,
ton look into its platforms and scar
its record during the only two yea
when it had power to make laws.