Omaha daily bee., 1909-12-03
Some Things You Want to Know
The American OOngress-Cleveland Versus Congress.

equally certain that the thing 20 do was
to stop coming even what silver was being
coined. Under authority OF the purchas-
ing clause Of the sherman act passed in
1890, the treasury was required to buy
4.5oO.O 900 ounces Of silver each month. The
was being drained Of gold, bonds
were being issued to keep up the reserves
and there was trouble s-plenty at the
treasury.
Mr.. Cleveland came into office in March,
but he was very, very slow in the work
Of removing republican offlceholders and
replacing them with democratic patriots"
The patriots did not like to wait, but
Cleveland knew what he was about.
the wishes OF a majority Of his
party. he called a special session OF con
gress to meet August 7 for the purpose Of
the purchasing clause OF the Sher-
man act.
Congress met and received the presidents
message, asking for the repeal OF the fate
full clause. AS soon as the clerk had fin
ished reading II in the senate. Senator
Hale. the republican leader, supported by
Lodge. rushed to the front as ad-
vocates Of the presidents policy. Senator
German. the democratic and administration
leader, chided them for their zeal. but It
was apparent from the first moment OF the
debate that the great democratic victory Of
1892. which gave that party complete con-
troll Of the government for the first time
since the civil war, was but Dead-sea fruit.
The democratic party was cut in twain by
Mr.. Cleveland's message to the special ses-
sion Of 1893, and il has not since united.
The bill for the repeal was introduced in
the house by representative Wilson OF
West Virginia, who was to give his name
to a tariff bill in the same congress. After
three weeks of debate the house took a
graduated vote, first for free coinage at
sixteen to one, then at seventeen, eighteen,
nineteen and twenty to one, successfully,
then for the re-enactment OF the Bland
Allison act, and then for the repeal. Each
OF the six silver measures was voted down
and the repeal was passed by a vote Of $40
to 10. The democrats rave 139, the re-
publicans 1O1 votes In the In
the negative there were seventy-six demo-
Gratis, twenty-three republicans and eleven
populists.
TIT house didn't like the measure, but
many democratic members were p~ie-hungry
and Uncle Grover had let it be known that
there was nothing doing in the pie line
until that repeal was accomplished, and
even then he would exercise discretion In
recognising the claims OF various gentle
men. Speaker Crisp also kept back the
committe assignments until he saw how
things we're drifting, just as Speaker Can
non did at the special tariff session this
year.
The east fought the west and south in
the upper chamber. The debate dragged
on for weeks. The democrats once agreed
on a compromise measure, only to have 1t
thrown back from the White House with
a demand for unconditional repeal. Some
democratic senator's supported the presi-
dent with good grace, others under duress.
and many openly revolted. Vest poured
out walls Of wrath upon the head of the
president, Morgan denounced him with
whitening sarcasm and dubbed his sup
porters "cuckoos." II was a great fight,
but the president had the offices and with
them he had the power to quell senatorial
storms and to move legislative mountains.
Finally, on October 30, the repeal bill
passed the senate by a vote OF 4S to a.
The president was supported by twenty
three republicans and twenty democrats,
and he was opposed by nineteen demo-
Gratis, ten republicans and three populists.
Party lines were broker into smithereens.
When the senate bill got back to the
house for concurrence in some slight
amendments, an attempt at a filibuster
was made. Said a contemporary reporter:
"Chevalier Bryan OF Nebraska stood like
Horatius at the bridge, with his culver
full Of dilatory motions" But the filibus-
ter was choked by Speaker Crisp, and on
the final vote seventy-six democrats and
five republicans resisted the demands of
the president that the purchasing clause of
the Sherman act be repealed uncondition-
ally. 1t was a great triumph for Mr..
Cleveland. and II led TO the settlement OF
the vexing problem of the coinage ques-
ton. Mr.. Cleveland had established the
power of the presidency in legislation.
But now hat the Sixty-first congress
is with us, perhaps one Of the most inter.
esting recollections OF the extra session Of
1898 is that one of the twenty-three lin.
surgent' republicans who voted againsI
the repeal, and one of the five republican,
who supported Mr.. Bryan's futile fillbus.
ter, was that fearless champion Of fire,
silver, Joseph G.. Cannon, a Representative,
in congress from the state OF Illinois.
BY FREDERIC ]. HAsKN.