OCR Text |
Show Washington Letter-, The Jo;.;i of the Fifty-seoondcongres Ij l-ku lh.it of ma y individuals la one roijj.ct the only mourners being those v'.o-y expictulions were Dot fulfilled and lb if grief is not for the deceased, hut for t!wir dead Lo8. It the adage ".LL.ii timiary'i governed best which is govofiitu least" be true then it follows tbat the coturess which legislates least U best, atd accepting that view of the matUi would give the ;ufty-8ecoud;,.a place well .up towards4the top of good congresses, for its legislation, aside from the regular appropriations, which have gone well beyond the billion doihir. line has been little and unimportant unim-portant indeed ius'guifieant is the proper pro-per word to. use, when the big promises made are remembered. However, as an unprejudiced onlooker puts it. "Considering "Consi-dering .lie opportunities Jit had to do h:irm, r. hicli it did not take advantage of, the country ought to be willing to excuso it fordoing little or no good." One of the few good things done by it was the passiug'.'of sthe. bill, providing for the use of automatie caroouplers by the railooads, which reDeived the President's Presi-dent's signature and became a law this Polities are always forgotten ia Washington when it comes to the inau. guration of a President and the present inauguration, which from a spectacular point of view will surpass all that have gone before, is no .exception. Ths inau guratioa committee. "omposed of members mem-bers of all parties has worked faithfully and now has the satisfaction of having its t Sorts unanimously commended by the visitors who are pouring into the gorgtousiy decorated city by thousands. President and Mrs. Cleveland (and baby Kath too,) Vice President and Mrs ; Stevenson and every member of the new Cabinet except Judge Greshafn.are here ready to assume the responsibilities confided to them by a majority of their fellow citizen;; and the army of office seekers larger than ever before is in a gljrious good humor, notwithstanding the knowledge that 99 per cent of them are bound to bs disappointed. It is per haps fortunate that man is so made up that Le always thinks np to the last minute that it is the other fellow who will get left. Eon. Levi P. Morton ever a thoughtful and courteous gentleman gave a reception recep-tion at his residence Wednesday night, in honor of Vice .President and Mrs. Stevenson, - inch was very largely attended. at-tended. Mr' Stevenson will be fortunate if at the end of his term he retires with as many sincere good wishes as accompany accom-pany Mr. Morton in his retirement from public life. Mr. Harrison tfill net see the inaugural inaugu-ral parad3 in honor of his successor. As soon as Mr. Cleveland who will be taken from his hotel to the Capitol in Mr. Ear risons private carriage, takes the oath of office and delivers his inaugural ad dress Mr, Harrison will leave for Indian acolis on atsrocial train. It may be true as stated so often, thst Vice Paesident Stevensen will have no influence with the new administrrtion. but it is evident that the continual ' stream of callers who have been visiting his hotel since his arrival de not believe it. He has had at least twenty callers to Mr, Clevelands one. One reason for this, however is that it is more difficult to get at Mr. Cleveland. ' Twist and turn it a9 yonlwill there is , one fact concerning the Fifty-second congress that every impartial" observer that the silver men have controlled the situation so far as it relates to legislation legisla-tion from the beginning to the end. Thoir latest victory was achieved this week when they compelled the drop ping of the Sherman bond amendment from the sundry civil appropriation bill. To appreciate the full significance of this victory it must be remembered that Secretary Carlisle, presumably in accordance with Mr. Cleveland's wishes w9 instrumental in getting the Senate to attach that amendment to the bill. Not a few men express the belief that this action indicates serious trouble in the next congress between . Mr. Cleveland Cleve-land and the silver men, The lobby which has worked so hard and so long against the antlroption bill is now happy and tho surplus cash If being rpent for champagne. The bill is dead, killed because it only received 172 votes, while 123 were recorded against it when the attempt was made to get the concurrence of the house to the Senate amendments. The attempt had to be ; made under a suspension of the rules, if at all, and it was necessary to get a two thirds vMe to pass it. ' It is a disappointment to many that I. HI thi, oilTiitoinn of the fonr ten itorios failed although its chancos have at r.h time during the session been even fairly good. The failure of the Senato to act u;on the annexation treaty is not generally regretted, as many i, believe thera was entirely too mnch ha-ite displayed in that business. No tears are being shed because of the failure of the Nicaragua Canol bill. |