THE ALL-ABSORBING POLITICAL QUESTION.
By W. N. G.
THE question as to how this or that action will affect their chances of reëlection is a potent factor in the course pursued by many members of Congress. It is remarkable how frequently this argument is openly made with reference to prominent measures; as tho re-election were the prime end in view. Just recently a measure was under discussion in which this tendency was reflected in an unusually conspicuous manner. The representative of that district in Oregon of which Yaquina Bay is a part, made a motion to add to the River and Harbor Appropriation Bill an amount for the continuation of improvements in that harbor already commenced. The Secretary of War was about to advertise for the continuation of the work, but the bill as reported by the committee contained no appropriation for that purpose. This improvement has for years been subject to bitter opposition by the railroad companies, because it gives a large section of farming country an outlet by water for products which are otherwise at the mercy of the railroads. It was argued by opponents of the bill that the improvements never would be a success, and that the money already expended had been a waste. As to the merits of the case we know nothing; it is a certain feature of the argument that we deem significant, because it is characteristic of the times. A member from Ohio, who boasted of having been a railroad magnate for thirty years, was particularly hostile to the appropriation, and the argument which he offered as a kind of clincher was that the gentleman from the Yaquina district could not be re-elected if he insisted on supporting the improvement of that bay. He significantly warned the gentleman in open session of the House that every representative from that district who had favored the improvement of the bay in the past had failed of re-election. Another instance worthy of note is a recent speech of a member in favor of interference in behalf of the Cuban insurgents. The climax of his eloquent peroration, which seemed after all to be the burden of his appeal, was couched in these words: “I say if we do not terminate this unholy warfare, I expect to see the next House of Representatives have in it many faces that we do not see here to-day; and I see here to-day many faces that I do not expect to see in that House of Representatives. [Applause.]” This is in keeping with the action of Congress in 1893 for closing the Chicago Exposition on Sundays, when the effective argument was that members who did not vote for the measure would fail of a re-election. It is becoming more and more manifest that much of the boasted patriotism of our time is a mere question of political prestige or expediency. As it is written, “In the last days perilous times shall come, for men shall be lovers of their own selves.”