St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1886-02-06
WASHINGTON LETTER.
'roh, tur REGULAR Correspondent


bates i'll the lower branch OF Congress;
notable speeches in the Senate a Con
yention in behalf OF the MlsSlss'ppl
river: and another by the National
Board of Trade are features ot the
week at the Capitol.
The controversy between the presl-
dent and the majority III the Senate HAS
reached All interesting point; and there
is prospect of Il political debate III that
end of the Capitol this week. The Re
publicans OF the Senate determined
long since to make as much tlou4'ie
for the President and his party as they
could. They will take every advan-
tage within their reach to perplex ana
annoy the Administration. hey as
slime this course to he Il political duty,
and THEN leaders, Edmunds, lloAr, Nor
rjll. Sherman and others are th"'on@l'iy
trained in all the arts OF obstruction
and legislative chicanery They were
drilling for this onslaught on the pei
sons and policy composing the Admins
tratiou at the time they were making
professions of good will towards the
President and his Administration.
Senator Edmund> proposes to begin
the fight by Offering his resolution call
ing upon the President to furnish lnf"r-
nation regarding the cases OF removal
of federal officials and his reasons for
M. tie &anot
are united and harmonious and will
support Mr. Cleveland. They are get
ting ready for the discussion by holding
caucuses and the Republicans are doing
likewise.
There is no more bitter partisan in
the Senate than chicftain Edmnnd>, OF
Vermont. He is the arch enemy of the
Democratic party, and he shaped this
little game while protesting great adj
miration for the Presidents good i'll
tentions and an anxious desire for his
success. He took pains to call at the
White House at the time Of Nicc-prcs-
dent Hendricks death, and affected
Htou VIII loHaIuo Nii' Ny
urging him not to attend the funeral
at indianapolis. Mr.. Edmunds believes
more in strategy than in violence, and
he has laid his plan for entrapping the
President very artfully. He would like
above all things to convict Mr.. cleve-
land of inconsistency az Civil Service
Retorner and to trip the Administra-
ton.
! President Cleyclauu's future course
! in the matter can not be outlined. He
has expressed his willingness to furnish
the Senate with all the papers on file in
the Departments bearing upon his APP
! pOintments, and such documents have
! been sent. But whether or not he will
agree to Mr.. Edmunds> proposed de-
mand remains to be seen. He may be
relied upon for knowing his rights uu-
| der the Constitution, and also the APP
plicaton of the Civil Tenure law to his
appointments. He is not apt to be dis
courteous to the Republican majority
! in the Senate, but he is apt to maintain
/ the authority OF the Executive. The
Senate may resent any refusal to fur
/ nish reasons for suspension or removal,
but it can only reject nominations, OF
| lay them over indefinitely.
The Senate has again been debating
the old Electoral Count problem. Sena-
tor Sherman went at length into the is
sues involved, opposing all other plans
and offering one of his own, to the
effect that if the two Houses disagree,
they shall meet in joint convention and
elect a President. Other Presidential
candidates besides the willy Senator
from Ohio, discussed how the next vote
OF the Eelectoral College should be
counted. These were Eyarts, Mr..
| Hayes Secretary OF State, and Ed
munds and Hoar, either of whom is
reckoned as an eligible New England
candidate if the other one can be got
ten out of the way. Four other Presl-
dental :,spirants sat in group, silent
| but alert listeners, tuning occasionally
to neighbor and whispering with the
emphasis of q, clenched fist. These
were Hawley, Harrison. Allison, and
| Cullom. The subject evidently had a
personal interest for each, although
Logan has said recently that no man
can 70 from the Senate to the White
House nowaday.
The House has been discussing Pen
sions among other things. Nearly all
the old pension projects of the Fortv-