Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1889-10-31

WAsHrNaroN. DE. Is. ,s

The President having disposed OF
the perpiexiog question Of who should
be Commissioner OF Pensions to the
satisfaction Of himself and of the par
~ leaders, as far as heard from, has
devoted his entire time this week to
preparing his message to Congress. /
say his entire time, by that mean his
Official time, as he considered no other
Official business.
Gen. Rauln. the new Commissioner
Of Pensions. is moving very carefully.
1t Is not his purpose to make any
changes until he is certain of his
ground. Just now he Is engaged, aud
is likely to be for some time, In &C.
quaintfng himself with the work of
The Office. 1t is generally believed
that as soon as he gets things in shape
many Official changes will be made,
several Of them involving the most
important positions in the Bureau.
Gen. Raum's record as Commissioner
of Internal Revenue, leaves no doubt
that his administration of the Pension
Office will be entirely successful.
Secretary Blaine has devoted con-
siderable time this week to rigid In
vestigation of charges made against
W. R. Lewis, q. s, Consul at Moroc-
co, of extorting money from certain
parties for United States protection In
Algiers. Mr. Lewis, and his accusers =
natives of Algiers-haye been present
at the investigation, the result has not
yet been made public.
The President has been compelled
by press of business here to decline
to attend the laying of the corner
stone of the Soldiers end Sailors mon
nment at Brooklyn, N. Y, which is to
take place on the Both inst.
Representative-elect Taylor, of ILL
nois. is here with his bride. He says
the Illinois delegation is solid for Mr..
Cannon for Speaker and that they be-
lieve his chances of election are as
good as any one else's.
Mr. Halford, the Presidents private
secretary, mas gone TO fortress Mon
roe for few days before actively re-
suming his arduous duties. His health
is much improved and his physician
thinks the sea air will complete the
cnre. May the Doctor prove true
prophet.
Chief Justice Fuller evidently knows
a good thing when he has possession
of it, hence his positive refusal to al
low the use of his name in the scram-
bic for the empty honor of the demo
cratic Presidential nominet ton in 1892.
$40, 500 year for life is not snap
picked up every day, and the shrewJ-
ness acquired by a long residence in
Chicago has made the Chief Justice
fully approve of the ancient adege "a
bird in the hand, ETC."
Representative Houck, of Tennessee,
who is one of the bitterest opponents
81 the present civil service law, loses
no opportunity of expressing his very
decided opinion on the subject. He
says: "Among the subjects that will
come before Congress to be legislated
npon, is the civil service humbug. ]
sm not opposed to any meritorious
method of conducting the civil service.
but the methods of examination adop-
ted by the Civil Service Commission
are positive outrage. They talk
apout spoilslnen. bat there are not
three worse spoilsmen in the country
than rhe three men who run the civil
service machine. If | have the power
intend to force to vote during the
coming session bill that shall intro
dnce repeating the civil service law. {"
This In plain Language, and there are
a good many members OF the House
who agree with Mr.. Houck, but wheth-
er enough 10 repeal the law remains to
be seen. He also thinks the time has
arrived when every man who was hon
orably discharged from the Army or
Navy should receive service pension
of sl2 or Sl5 per month
Washington's real boom for the
Worlds Exposition OF 1892 began on
Wednesday, when representatives
from nearly every State in the Union
met here for the purpose of arranging
a memorial to Congress in favor of this
city as the proper location for the great
celebration. The memorial sets forth
at length the special advantages OF
Washington and the National charac-
ter Of the proposed Exposition. The
board called on the President in q
body aud were very cordially received.
There il no doubt but that the Presi-
dent favors Washington, but of course
good taste prevents his publicly say
ing So at this time.
-
The ferocious threats which some OF
the democratic leaders are now max
ing respecting the things that they