San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-08-21
WASHINGTON LETTER. &
From our Regular Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Aug, Is, 1889.

WASHINGTON, Aug, l6, 1889.
Daily LIGHT:
The speakership contest is begin
ming to make itself heard in the lob
bies Of the capitol and the hotels, and
the Mckinley statisticians are begin
ming to haul out few figures them
selves. The expectation that Penn
sylvania would be almost solid to q
man has been blighted by the dis
covery that the prevailing political
influence in the state is for Reed. 1t
is nevertheless assumed that three
Pennsylvania republicans will vote
for the Stark county Napolean. The
trio embraces Judge Kelley John Dali
Zell, and the "old Iron Grey of Som
erset," Edward Scull. Kelley is pre-
sumed to believe that his only chance
of securing the craftsmanship of the
| Ways and Means committee is by the
| election of Mckinley. He can hardly
| hope for this Craftsmanship if a west
ern candidate is the speaker. If
| Reed is made speaker, Mckinley is
almost certain to get the coveted
craftsmanship, whereas if Mckinley
| is chosen Reed will be restored to his
old place as chairman of the Judicial
ry committee, leaving the way open
! for Kelley's appointment as a success
sor to Roger @. Mills, as tariff mana
ger.
Now for the figures. Ohio is put
down as solid with sixteen votes.
| Ten out of the nineteen Southern Re-
publicans added, which, with three
| from Minnesota, three from Pennsyl-
vania, three from New York, and
| two from Nebraska, one from New
Jersey, and one from Indiana ct. NJ.
Browne), makes total of thirty-nine.
This total is not appalling in its mag
nitude, but. is said TO represent the
sure support, with enough reasonable
certainties, to give Mckinley half a
hundred on the first ballot. This is
not bad showing il half dozen
candidates are presented to the eau
Gus, for at the outside it will require
| only eighty-five to nominate and pos
sibly less.
Another of the con tested election
cases is grinding away at the Capitol.
1t is the Fourth west Virginia. The
certificate is held by Hon. J. NJ. Jack
| son. and his opponent is Hon. Charles
B. Smith, of Parkersburg. But three
votes stand between Mr.. Jackson
victory and Mr.. Smiths defeat-the
| same number which separates the
| Republicans from the Democrats in
| the coming Congress.
"a bout the contest for my seat?n
said Judge Jackson in the lobby of
the National last evening, "Mr.
Smith and have got in all our testi
mony, and 1 feel entirely confident
of the safety of my seat, but 1 want
it to be decided fairly and sQuarely
before Congress. 1t is little too
early to say much about the house.
Undoubtedly the Republicans will
try to change therules and seat all
their contestants early in the ses-
sions. To do this it will be necessary
to have an audaciOus man in the
chair. Neither Cannon nor McKin-
ley can be relied upon to do the I'M
constitutional acts, therefore believe
that Reed will be made Speaker.
He is bold enough to declare quo
rum, as did Kefer, by saying that
he sees one present, whether quo
rum votes or not. The Democrats
should act entirely ON the defensive
and insist that matters shall take
their accustomed course and that the
I'D rules shall govern. But then the
new States are yet to be heard from.
Several Republican members are al
ready hors du combat. We had bet
ter wait.
"As 10 legislation, the Republicans
will probably seek to abolish certain
of the internal-revenue taxes, and
in this will get some Democratic
strength. On the other hand they
will encounter opposition in their
own party"
The secretary of the navy has APP
pointed board who shall formulate
and report to him a general plan for
building up the navy. The secretary
of war has also shown an interest in
the subject of national defense and
ordered that the vast useless posses
sions of the war department be dis
posed of and turned into something
available for modern fighting purpo-
SEES. All this is encouraging and
there appears to be aroused degree
of interest ON the subject of national
defense. 1t is good proposition to
sell all our useless stuff. Let us see
what American ingenuity has done.
The problem of coast defenses is es-
pecially an important one, and it
should be attended to at once. The
emergency does not exist today, but
it may exist tomorrow.
The president has found much of
the weather unpropitious ON his
northern trip. Washington is the
choice summer resort this summer.
No fog has mingled with the cool
| breeZeS which during the presidents