Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-08-29
THE .COMMIssIONERsHIP RACE.
District Delegations at the White
House Today.


District Delegations at the White
House Today.
VARIOUS INTERESTS REPREsENTED-a.AR. MEN
GOOD TEMPLARs - LAWRENCE GARDENERS
FRIKSDs-THE BIO PETITIONS FOR RETENTION
OF Mr.. HISE-THE PRESIDENTS yoCULAR COM
MENT.
For the first time since the resignation OF Mr.
Hine the fight for the vacant District Com
missionership waxed warm at the White House
today. The President. who retur ned from
Cape May yesterday afternoon. was besieged
at his desk early in the morning by an un-
usually heavy rush of callers. among them being
some who put in their strong strokes for their
particular candidates
GRAND ARMY DELEGATION.
About the earliest indications OF local inter-
est IN the vacancy were offered by the appear
ance at the Executive Mansion of about half a
dozen District Grand Army men. headed by
Col Odell, whose mission was carefully
guarded. They saw the President for about
five minutes.
GARDNER DELEGATION.
Then came three wel-known washingtonian,
with a stick sharpened in favor OF Mr. Law
renee Gardner. They were Gen. Ellis Spears
Mr.. Jno. Joy Edison and Col. Mclean, the ex-
deputy commissioner of pensions. After wait
ing for an hour without being able to obtain
IN audience with the President-who was then
seeing Congressman at the rate of one a
minute-they concluded that they had better
see his private secretary, and SO they gave him
the benefit of their views and opinions for
quarter OF an hour. They represented the ad-
vantages OF mind body and reputation pos
sessed by their candidate and impressed the
Presidents representative with their hope that
he would reproduce what they said to the
chief executive in case they failed to see him
THE GOOD TEMPLARs.
They were followed by about twenty ladies
and gentlemen representing the temperance
cause in general and the order of Good Tenn
plars of the District in particular At their head
was Mr. Kalstronl, who is the grand chief tenn
plar Of the organization. and by his side was
Mr.. Il. A. Dinsmore also high official, who
arranged with Mr.. HalfOrd and Doorkeeper
Loefiier for AN audience. They bore small
petition, which, after each member of the del
egation had been introduced to the President,
they left in his hands. They simply asked that
in his appointment of successor to Mr. Hine
he would consider the large temperance ele-
ment OF the District and select a man who
would be likely to uphold their cause. They
represented membership of about 5000
The President said that he wopld be very
tion left him in happy frame of mind.
PETITIONERS FOR RETENTION OF COMMISSIONER
HINE.
For few minutes the growing list of callers
contained no new names of District people.
until about noon, when the admirers Of Mr.
Hine as embodied in the persons OF Messrs. J.
L. Barbour, 7. W. Smith, Thos Somerville. W.
b. Moses and s. 7. G. Morsell reached the
White House. and, after preliminary chat
with Mr.. Halford, passed on into the audience
chamber and there presented to the President
bulky petition containing the names of those
District people who do not want Mr.. Hine to
resign. This petition has already been printed
in The STAR. They had quite a long conversa-
ton with the President, and when they emerged
from the room the petition was not in their
hands.
THE PRESIDENTS COMMENTS.
The petition was for the retention OF Mr..
Hine, but the committee soon saw that the
Presiden: was hardly in a position to grant
this request. They realized that he was placed
in peculiar position. He listened very atten-
marked, in half jocular manner, that he
thought that the petition should more prop
erly have been addressed to Mr.. Hine rather
than to him, as he had not yet accepted the
resignation; He intimated that Mr.. Hine was
at perfect liberty to withdraw his resignation
at any time and added that ne did not see how
he could consider such q petition IL the COM
missioner really wanted to retire from the
Office.
He indicated by his manner of listening to
the praises Of Mr.. Hine voiced by the delega-
tion that he quite fully realized the truth Of
what they said, but they were obliged to with
draw without having reached any definite re-
suit, the President having said that he had not
given the matter Of Mr.. Hines successor very
much thought
II is estimated that there were about Z, 500
names on the petition, representing fully 50
per cent Of Washington's solid business in
terests.