San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1890-03-01
WASHINGTON LETTER.
From Our Regular Correspondent
WASHINGTON, ID. c., Feb. "A.

perslstency of the malicious gossipert
who are constantly, and without thu
slightest foundation therefor, print
ing stories claiming to give the fulles
details of diSagreementS between
prominent members of his admins
tration ard himself has OF late been
the occasion of his showing consider.
able feeling in discussing the matter
with his personal friends. OF course
he knows that the stories always orr
ginate with democrats, and that they
are sent out solely Tor the political
effect, but they are harrassing all
the same.
The House will begin ballOting on
the Worlds fair either this afternoon
or tomorrow morning, and will prob
ably determine where tits to be held
by the middle of next week. But
that will by no means settle the mat
ter. Your correspondent has 1T on the
very best authority that it has been
fully determined upon by a majority
of the Senate that If the House Sc
lects any other location for the fair
than Washington that no fair will be
held at all. The reason for this is
that il has been discovered that the
democrats have well laid scheme 10
use the fair for political purposes
should either New York or Chicago
be selected and the Senate is OppOs-
ed to such use being made of it.
A hoary headed old real estate
job has bobbed up again before con-
gress. 1t is a bill for the government
TO purchase the real estate and build
ings souto of Pennsylvania avenue,
between the treasury and the capitol,
for the purpose of erecting public
buildings thereon. Four-ffths of this
ground is covered with water when
ever there is d freshet in the POtO-
mac river, and many of the cellars
have water in them every high tide,
and the owners have for many years
been trying to unload this very I'M
desirable property upon the United
States at a fancy price. 1t is hardly
probable though that congress will |
ever pass such bill.
1t is hard to say what is the real eff |
feet of the congressional investigation |
OF the civil service commission as far |
as 1t has gone. The friends of the
present system claim vindicatiOn,
while its enemies claim just the re-
Verse. Therefore it would be just as
well to suspend judgment until some
OF the other witnesses are heard.
Representative McCOmas is working
on q bill which w"ill shortly he intro !
duced, that will put an end to the
gerrymandering of congressional dis
tricts. The same bill will also require
that certificatiOn of the election of
members of the house Of representa-
tives shall be made direct TO the clerk
of the house by the state canvassing
boards. Such a measure would, it is
believed, meet with almost unani-
nous approval from the republican s.
Senator Dolph, from the committee
on coast defenses, has reported a
bill To the Senate which apprOpriates
Sl23 900, 600 to be spent in instalments
on coast and harbOr defenses between
the first of next July and the Both of
June 1908.
There are four contested election
eases, three seating republican con-
testants and one confirming sitting
ready to be disposed of by
the House, and notice has been give
that they will be called up as soon
as the House dispOses of the Worlds
Fair.
1t is stated at the capitol today that
the Senate committee on Finance has
decided to report favOrably the bill
to increase the coinage of silver dol
lars to 81 900 900 a month.
Secretary Window opened the
sealed bids which have been received
in answer to his advertisement for
for the exclusive rights t.
take seals in Alaskan waters for tive o
ty years, last Friday. There were
twelve bidders. The award has not
vet been made. All of the bids are
higher than the government has re-
ceived for this privilege for the last
twenty years.
The schedules to be used in taking
the &c lsus this year are decided i'm
provement upon those previously
used; they are what is known as fam
lily schedules, each of which will cOn-
tain from one to ten names, instead f
two hundred as in the last census.
Claus Spreckles, the sugar king,
made an argument before the house
ways and means committee Thursday
against lowering the tariff on sugar.
He says the United States could east
ly raise beets enough to manufacture
all the sugar consumed in this cOun-
try.
The anti-monOpoly association has
sent men here to oppose Postmaster
General Wanamaker's postal tele-
graph scheme before the congression-
al committees. This Is the first open
that the idea has met with.
The house committee on elections
has recently given hearings to num-
Der of southern republicans as to the