The Lafayette advertiser. [volume] (Vermilionville [i.e. Lafayette], La.) 1865-19??, 1891-07-25
WASHINGTON LETTER.
[ From our Regular Correspondent. |

| {itthiDF -tNJtFIt3tT.
The administration is III "pcck OF
! trouble" and kilograms have been
| flying thick and fast to and from
Washington and the Presidential cot
tage at Cape May PoiIxt, but for the
very good reason that had Mr.. Blaine
advice been taken the administration
would not have been III It's present
very unpleasant predicament, no tcle-
grams have been sent to Bar Hnrbor.
The cause Of all this is the Chiiian IN
surgent steamer Itata, which it has
to bring into the harb0r at San Diego,
California, more than 100000. 1t
is now feared by Attorney General
Miller and Secretary Tracy, upon
whose opinions rs lawyers Mr.. Harri-
son was persuaded to sanction the or
ders which sent the Charleston in pur-
slsit Of the 1tata, iii spite of MIR.
Blaine's opinion that this Government
had no right to take possession Of the
steamer after she had gone outside
the three mile limit, that mistake
has been made.
IF, as it is now believed here, the
court shall decide that the Itata has
not violated our neutralizing laws, the
Chilian insurgents, whose agents and
attorneys, now here, claim to represent
the only constitutional government of
Chill, will demand that the United
States pay 81 heavy cash indemnity
for having interfered with their sue
cess by refusing to allow the ltata to
deliver the arms which she carried
There is some ugly talk here about
bribery by the agents Of the Balmace-
da government, and maybe before the
thing is finally settled somebody's re-
putation will be badly smirched.
This incident has again strongly
shown that Mr.. Blaine is the brains Of
the administration. Everything that
he has opposed has turned out d,sas-
trously for his parry. He was opposed
to the outrageous usurpation by Speak
err Reed; the force bill, and the Nc
Kinley bill, which by superhuman eff
forts he succeeded in having modified
by tacking on an amendment the good
old Democratic doctrine of trade reci-
prossty. although it was So restricted
in the bill as enacted into law that
butlittle benefit, further than showing
the benefits whichkvould naturally
follow general extension of our trade
with foreign countries, the trade of
which is really worth having, and the
wisdom of that opposition was unmis-
takably demonstrated by the cyclone
of last November.
Secretary Foster has announced his
intention Of calling. in the Government
deposits in national banks except
about SIS 200, 900, which is, of course
to be left where twill be Of. more
benefit to the Republican party.
Nothing that he can dowill, however,
be surprising after his audacity in put
ting the 500, 100000 of the gold re-
demption fund and the fractional sill
yer on hand, which is by law only a
legal tender in sums of ten dollars and
under, on the Treasury statement as
available cash to meet the current de-
mands on the Treasury.
Hon. L. I. Neal, Of Ohio, was in
town this week having been called on
the sad duty of attending thegfuneral
of his sister. Under these circum-
stances he, of course, would not talk
politics, although an attempt was made
by an unfeel!ng newspaper man to in
terview him.
There is a law on the Statute books
of the United States which provides a
heavy penalty for any person or per-
sons in the employ of the Government
who gives, or subscribes money to
purchase anything to be given to any
other employe of the Government;
but, like many other good and sensi-
bic laws, it is constantly violated and
nobody ever suffers for it. The latest
violation of this law was the presenta-
ton to Maj, Rathbone, who has just
been promoted from Chief Inspector
of the Post Office department to be
Fourth Assistant Postmaster General,
an office, by the way, created solely
for political purposes by the billion.
dollar Congress, by the Postoffice ms
pectors, who had been its subordinates,
Of $3.50 gold watch and chain. IT
is claimed by the Inspectors that Maj.
Rathbone's resignation as Chief ms
pector was accepted to take effect on
the first Of July, and that at the time
of the presentation he had not been
sworn in as Fourth Assistant Post
master General, and that the presen-
tation was no violation Of the law.
These Postofiice inspectors are adopts
in squibbling, but it's dollars to burnt
matches that when Mr.. Rathbone
draws his first months salary the book
of the disbursing officer will show that
his pay in his new Office began on the
first Of July; and if is did, somebody
ought to take the trouble to see that
they who made the presentation are
duly prosecuted; but "what's every
hodv'a hrciness is nohodv's business"