Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1891-07-23
WASHINGTON NOTES.
The NeWs From the National Capital as it
Effects the interests of the West
ern Farmers.
Our Correspondent Tells What Our Of.
fciais are Doing in the Capital

fciaIs are Doing in the Capital
City.
WASHINGTON, D. c., July 23.-Specia!
Correspondence: Secretary Noble has
gone away, he said for rest and no one
will tell where he has gone, and that has
again started the rumor that he intended
resig1ng. At the Interior department
officials have all adopted the know
nothing policy, as far as the Secretary
is concerned, but one Of his family is
authority for the statement that he has
no idea Of resigning.
Members of the Farmers Allianced do not
take kindly to a published interview
with Ex-Congressman Perkins of Kansas,
who was here few days ago, in which
be painted most doleful picture of
affairs in Kansas, saying in effect that
the State was rapidly going to the
"dem milton bowwows" because of the
success of the Alliance, which he accused
among other things of being in favor Of
the Reputation of private debts. A Kansas
Alliance man who was at Alliance head
quarters here to-day said of the inter-
view. "It is an outrageous libel upon the
State as well as upon the Alliance; we
do not favor the repudiation of debts and
have never done so, and all such reports
as Mr. Perkins knows very we'll, have
been circulated by our enemies solely for
the purpose of bringing discredit upon
the organization. I am afraid that,
Mr.. Perkins will have to be classed
among the soreheads. He amt the first
man who has been under the impression
that his retirement form office meant the
destruction of the country's prosperity.
If any member of the Alliance is in debt to
Mr.. Perkins, it is safe to say that he
isn't prepared to sell his claim at a
ruinous discount, nor has he, so for as
l have heard expressed any intention sof
leaving the State.
Secretary Fosters idea that the offices
of five out of six the Auditors of the
Treasury might be abolished without
injury to the country, is good one
and should be carried out, but it isn't very
probable that it will be-. because it
cannot be done with. out the consent Of
Congress and it is always safe to say,
Judging from the past, that a majority
of any Congress will be in favor Of
increasing instead of decreasing Govern
ment patronage. 1t has not been many
years since the late Samuel J. Randall
proposed an amendment to an annual
Legislative executive and judicial
appropriation bill abolishing these very
bureaux and others on the ground that
their work was simply a duplication of
the work of other bureaux of the
Treasury and therefore unnecessary. Mr..
Randall collected a mass of data showing
that the adoption of his amendment
would save more than million and
half of dollars each year, but as soon as
he began to push his amendment he
discovered that it would be impossible to
get it through the House, so he reluctant
ly abandoned it. Nobody who knows
anything about the business of the
Treasury department can deny that Mr..
Randall was, and that Mr.. Foster is
right. Now does anybody think that Mr..
Foster can succeed in getting lot of
offices abolished. any better than Mr.
Randall did?
Mr.. Powderly's long open letter
addressed to Secretary Foster concerning
the recent conferences about the seven
knights of Labor discharged from the bu-
reau if Engraving and printing has been
much discussed here and there is a
general feeling of regret that it should
have been written; it's tone is such that
it has injured rather than helped the
cause for which Mr.. Powderly IS labor
ing; and it looks too much Ikea political
attack upon Mr.. Foster to suit many of
those whose sympathy had been with the
Knights since the beginning of the con-
troversy. Mr.. Foster has declined to
answer the letter, saying that he would
not enter into a controversy with Mr..