The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1891-08-14
DEFERRED POLITICAL NOTES FROM
THE CAPITAL.

The letter of Secretary Foster to ex-
Senator Niedringhans of st. Louis on the
tin plate question is not necessarily to
be taken as a reversal of the position
which was taken by Superintendent
Owen. 1t is simply an indication that
the Treasury Department is not willing
to decide so important question. The
letter of Secretary Foster does not stop
the department from making exactly the
same decision that Superintendent Owen
did when case involving the same ques-
ton shall be officially presented.
There has been a rumor in circulation
for some time that ex-senator Bruce has
been much annoyed because his wife
was not appointed on the board of Lady
Managers of the Worlds Fair and that
MIR. Bruce's visit to Indiana was in the
interest of President HarTison's candi-
dacy. Mr.. Bruce, referring to these ru-
mors today, said: "The statement that l
desire the appointment of Mrs. Bruce on
the Board of Lady Managers for the
Worlds Fair is false. Mrs. Bruce would
not accept it when it was tendeIOd her.
There was nothing political in my visit
to Ohio or Indiana. 1t would have been
superflous to me to use any influence l
might have to prevent the colored votes
going to the Democrats, for the reason
that they had no intention of so doing
The states of Ohio and Indiana contain
large number of intelligent, patriotic
and respectable colored citizens, men
who do their own thinking. They are
Republicans from principle and cannot
be cajOled by the Democracy"
Secretary Foster has made arrange
ments to furnish the West and South
with supply of paper money OF small
denominations to move the crops, but he
has adopted a rule which will not be sat
isfactory to some banks. He has re-
fused to forward currency on mere tele-
graphic notice that funds have been de-
posted at the Sub-Treasury. He con-
siders that it is enough that the money
shall be forwarded when the actual GER
tificate of deposit reaches Washington.
The interview with Cardinal Gibbons
makes it very clear that Commissioner
Morgan has not been endeavOring in any
way to cripple the usefulness of the
Roman Catholic Indian schools. The
only difficulty has arisen from the mis-
taken view of their powers and respon-
sibilities which has been entertained by
the subordinate officers, in charge of the
Bureau of the Roman Catholic Indian
Masons. They have, some of them, ap-
peared to assume that they are super
iOr power to the. Government of the
United States, and that it was their func-
ton to dictate policy to the admins
tratiOn. The question of depriving
the Roman Catholic Indian school Of
any portion of their power, resources or
influence has never been raised. Methods
of administrations have alone been in
volved.
Secretary Foster, referring to certain
reports connected with the resignation of
Collector Erhardt, says: "Erhardt had
an idea that Mr.. Platt was interfering
with the appointments of subordinates
in the Custom House. l don't know
just what special grounds he based this
complaint on, as Mr.. Plat has not en-
tered in anything of the sort since / be-
came Secretary of the Treasury. fancy
the feeling between the two gentlemen
was of long standing. The reason why
the resignation was made final, how
ever, occurred after the Collectors letter
had been in the hands of the President
for some time. refer to the cutting
down of the Custom House force. We
were obliged, on account of the refusal
of Congress to make adequate appro-
priations, to economic on all sides, We
entered into correspondence, and the
Collectors generally signified their will
lingness to submit to the reductions.
Col. Erhardt stood out, asserting that he
could not get along with smaller force
and do the business of his office proper
ly. We sent special agents to investi-
gate the matter, and ON the strength Of
their report we decided to reduce ex-
penses in New York by some $4,000 q
year. Col. Erbardt took this very much
to heart, believe"