San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1892-05-19
WASHINGTON LETTER.
From Our Regular Correspondent
WASHINGTON, May l6, i92.

"The President" said q mem Der of
the republican national committee,
sis to my certain knowledge much
more concerned about the success of
the ticket to be nominated at Min
neapolis than about who shall head
it. He wishes the conven ton to be
harmonious, and would like to see
the nomination made by reclamation,
whoever may be sele cted to head the
ticket. Whatever his friends are do
ing, and some of them are doing
harm, both to him and the party,
know that he Is doing nothing to
bring about his own nomination, and
further that he has fully made up
his mind that he will not enter q
struggle to obtain the nOminatiO
because of his belief that the ill-wili
left by such q struggle would have q
tendency to eRdanger the success of
the party" The President Is now on
the Chesapeake Bay with his invalid
wife. He will return to Washington
the middle of the week.
Another sudden death; another
funeral In the Senate chamber, and
another Senator's seat shrouded In
black. The sudden death of Senator
Barbour of Virginia, who went to
bed Friday night in excellent spirits
and in apparently good health, aud
died of heart disease at an early hour
Saturday morning, has fallen like .
pail upon his colleagues in Congress.
among whom he was deservedly pop
ular by reason of his many endear-
ing personal qualities. His funeral
took place. this afternoon, and the
remains, accompanied by committee
from the House and Senate and num-
erous friends, were taken to Poplar
Grove, Nd, for interment. Alrea6y
the Virginia democrats in Congress
have begun wire pulling to name his
successor.
This week will probably close T. Q
Pension office investigation which
has been from the first nothing but a
bitter attempt to break down the
personal character of General r .um,
an attempt which has most niserably
failed. as all such attempts ought TO
fail. The few witnesses yet to be-
heard are those named by General
Raum.
Senator Germans defense Of the
expenditures authorized by the Fifty
first Congress, while perhaps entirely
uninteuGed, was a practical acknowl-
edgement that the charge Of extra
vagance upon which the democrats,
aided by tariff misrepresen tations,
obtained control of the present House
OF Representatives, was false. He
said there had been an increase in
the appropriations made by each
succeeding Congress since the Forty
fifth, with the exception of the Forty
eighth, and called the attention to
the tact that the total expenditures
under the Cleveland administration
were greater than under Arthur's
just as those of the present admins
tration will exceed those of the Cleve-
land administration, and he closed
with these words, which certainly
have strange sound, coming from
man who may be the democratic
candidate for President: land, as
the country grows and you 60 on
with the construction of your navy
and open the harbors and deepen the
rivers and make great guns for the
Army and Navy, these expenditures
must increase"
The Congressional prophets have
been in "hard Iuckn tor u long time.
The prompt reporting of the river
aud harbor bill to the Senate was
directly contrary to their prediction
that it was to De held back in order
to force the House INTO agreeing TO
Senate amendments to appropriation
bills. The Senate committee in
creased the bill little more than q
million, making it carry total of
So, 470,llS 1t will be taken up as
soon as the naval bill is disposed OF,
and there is no reason To believe
there will he any unusual delay In
disposng of 1t. The Senate Com.
merce committee In it's report on this
bill gave notice that it would report
no river and harbor bill next year.
II you wish To hear q choice -selec-
ton of "cuss words,n you have only
to ask the several democratic MEM
Der of the House when the astound-
ing exposures of republican crooked
ness, promised by the numerous
House Investigating committees, are
to lie made.
A very shrewd scheme is being
worked here to get the support OF
Western Republican Senators for
combination bill placing binding
Irvine on the free list has already
been passed by the House, and the
present scheme is to get repub ifcan
Senator from the West to offer as an
amendment thereto, when it comes
up In the Senate, q section placing
refined sugar on the tree list.
Senator Mills is responsible for q re-
vival of the chestnut about the bank
rupt condition OF the U. :. treasury.
Claims upon that institution are,
however, still worth one huncred
cents TO the dollar, and are promptly
paid upon presentation, just as they
will continue to bs.
The selection OF Justice Harlan, OF
the u, S, supreme court, and Senator