The Wadsworth dispatch. [volume] (Wadsworth, Nev.) 1892-1899, 1893-12-09
:. DECEMBER 8, 1898.
WASHINGTON LETTER.
From Our Regular Correspondent.

washington, DEC. 4. 1919.
The Congressional mill resumed work
today. but he is a wise man indeed who
can tell from the raw material known to
be On hand what its products are to be
and how long it will run. President
Cleveland's message is in n respect at
least, like the new tariff bill it depends
largely upon the politics of the man
what he thinks of it, or at least what he
says he thinks of it-some men seldom
or never express their real opinion upon
such questions as the tariff and finance.
There is one thing about the message
upon which all men agree: it is
thoroughly C~levelandish from its begin
ing to its end.
It looks now as though the talk about
getting the tariff bill through the House
before the holiday recess, which prevail
ed here a few days ago, was entirely too
premature. If members of the Ways and
Means committee know, and if they
don't nobody does, the bill with its &C.
companying majority and minority re-
ports will not be ready to be reported to
the House until next week, and if the
bill is not reported until next week it
may be set down as a certainty that it
will not be passed by the House before
Christmas. 1t could, of course, be put
through the House in fortv-eight hours
after it was reported, hut it would be a
proceeding go unusual that it would be
generally condemned, even by friends
of the bill.
But the outlook in the Senate is full
of uncertainty, and unless some of the
proposed changes are made in the rules
there is small chance for the Wilson bill
to get through even though it be ever so
jusiciously amended. There are only
sorty-four democrats in the Senate and
it takes just forty-three of them to make
a majority of that body as at present
constituted. The three populists Sena-
tors have not committed themselves on
the Wilson bill although their positions
on the tariff generally is known. The
thirty-nine republicans may be counted
upon to vote solidly against the bill.
Should the Alabama and Louisiana Sen
ators vote with the republicans the su-
gar and iron ore schedules could easily
be defeated (even if the populists voted
with.the democrats), and hints are not
lacking that they will do so; also, that
they will get assistance from Tennessee
and West Virginia. Still, it must not be
forgotten that the full strength OF the
administration and of the party ma
chinery will be exerted to keep the dem
ocrats in line OF the bill, and the power
OF such a combination must not be un-
derrated.
1t is rumored that the administration
is about to conclude the negotiations of
a new treaty with China by which in re-
turn for the cessation OF all interference
with Cinnamon in the United States,
| China binds itself to purchase 50,00o,-
900 worth of silver bullion from us an
mall and to grant us commercial con-
cessions that would result in giving onr
merchants the trade of China which
now goes to Europe.
Representative Holman, of Ind, erst-
while the Watchdog Of the Treasury, is
making things a little disagreeable for
some of his party colleagues by %insinuat-
ing in the broadcast that they
are not sincere in their professions of
anxiety to reduce the expenses of the
government to the lowest possible sum
that the work can be properly done for.
Can it possible that patronage has
proven too much for some of Mr.. Hol-
mans brother economists?