The Progress., 1893-09-09
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.
Notes Of Interest Gathered from About
The National Cagiial.
wAsmxcroy. D. C.. september. 1. l,ga

Uncle sam is feeling the money
squeeze. just like the rest OF Us. In
stead Of the prosperous business year
ne expected it i now certain. unles,
there is a radical improvement, or leg
islation of some sort to add to his reve-
nues. that at the end of the present tis-
cal vear-June 30. lS94-his balance
sheet will show a deficit of from S5O,-
600. 900 to 800 100000. The admins
tration had hoped to keep this matter
away from Congress until after the sill
yer bill was disposed of by the Senate.
because of desire not to add any new
complications to those already existing
in the Senate. but the regular monthly
treasury statement contained enough
to show those familiar with national
finances Just how thing stood, and now
the matter is talked of everywhere that
Congressman cOngregate. There Is no
probability of anv increase in the reve-
nue. from customs duties until after the
new tariff is ready to 60 into effect. and
if il shall seem probable from the tariff
bill which will be reported to the House
that the cuts will be many and deep,
there will be a still further falling off,
a. importers will all wait for the new
tariff. 1t i not probable that any action
will be taken i'm Congress to help the
Treasury. until after the President
shall have made known his wishes, eth
cr by a special message or through the
leaders of his party, although several
proposition nave already been made in
both House and Senate with that end
in view.
The House adjourned until We'd
nesday. when it will resume the debate
on the proposed new rules. AS whole
this talk has been dry and uninterest-
ing, but there have been several eX-
citing episodes and the majority OF the
House has shown its independence by
changing several of the rules proposed
By the committees. II is expected that
the rules as finally adopted will differ
little from those of the last House. and
that the debate will end this week, but
Congressional expectations are oftener
disappointed than realized.
What will the House committee on
coinage do with its newly-acquired
right to report bills at any time? That
question has been asked many times
since the rules of the House were
amended, giving it the banking and
currency committee that right, which
has heretofore been vested in only two
committees-approp riations and ways
and means--and your correspondent
asked it of a member of the committee.
I'VE will use it," was his reply, ''to re-
port free silver bill, in order to give
those members who talked so nice about
what they would be willing to do for
silver in the future, when declaring
their intentions to vote for the Wilson
repeal bill, Il chance to vote as they
talked; but we do not propose to add
to existing financial unrest by report
ing such bill at this time. We will
wait a while" AS this committee is
controlled by silver men it can. under
its new authority, report bill when
ever so disposed.
Everybody now seems to be agreed
that Congress will keep right along at
work, with the probability of short
recess OF a couple of weeks in October
to give the members chance to visit
the Worlds Fair before its close, but
somehow the manner in which the COM
mittee On the Senate side are acting. or
rather. not acting, indicates that the
Senators have doubt about it. At any
rate the Senate committees are doing
nothing. Those of the House. with the
exception of ways and means and bank
ing and currency, have had nothing to
act upon yet, but they will overrun with
bills as soon as the rules of the House
are adopted and the regular introduc-
tion of bills begins. The ways and
means committee is already heels over
head in the preparation OF the tariff
bill. Two weeks, beginning to-day, are
to be given up to public hearings by
the committee. The banking and cur
rency committee has been considering
the Johnson inconvertible bond bill,
and a proposition to repeal the tax on
State bank currency, but has arrived
at no definite conclusion concerning
either.
The silver situation in the Senate
has materially changed in the last three
or four days. For the first time there
is a perceptible wavering in the here
tofore solid line of the silver Senators
.1.vo.ul nt shAvr, have llu