San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1893-01-26
WASHINGTON LETTER.
From Our Regular Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Jan %, 1898.

OUlU6U SbbNos ueAI euuucE ny E6aeOu
of inadequate quarantine laws, the
Tammany members OF the House,
aided by few others of the KilgOre
stripe, will be responsible for it. The
quarantine bill, which recent thy passed
the Senate without division is gen.
orally admitted TO be good bill, and
entirely free from even the slightest
faint OF partlssnship. About the only
criticism made of the measure was
that 1t does not actually provide for q
complete system of federal quaran-
tine, but as it practically does
The same thing 1t was not op.
posed on that account. 1t was
supposed that the House then
would promptly pass the bill just as
1t was, in order to avoid delay and
possible failure to meet the emer.
gency that every intelligent medical
man In the country knows is almost
at hand, and If orders had not been
received from the Tammany boss to
oppose 1t such would probably have
been the case. As 1t is, the Tammany
members and 8 few others held out
against the bill and loaded it with
amendments, none of which have inn
proved it, the evident object being to
defeat quaran tine legislation. TITS
q fearful responsibility, but what
cares the Tammany crowd for that,
so long as 1t gets its own way.
Ex-Speaker Reed was right when
he recently said that when Con.
gress did not legislate 1t was simply
because it did not wish to do so, and
is daily becoming more certain that
Speaker Crisp and his associate bosses
do not wish the House to legislate at
this session. They have almost de.
cided to give the democrats a chance
to make themselves solid with the
next administration by setting day
to vote on the bill providing for q
suspension of the purchase of silver,
which has been favorably reported
from the committee on banking and
currency. Speaker Crisp, who is the
controlling spirit of the committee of
rules does not favor this bill, but he
has promised to give it chance,
and there is now only one thing that
stands in the way OF cloture rule
being reported, setting a time for
voting on the bill, and that is the fear
that the Stewart free coinage bill,
which was passed by the Senate at
the last session, may be offered as q
substitute and adopted. II Mr.. Crisp
really thought that this bill could
ever get through the Senate he would
probably not have promised to give it
q chance to get through the House.
Senator Proctor has taken up an
idea that was the pet hobby OF his
predecessor, Senator Edmunds, for
many years, and will introdue bill
providing for the establishment of q
great National university in Wash
ington, to be under the control of the
government.
The report that Judge Gresham
had been or would be rendered a seat
in the coming cabinet was not at all
pleasing TO q majority of the demo-
Gratis in congress, although few of
them have publicly expressed them
selves. 1t is known that Judge
Gresham made secI ct visit to Wash
ington few days ago, and that he
held conferences with Mr.. Carlisle
and other prominent democrats
known to be in the confidence OF the
president elect. Senator Brice says
he knows that Gresham can be in
the cabinet if he wishes t.
D rmocrsts say that the acceptance
OF the treasury portfolio by Carlisle
makes 1t certain that there will be an
administration tariff bill presented
to the House of the Fifty third con-
gress, and that 1t is to devotea his
time to the preparation Of that bill
that Senator Carlisle's resignation
will take efrct on the fourth of Feb
ruary. If this be true, it also indi-
Gates that an extra session of con-
gress has been determined up.
on, because IL congress was
not to meet until next December
there swOuld be no necessity
for hurrying up the preparation of the
bill. Republicans do not, OF course,
believe in one man legislation, but if
one man is to prepare tariff bill the
most of them would prefer Carlisle to
any other democrat. He will make q
democratic bill, and that Is what re-
publicans want to see, believing that
the inevitable result will be the re-
turn of the control OF the government
TO The republican party.
The House committee on the cleo
ton of president and vice president
has made a favorable report on the
bill for the repeal of all federal cleo.
ton laws. The House will almost
certainly pass the bill, but it will he
useless showing of the party cards,
as there Is no probability that 1t will
even get before the Senate at the
present session. The attempt to pass
the bill through the Senate of the
next Congress is certain toresult in
one of the 'bItterest and most pro-
longed parliamentary fights of the
time, as the republicans will feel
justified in resorting to any honest
method to defeat il.
The republican senators have in
caucus agreed to disagree on the sill
yer question, and TO leave every sen.