Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1893-11-17
WASHINGTON, Nov. 10, 1893.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 10, 1893.
President Cleveland is hard at work
upon his message to Congress and all
OF the members of the cabinet upon
their annual reports, just az they
would have been had the result Of the
elections been more satisfactory to
them. About SIX weeks is usually de-
voted by the President to the prepara-
ton of his annual message to Con
greSs, but this year, although the mes
saga will be unusually important, he
will have only about four weeks in
which to prepare it.
While neither the President MOI
any member of the cabinet cares tC
publicly discuss the result of the cleo.
tions ut this time it can be positively
stated that they do not regard them n,
in any sense condemnation OF the ad
ministration and will not swerve q
hairs breadth from the line of policy
that had been previously marked out
Ofcourse they were disappointed. They
had cause to expect that the Demo
cratic State tickets would be defeated
in Ohio and New York, but not by
such large pluralities; in Massachu.
sets and Iowa they were both sur
prised and disappointed, although
they knew Of the unusual efforts that
were being made to persuade every
man who was in any sense a sufferer
from the business depression resulting
from past vicious Republican legisla.
ton that the Democratic party was re-
sponsible for it all. They did not ex-
pcct them to succeed so well; that is
all.
Few Democratic Congressman are
in Washington now, but those who are
here are unanimously OF the opinion
that the result of the elections will
not have the slightest effect towards
changing the nature of the tariff and
other contemplated legislation. Rep
resentative McMillin, a prominent
Democratic member of the House
Ways and Means Committee, says ::
"The tariff question had nothing to
do with it, as the character of the
bill we will report has not yet
been made public and therefore
could not have been condemned"
Representative Foreman says: "You
can never tell what will happen in an
Off year. | believe that the defeat will
make the Democrats a little more
cautious and harmonious. We have
been getting too confident and too in
dependent" Judge Lochren, Com
missioner of Pensions, says: ut is the
natural result of the hard times. The
unthinking people have charged the
financial troubles to the party in
power" Not single Democrat has
yet been found here who is even
little bit discouraged over the outlook.
ExCongressman Morrison, who is re-
garded by many Democrats as availa-
bic Presidential timber, voiced the
general Democratic sentiment when
he said: :" can find no better express
sion than that OF the Irishman who
after being thrashed said: II am GER
tainly licked, but not conquered"
Not few Republicans find that the
of victory has spider in it.
Those who have been maneuvering to
make Mr.. Benjamin Harrison, Sena-
tor Allison or ex-Speaker Reed their
Presidential candidate in 1896 find
their labor all swept away by the
prominence now enjoyed by Gov. Nc
Kinley and his phenomenal plurality.
Mckinley has never been popular with
the Republican leaders because he
would never allow himself to be used
by them.
The worst disappointed people of all
are the Populists who were led to be-
lieve. or rather led themselves to be.
lieve, that they would carry Virginia
and thus get substantial foothold in
the South. Not only did they fail to
carry Virginia, although they had the
passive if not the active assistance of
the Republicans, but they even failed
to hold their own in their western
strongholds.
The Republican administration left
the Navy Department costly legacy
in the plans upon which several of the
smaller gunboats have been built, but
the costilest of all were those for the
new battle-ship Texas, which was built
at the Norfolk navy yard. According
to the official information received at
the Navy Department this week it will
take about $4,000 in money and
about three months to make the
changes necessary to make the boiler
keelsons strong enough to support the
boilers. The Texas is being built upon
English plans which have from the
very first been opposed by many naval
officers, because of various defects
which they have from time to time
pointed out. and not few OF them
have expressed the opinion lin private)
that it is impossible ever to make the
Texas either good sea.going ship or
a good fighting ship, no matter what
changes are made.
The administration has demanded
an apology from the government of
Honduras for having fred upon ves-
sci flying the American flag.
The robbers Of the Milton bank