Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1895-03-06
WASHINGTON LETTER.
tFrom Our Special Correspondent
WASHINGTON, D. c., March /, 's5.

the Secretary of the Treasury to issue
certificates of Indebtedness to meet the
deficit in the revenues, because of the
agreement among opposing Senators to
talk away the rest of the session, if he
didn't; but before doing SO he made a
speech in which were some remarkable
charges against q Democratic Secretary
of the Treasury, to be made by a Dem.
cratic Senator. He said that the re.
sponses of the Secretary of the Treas.
ury to inquiries of the Senate, as to
whether, this legislation was needed,
were On their face misleading that
there would be deficit for the fiscal
year of $50, 900, 900 and for the calen.
dar year of $50, 000, 900; hat Treasury
officials had acknowledged to him
(Gorman) personally that there was a
mistake of $50, 000, 900 in Secretary
Carlisle's figures of the amount of
money now available to meet Govern
ment Indebtedness; that the expendi-
lures had been underestimate by Sec.
rotary Carlisle to the extent of $40, 000.-
600, and he added: THE truth is, that
they Treasury Officially made q mis-.
take about a year ago in making up
their balances of $50, 900 900, and they
have been trying to adhere to it ever
since" Mr.. German did not speak
with any excitement but with calm de.
liberation of a "a who had person
ally gone over the figures of which he
spoke, as he said he had; also, that
he was somewhat of a bookkeeper
himself. 1t is not strange that there
should have been excitement on The
floor of the Senate to such an extent
that the services of the Sergeant at
Arms had to be called for by Vice
President Stevenson to restore order,
something that the Oldest habitue of
the Senate does not remember to have
eve before been done. Nor is it strange
that men say Secretary Carlisle should
be impeached, either for incapacity or
for violation of the oath of office.
1t seems that whenever some govern.
ment wants something said to another
government that it does not care to
say itself it calls on the United States
to say it, and If Secretary Gresham has
declined q single request of that sort
the fact has been successfully kept
from the public and buried in the
archives of the Department of State.
So far nothing serious has come of
Secretary Gresham's latest attempt to
do the parrot act, but the incident is
not yet closed. 1t was the insignifi.
cant Government of san Domingo that
made use of the ever plant Gresham
this time. 1t seems that in order to
force a settlement of a long score
against San Domingo, France sent
three war ships to the harbors of the
little black republic. Now this was
none of our business, yet Gresham,
when requested by the Government of
San Domingo, told France that no hos.
tile demonstrations must be made.
The French Government took this in
reference much more good naturally
than Japan did a similar one, and
even went so far as to explain just
what it was trying to accomplish. But
those wal ships were not withdrawn.
Gresham then sent another communi
cation to the French Government init
mating that those wal ships would bet
ter be withdrawn. There the matter
stands at present.
One of Gresham's little schemes was
too much even for the Democratic
House. He promised to pay the Brit
ish Government $425, 900 for damages
sustained by Canadian sealers in the
Behring Sea, but when an attempt was
made to appropriate the money the
House, very properly, refused by n
vote of 143 to 112 to do it, 90
Democrats voting with ninety three
Republicans against the appropri-
alton. Representative Hit, of Illinois,
led the fight against the appropriation,
and it was his showing from the official
records, that all the claim, for dam.
ages which have been fled by Canadian
s~ealers aggregated only a little more
than one third of the amount asked for
by Gresham, that won the fight.
1t has been a long time since the
Senate was in as excited a condition as
it has been all this week, and the near.
er the day of final adjournment gets
the stronger grows the excitement.
Whether all the appropriation bills will
be disposed of even by extending Satur.
day g session right through Sunday and
Sunday night is still a matter of doubt,
although most of the Senators believe
they will be. But they all admit thai
in the present temper of the Senate
some incident comparatively insignif.
cant may upset all plans and end tn
session in a wrangle, leaving some of
the appropriation bills Enacted upon.
However, the general belief seems to
be that the greatest danger lies in the
possible veto of some appropriation
bill during the closing houls, because
of some amendment Objectionable to
Mr.. Cleveland.
There is no excitement in the House,
which is killing time by debating and
passing bills which will never be heard
of in the Senate, while waiting for the