Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1895-08-01
DOINGS AT WASHINGTON.
Washington. July %. 1895.

- AACkA4 LIOlI
all directions. A few of them. Secre-
tary Carlisle and Lamont, for instance
know. and dodge for reasons of their
own, while the rest of them are afraid
of committing themselves to the
wrong side of the question. To the
latter class belongs ex-senator Wade
Hampton, who performs the light
duties and draws the heavy salary OF
Railroad Commissioner. In trying to
escape responsibility for an interview
with him printed in a North Carolina
paper. which quoted him as saving
that he had personal knowledge of
Mr.. Cleveland's intention to be a
candidate again, the old gentleman
has got himself hopelessly tangled up.
he acknowledged having expressed
the opinion that if the financial cues
ton should result in party splits the
gold democrats would insist upon
running Mr.. Cleveland,again. But why
this dodgingP If Mr.. Cleveland is not
scheming to capture the democratic
nomination again. why do such close
friends of his as Secretaries Carlisle
and Lamont neglect such good on
portunities as they have both recently
had to stop the discussion by an u
thoritative announcement that Mr..
Cleveland is not a candidate for the
nomination. And why does Mr..
Cleveland himself not say something
on the %subjectP He has found it easy
to lay aside presidential dignity and
say other things which would better
have been left unsaid. There is but
one explanation of all this lodging.
Mr.. Cleveland is a candidate, but is
not ready to avow his candidacy. be-
lieving that he can so manipulate
things as to make it appear that his
party forces him to run again. Mis-
taken judgment, both in belief and in
being willing to be a candidate to GER
tain defeat.
BY a patient search of mustv doc
uments relating to the early years of
the government it was discovered that
the comptroller had in certain in
stances assumed the authority with
out question to pass upon the consti-
~tutionality of acts of Congress carry
ing appropriations. For weeks the
administration has been trying to find
an excuse TO keep the more than five
and a quarter million dollars appro-
priated at the last session of Congress-
to pay sugar bounties in the treasury.
This discovery furnished the excuse.
Comptroller Bowler, a little man with
a head easily swelled, required no
persuasion to attempt to follow in the
autocratic footsteps of some of the
earlier comptrollers. He notified the
parties in whose favor the first vouch-
er against that sugar bounty appro-
priation was drawn that he had doubts
about the constitutionality of the
sugar bounty, forgetting the millions
paid out for that purpose with his APP
p%roval, and would, next month, hear
arguments as to why the money
should not be held up. The arguing
the 4 Iestion will be useless, unless
Bowler gets frightened and refuses to
play the part assigned him. There
is likely to be music in the air on this
subject. In fact, there is already.
The Louisiana senators and one or
two OF the representatives are now in
Washington-the greater part of that
appropriation would 90 to their con-
stituents-and they tried to read the
riot act to Secretary Carlisle, but he
sneaked out by telling them he had
no authority over the comptroller.
The L~ouisianians think thew have
been buncoed, and when Bowler de-
cides that, appropriation to be uncon-
stitutional, as he will if he doesn't
weaken, they may have something in
teresting to say to the public. The
administration doesn't care whether
Bowler's decision shall afterwards be
upset by the courts or not; all it wants
is to hold on to that none for a time.
Senator Blackburn of Kentucky,
who has been in Washington, gave
the newspaper men a shock they will
not recover from for some time by re-
fusing to talk. Think of Joe Black
burns refusing to talk. If Senator
Stewart should refuse to be inter-
viewed on the silver question it would
not be more surprising. 1t is known,
however; that Blackburn is very Bit
ter towards the administration and es-
pecially towards Secretary Carlisle
and from an offer to wager money
made by one of his friends who is a
sort of a sporting character it seems
that he talked to somebody, if not to
a newspaper man. This man said he
was prepared to bet from 500 to
$1,000 that the next senator from
Kentucky would either be Joe Black
burn or a republican, and several of
Blackburn's other Washington friends
have intimated that he would rather
be succeeded in the senate by a re-
publican than by an administration
democrat. Mind you l do not say
that Blackburn is not responsible for
what his friends say or do, but it is
fair to infer that they are more OF
less influenced by what he has told
them about the situation in Kentucky.
Republican advices from hat state
are decidedly encouraging