The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1895-10-17
POLITICS AT WASHINGTON.


Secretary Olney, the man who
has been widely advertised by dem
ocrats as the originator Of the "vig-
orous foreign policy" which is to be
put into effect-accent on the is to
b, has made Il bad start by plead
ing the baby act. He was asked
this W. elk what, If anythirg, the ad-
ministration proposed to do about
the Cuban revOlutiOnists. The
man who asked the question Occu-
pies position which entitled him
to a reply, otherwise Mr.. Olney
would have given him the usual 81
lent bluff with which he parties
the questions of newspaper men
and ether inquisitive individuals.
Not daring to do that he fell back
OH the baby act and said that the
reports were 80 conflicting that no
had up to this time found it impos-
siblo to ascertain the true status of
affairs in Cuba; that the Spanish
minister insisted that the revolt
was mere nothing and would
soon be stamped out, and that the
rosy pictures of the revolutiOnists
successes which appear from time
to time in the newspapers were
manufactured in this country. He
intimated that it might be neces-
sary to send confidential agent
to Cuba to investigate before the
administration decided what po-
sitiOn it would take. 1t is signifi-
cant that State department officials
cite two precedents for the idea of
sending Il confidential agent to
Cuba. In 1916, before acknowledge
ing the independence af the revolt.
ing Spanish colonies in South
America, President Monroe sent
three comm ssioners In a U. S..
Man-of- war to investigate the stu
alton, and in 1913, when Daniel
Webster was Secretary of State,
President Taylor secretly commits
stoned a confidential agent to 60
to Hungary and ascertain the
chances the Hungarians had for
success in their revolt against Ans
trian rule, an act which caused
strained relations between this
country and Austria, although the
revolt was put down before the
agent got to Hungary, and gave
Mr.. Webster an opportunity to
write one of his strongest state
papers. There is reasonable ground
for the suspicion that Mr.. Cleve-
land has already appointed conf
dental agent, and that the man is
now in Cuba.
Some very ludricrOus suggestions
have been made rs to who will be
given that vacancy in the Supreme
Court, but the most ludicrOus of
them all is that which came this
week from some southern dpocrats
in favor of Representative Thomas
G. Catchings, of Miss, "Shoestring
Tom, one of the OriginatOrs and
principal beneficiaries of crooked
election methods in the south. In
the eyes of most people "Shoestring
Tom" has not single qualification
for seat upon the bench of our
highest court, but he has one trait
which in Mr.. Cleveland's eyes may
make up for all that he lacks, he is
a cuckoo of the most pronounced
breed.
Secretary Morton is the one
member of the administration who
is open in his advocacy of free
trade. That's why he has been 81
anxious that Mexican cattle should
be admitted free, under the pre-
tense of injuring the beef trust
He has been loud in his claims tina,
this was in the interests of the far.
mers particularly. Just now the
mail of the Department of Agricul.
ture is burnened with protests from
farmers who raise cattle against
the free admission of Mexican
cattle. Evidently the American
farmers think they know what II
to their interest better than the
free trade Secretary of Agriculture