Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-12-21

for another term.
NO." he replied, II have not advocated
the denomination of Mr.. Cleveland. but
merely said that personally have no such
horror Of the third term as some people
express. If the convention wants to NOM
mate Mr.. Cleveland and the people desire
to elect MIN, why not? The people are the
stockholders in the great corporation, the
United States of America, and they have a
right to choose the same man to direct
their interests as often as they want"
Mr.. Morton makes no prediction about
the democratic conventions action, but he
made one rather startling statement to
me. When I spoke of the possibility of
the free silver men boiling the convention,
he said: Il believe there will be just two
candidates in 1S2G-a sound money candi-
date and a rotten money candidate, and
the republicans will have the rotten money
man. L know the republicans think they
have pretty smooth sailing before them.
This confidence is source of weakness.
Wait till the republican Congress is
enough enthusiasm left to develop a can
didate. Mr.. Cleveland in his message has
left the whole situation in their hands.
Let us see how they will settle it,
But the President would not sign a
Till restoring the du.y on wool, for ex-
ample, even if this Congress passed it,"
Protection Revenue.
"Of course he would not" said the Sec
rotary. But what has that to do with re-
storing the revenue? Protection to wool
does not mean revenue from wool; it
means just the other thing. Protection
per Sc does not increase revenue. If you
really protect an article Of American pro-
duction, you must put the rate of duty on
1t so high that it cannot be imported. That
means you will get no revenue from it at
all. Protection is opposed to revenue The
Mckinley bill is entitled An act to reduce
revenues, &C."
Turning to matters more personal to the
Secretary's department, 1 asked him about
the resolution of Mr.. Baker of New Hamp-
shire to investigate the seed question. The
Secretary settled back in his chair, with
smile.
tion." he said But there may be a good
republican or two on the anxious seat.
When l began to investigate the sale of
seeds by members of Congress, sen: the
purchasing agent of the seed bureau to the
Capitol. with instructions to buy the seed
quota of some member of the House and
give his check for it. He had no difficulty
in finding a seller of seeds among Con-
the check bearing the Endorsement of
millionaire eX-member of the House--a
check for $I5. 1 have kept the mans name
out of my annual report. and ne is not
mad about that 1 have no wish 10 do him
any injury. 1 was not after him person.
ally, but after the system. of which he has
become an awful example,
IF the House investigates the seed Ques-
ton of course the ex-member's name may
have to be made public. There also will
be shown about a hundred transfers of
seeds from one member to another recorded
on the books of the department They
do not prove, of course, that money was
paid for the transfers. I suppose the
members will say they exchanged public
documents for seed. and vice versa. One
of the friends of this seed-selling millionaire
said the SI5 had been used to buy copies of
the horse book for gratutous circulation.
Again. am told that he bought s75 worth
pages of the House. They had better har-
monte their stories for the defense. else
the matter, becoming public, would en-
barrass the defendant by adverse or an
tagonistic pleadings.
Seed Distribution.
THE fact about that seed business is
have complied with the law under the ad-
vice of Attorney General Olney." continued
the Secretary. II asked him whether 1
was bound by the statute of 1889, which
provided that 1 should buy only rare seeds,
or by the paragraph in the appropriation
bill. He said 1 must observe the law of
1889. So 1 advertised for bids for fur
received. and they did not comply with the
law. So, having gone far as the law
required. l stopped. The money G13O,ooW
about which Mr. Baker seems to be so So
llcitouS is lying untouched in the treasury
There is no law which requires me to spend
all the appropriation for the department.
though Mr.. PETER has introduced a resolu-
ton or bill, l am told. directed to that end.
1T is quite in keeping witE populistic IDEAS
But the populsts are not the only people
who are filled with the notion that this
gov eminent Is an institution which Is en-
gagged in turning out money for the purpose
nf 1IS,N1 liSty i1,,,ti
favored people Early in this administra-
ton 1 sat at a dinner table with members
of the cabinet, two Senators and a bishop
and actually members of the cabinet and
the bishop we're the only people there who
did not defend the proposition that the
government in times of commercial depres-
sion should spend money LITERALLY among
the people, who were being taxed to pro-
dEce it, though the taxes are burden on
all and the money would be distributed to
a few. In the early part of my services
in the Agricultural Department 1 received
letter from the president of a bank in ST.
Louis insisting that 1 had committed
great mistake in removing a woman clerk
in my department because she in
capacitated for obtaining work elsewhere.
l replied that If he considered the reasons
he had given me for retaining this woman
an argument for the employment of clerks
in his bank, l might consider his sugges-
ton. He has not replied"
Not long after coming into this Office"
said the Secretary, Il went on tour of in
spection of the department building. 1
found upstairs a room marked Private 1
opened the door, and there were ten women
knitting, drinking tea or reading. These
were clerks who were charged with the
duty of addressing packages of seeds al
lotted to members of Congress. Their
work was performed in from two to
five months of the year. and the remainder
Of the time they spent at their leisure. The
poorest salary paid any of them was $40
year, and the aggregate of their salaries
was $14,OS0 They are neither working nor
pleasuring in the seed division now"
Disability Fund for Clerks.
Another set of snecures which Secretary
Morton abolished has got him into a law
suit in Cleveland. The Secretary got on the
track of the assistant microscopes through
friends who were interested in a pack
irg house He found that though this
house was OF shipping to either France
or Germany, four assistant microscope
lists and a microscopic in charge were
employed there at $50 month for the first
and sixteen hundred year for the latter.
By investigation it was shown that a sim
liar condition of affairs existed at packing