Arizona weekly citizen., 1896-01-25
WASHINGTON LETTER
Ghost Stories in Reference to a
Refusal of Cleveland to Accept
a Third Term.
Congressman Cummings Kicks Over
the Democratic Traces and De-
nounces the Pension Manage
ment of the Administra-
tion.
From our regular correspondent

WASHINGTON, Jan. IL, 1896.
Messrs. German, Harrity & Co., allow
ed the other members Of the denocra-
tic national committee, which met here
this week, to imagine that they decided
the time and place for holding the demo-
cratic national convention, but as q
matter of fact the members of that
astute political firm had settled the
matter sometime before. A gentleman
who ia usually good authority upon
matters relating to the business of the
firm says there is only one man who
could have changed the result. That
man is ex-Secretary Whitney. He wss,
so this gentleman says, informed by
German, Herrity & Co., that il he woulo
agree to accept the democratic nomins-
tion he could name the time and place
for holding the convention and write his
own platform. Mr.. Whitney who knows
a thing or two about the value of polite
al nominations. is said to have replied in
substance that although be was q
wealthy man he didn't care to indulge
in the pastime of throwing good money
down ratholes.
There we're a number of more or lees
| interesting ghost stories floating around
Washington this week about Mr.. CIeve-
land having suthoriz ID the statement to
certain members Of the democratic com
mittee that be would not allow his name
to go before the convention, and many
prominent newspapers paid telegraph
tolls on these stories, but most diligent
inquiry failed to locate single member
of the committee who would acknowl
edge having received any such informa
ton, and some Of them did not hesitate
to say that they did not believe Mr..
Cleveland had authorized anyone to
make such statement. The best in
formed men in WashiU gton still believe
that Mr.. Cleveland wants the nomina-
ton again, and that nothing short Il
absolute proof that he cannot get the
necessary number of votes in the con
vention will cause him to say one wore
against the presentation of his name TO
the convention, and every movement Of
the administration indicates the corr ct
ness of this belief.
Amos Cummings, OF New York, has
again shown himself to be about the
most indeT sndeDt democratic mem Der
OF the house. Amos was a galIap
soldier and it riled him when one OF bis |
TammaDy colleagues charged that the |
amendment proposed by the repu Bile !!
ans TO the pension laws, intended solely |
to secure justiG , to the old soldiers sno |
80
tempt to loot the treasury. Mr.. Cum |
mings started of by emphatically re-
pudiating the sentiments expressed by |
bis Tammany colleague (Mr. Bartlett, J |
ION t3hslf Of the people of the Union
soldiers; on behalf of widows anG
orphans, end finally and empbatically
on behalf of Tammany hall" He then
paid his attention in cutting language
TO the present administration of the
! snsion office. That cd soldiers and
poor widows were standing in hourly
expectation that something C)wsrdIy
from the pension Office would strike
them; they were being stabbed n the
back from q quarter from which they
should expect nothing but praise and
Justice 'Rah for Amos.
Senator Mills Of Texas, who has been
wobbling around ever since he made
that declaration against the free coin
ege Of silver, made speech in which he
tried to square himself with the silver
men in Texas. He didn't exactly 90
back to his original position In favor of
free coinage, but he bsfogged the que3-
ton and tried to beat the devil around
the stump by advocating the coinage of
the silver bullion IN the treasury, the
OF government obligations in
both silver and gold, end denouncinQ
national banks and the issue of interest
bearing bonds. 1t is evident that Mr..
Mills is still between the devil and the
deep sea" where it will b rememt ,red
he declared himself to be in a speech
made while the bill for the repeal of the
purchasing clause of the so called Sher-
man silver law was before the senate.
The trouble with Mr.. Mills is that the
gray matter on the inside OF his head is
altogether out Of proportion to the horse
power or his lungs. In other words, he
talks too much and thinks too little.
Gen. Walker, commander in chief of
the G. A. r.. was in Washington this
week for the purpose of couferriug with
the members Of the house and sen ate
pension committees on the proposed
pension legislation of the session.
The senate finance committee hes not