The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1896-03-27
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.
WASHINGToN, d. c.. March

WAsHINGToN. d. c., March %.
Mr. EDITOR:-SenatOr Brice is admit
ted, by friends and foes alike. to he one OF
the shrewdeSt men in political life. And
his opinion as to the democratic policy for
the next three months finds an echo in the
min Is of many leading members Of the
party He thinks the wise thing for the
democrats to do is to wait until the repub-
licans have made their platform and put
up theil ticket before committing them
selves to any candidate for the democratic
nomination. He thus sums up his opinion
| of what the democrats will do: I'VE Will
not make up our minds as to what we will
| do about presidential nominee until after
| the Republican National Convention acts.
| The chances are that the democratic state
| conventions of the big states. like New
York, Ohio and Pennsylvania, will not
| meet to select delegates until after the st.
Louis convention" The wisdom OF this
| waiting policy is that it will leave the par
| ty free to put up the most available man
| against the republican nominee, and that
might be a man not now considered. ana
| to take full advantage of the mistakes made
| in either ticket or platform by the st.
Louis convention.
Both silver democrats and sound money
| democrats are claiming a majority of the
Chicago convention. but neither side Is
claiming the two-thirds it will take to
nominate the ticket unless the two-thirds
| rule be abolished. There will be IA total of
| $50 delegates in the convention. OF these
| the silver men claim $40 and the sound
| money men $50. Of course one or the 9th
| er claim must turn out to be wrong. The
claims of both sides are made on the basis
| of entire state delegations, as with the en-
| ception of Ohio and West Virginia it is
expected that the unit rule will be follow
| ed and the majority cast the vote of the
entire state delegation either for or against
| silver. The conservatives have not aban-
doned hope Of a compromise financial
plank upon which all democrats can stand
| without surrender of principle.
In order to give the democrats the ri chit
| to circulate it under Con greSSional frank,
Representative Dnsmore, of Arkansas,
had Senator Chandeliers interview Charg-
ing Mckinley with being IA Doodle candi-
date read as Il part of his speech against
the resolution ccnsuring ambassador Bay
ard, which the House adopted. Chand-
| ler'S charges are explicit and emphatic
| and if Mckinley gets the republican nomi-
| nation. this interview will make a corkin@
campaign document for use against him.
AS there is no official channel through
which those resolutions of censure adopted
by the House can be transmitted to Am
bassador Bayard. that gentleman will new
er know officially that the House has taken
such an absurd course.
Senator Blanchard, of Louisiana who
has just returned from visit home, says
of the political outlook in his state: THE
republicans and populiSts have fused in
the hope of doing in Louisiana what they
accomplished in North Carolina in 1894
But they will miss it, | think, by large
maiority-40,OO0 according to the figuring
of Gov Foster.
1t is now claimed by Senator MITCHELL
of Oregon, who is boSSng the rather diff
cult job of giving Col. Dupont, of Della
ware, seat in the Senate to which he is
not entitled, that he has secured the prom
ises of Senators Jones and Stewart, of Ne
vada. to vote for Dupont and that all the
republicans will vote for him. but the lat
ter claim is doubted. Several republican
Senators have privately expressed them
selves against seating Dupont.
1t is not probable that the secret meet
ing which was held here several days ago
for the purpose of giving il committee of
republican manufacturers from PennSyl-
vania an opportunity of trying to make Il
deal with the republican silver Senators
who refused to support the House tariff
BILL will result in an independent politi
cal party with silver and protection for its
foundation. But the refusal of the repuh-
lican silver senators to enter any deal that
will allow protection legislation either
during this or the next Congress, unless it
be coupled with the free coinage of silver,
was very significant. 1t indicates that the
straddle proposed by Mckinley will not
be accepted by the silver republicans at
the National Convention. and that means
Il split and the refusal of the silver repub-
licans to support the st. Louis ticket and
plat form. for that convention is sure to be
dominated by anti slver republicans. All
of which is cheering to democrats.
The Senate today began another week
the tifth-on the Cuban resolutions, but
whether this is to be the last is not at all
certain, although it is probable. President
Cleveland has said nothing and those who
presume to know, say that he will continue
to maintain silence until he feels that there
is occasion to say something, regardless of
nal.