The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1896-06-19
FROM THE CAPITOL.
Our Correspondent Talks in a Sage
Manner Of Things in General
About Washington.
Especial to the Citizen.l
WASHINGTON, June 8, 1896

Washington to get the returns from
the ST. Louis Convention. He has
started for home, but will probably
make several stops on the way. 1t is
no exaggeration to say that more
thoroughly disguised man than he is has
never declined to be interviewed. He
was not half as much surprised at the
treachery of Joe Manley at ST. Louis
as he was at the earlier treachery of
Sc nator Proctor at the Vermont State
Convention. He has never had any
confidence in Manley and once said
that he "would not trust him with the
coppers on a dead mans eyes, and
only two or three weeks ago, having
received hint that Manley was dick
ering with Hanna, he is said to have
spoken his mind so freely that Manley
straightway left Washington and did
not return; he went from Maine
direct to St. Louis. 1t is not only in
New England that Mr.. Reed has been
betrayed, but he feels the effect from
that section more because he felt that
he had a right to expect that local
pride, if nothing else, would keep the
New Englanders true to him.
Among the other useless things that
Congress did at the session just closed
was to give the Dawes Indian Com
mission, which has been such a con-
spicuous failure, new lease of
life, by authorizing it to resume nego-
tiations with the five civilized tribes
of Indians, for reorganization of their
government. The members of the
commission had conference with Sec
rotary Hoke Smith and will leave IN a
few days to return to the Indian Ter
ritory to remain all summer. 1t is pre-
dicted that they will accomplish just
what they did in their previous nego-
tiations-nothing.
Secretary Olney gave a hearing 10
DIR. Delgado and his father, naturalized
American citizens, on their claim
against Spain for property destroyed
on their Cuban plantation, and for per-
sOnal maltreatment of themselves by
the Spanish soldiers, aud promised to
do what he could for them.
Vice-President Stevenson has this
season broken his record in the MAX
ing of addresses at college commence
ments, and he is still at it. He left
Washington yesterday for Tuscaloosa,
Alabama, where he will address the
students of the University of Alabama.
Representative Bankhead went with
him.
Elk Congressman Bynum, of Indi-
ana, who has been actively aiding the
admi nistration in fighting the silver
sentiment III that State and elsewhere,
threw up the sponge, as far as Iudi-
ana is concerned, on his last visit to
Washington, several days ago He
said that the silver sentiment in
the State had reached the proportion
would certainly be carried by the Dem
ocrats if the Chicago Convention
adopted silver platform.
Secretary Carlisle was the first wit
ness in the bond investigation, which
was to-day begun by Subcommittee
of the Senate Committee on Finance.
Ii is uncertain at this time how long it
will take TO complete the investiga-
ton. Senator Harris presides over the
committee meetings, which are public.
1t would seem, in view of the extent
of the silver discussion, that ABOUT ev-
erybody would know exactly the stat
US OF silver money under our present
laws, but in discussion by group of
public men, it was quickly shown that
majority of them did not know. A
majority OF the group coDtended that
silver was not legal tender in sums
exceeding $40 and it required the pro-
duction of a copy of the Revised Stat
utes of the United States to convince
them to the contrary. The Act of 1873,
generally spoken of as the demoneti-
cation of silver, dropped the
silver dollar entirely from our coins
and provided that the s'silver coins of
the United States shall be legal teu-
der at their nominal value for any
amount not exceeding S. in any one
payment" but this part of the act was
18th, 1878, by the Bland Act, which
provided for the coinage of our pres
ent silver dollars, and provided further
that they, together with all silver. dol
lars heretofore coined by the United
States of like weight and fineness shall
be legal tender at their nominal val
ue for all debts and dues, public and
private, except where otherwise ex-
pressly stipulated in the contract"
This is the law. Silver dollars are to-
day legal tender in any amount for
any Indebtedness, not stipulated to be
paid in some other particular kind of
money, AID if this fact was unknown
to four gentlemen iii public life il is
not unreasonable to suppose that it is
unknown to thousands Of private citi-
zens. The Act Of 1890. which pro-
viQes that silver coins Of less than 81