Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1896-07-01
WASHINGTON LETTER.
[From Our Special Correspondent

WASHINGTON, d. c., June 90, '96.
At the headquarters of the Republi.
can Congressional Campaign Commit.
tee the hustle of the campaign is al.
ready becoming apparent. Represent.
alive Babcock of Wisconsin. the eff.
Gent chairman Of the committee, re.
turned to Washington this week and at
once began to map out the plan of cam
paign. He has not the slightest doubt
about the Republicans electinz a ma
jority of the next House, nor of the
election of Mckinley and Hobart. He
says the strong declaration of the plat
form against the independent free coin
age of silver by the United States will
probably cause the loss of a few dis
tricts in what are known as the silver
States which would otherwise have
been Republican, but that he believes
that declaration will gain more dis
tricts in other sections of the country
than it will lose in the silver States,
especially if the Chicago convention
adopts a straightout free silver plank,
as now seems probable.
At the headquarters of the Democrat
ic Congressional Commission general
apathy is in command. Not a wheel
will be turned there until the Chicago
convention decides what position the
Democrats will take on the financial
question. A member of subcommittee
says if the Chicago convention adopts
a free silver plank the committee will
abandon the eastern and middle States
and devote all of its attention to the
west and south. No matter what the
Chicago convention does no well in.
formed Democrat has the slightest hope
OF preventing the Republicans retain
ing control of the House, although, of
course, few of. them will publicly admit
as much.
All of the prominent departmental
officials in Washington have been
given a hint that they will please Mr..
Cleveland by attending the Chicago
convention and trying to help Mr..
Whitney throw down the silver major.
ity Of that body. Some of them have
taken the hint and announced their in.
tention to go, but others say they have
no money to throw away to please Mr..
Cleveland and that they will not 60.
In fact, the opinion is SO general that
Mckinley and Hobart are going to be
elected that the most of the department
officials, below secretaries and assistant
secretaries, are not taking much inter.
est in the campaign. They are attend
ing to business and hoping that the civ
il service rules will keep them in office
under the Republican administr alton.
Among the Mckinley stories revived
by his nomination for President is one
concerning a little incident at the
White House when Gen. HAYES was
President. Justice Harlan, of the U.
5. Supreme Court called to see the Pres
ident. He met Gov. Mckinley, who
was then a member of the House, COM
ing out of the Presidents private office
just as he was going in, but he did not
know him. Being struck by his 10.
pearance Justice Harlan asked Gen.
Hayes who he was. That" replied
Gen. Hayes, lis the coming American;
his name is Mckinley. At present he
represents an Ohio district in the House,
but some day, if he lives, he will come
to the White House as President"
The Teller boom for the Democratic
Presidential nomination on a free silver
platform, is as good as knocked out be-
fore it had fairly got started. Many
doubt whether Senator Teller would
have accepted the nomination even if
he could have gotten it, because of his
unwillingness to indorse the rest of the
Democratic platform.
1t now appears that the rumors which
were prevalent when Fitz Lee was nom
mated to be Consul General to Cuba,
about his being sent there for the spe.
ciic purpose of making a report that
could be utilized to work up a war
scare for effect upon the Chicago con
vention, had good foundation. But
Fitz has bungled the job by letting the
cat out of the bag before the right time.
True, his report has not been m ade pub
lie, but in q letter written to an indis.
Greet relative in Washington he ex
pressed some opinions not intend I'd for
publication, but which the aforesaid
relative allowed to get into print, that
made it easy enough to guess the tenor
of the report, and to add to the Ger
tainty his friend Collector Ryan, of
Richmond, who has just returned from
Cuba, where he went to help Fitz find
out what was going on, has been talk
ing to newspaper men. Whether the
scare will materialize is a matter of
doubt, but, owing TO a formal protest
from the Spanish minister, no one
would be much surprised to learn that
the state of Fitz Lees health made it
necessary for him to resign and come
home yery shortly. Whatever NAV he