The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1897-03-12

OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.
WASHINGTON, d. c., March Sth.

WAsHINGTON, d. c., March Sth.
Mr.. EDIToR:-Mr. Mckinley is likely
to be much more interested in the Senate
than in the soft speeches the army of Of
flee seekers are now pouring into his ears,
if certain plans now being strongly urged
are carried out. The majority of the Sen
ate is composed of silver men, but they
represent three separate parties, demo
Gratis, populists and silver republicans.
The greediness ofthc republicans i'll claim
ing the right to change the financial com
pleXion of the Committee on Finance by
filling both vacancies with gold republI-
cans has aroused the silver men, and the
proposition has been made that they shall
combine and reorganiZc the Senate by de-
posing the republicans from the Chair
manships of all important Committees and
by giving the silver Senators control OF
all Committees In other words, to put
the legislative machinery of the Senate
into the hands of the silver men. This
proposition will not be easy to carry into
effect because of the difficulty of combin-
ing men who agree on nothing but silver,
but it has frightened the republicans badly.
Senator Teller was speaking from per
Sonal experience, having himself been Sec
rotary of the Interior from April Il, lSS2,
to March 1, 1888, when he told the Senate
that Mr.. Mckinley had made Il serious
mistake when he nominated Cornelius n.
Bliss to be Secretary of the Interior. He
said that Mr. Bliss was Il banker and mcr-
chant, with an experience which might
have fitted him for the head of some Of
the departments, but that, in his opinion,
the head of the Interior Department ought
to be a lawyer Mr. Teller did not speak
in a spirit Of antagonism to Mr. Bliss, nor
did he vote against his confirmation; he
merely called attention to what he believed
to be a mistake.
AS might be imagined those Senators
and Representatives who are opposed to
Gar Reeds idea of combining the legisla-
ton of the extra session of Congress,
which meets next Monday, to the tariff
bill by not appointing the Committees of
House " hicl. would have to act upon 9TH
or bills, are not grieving ever the failure
of four of the regular appropriation bills
the Sundry Civil, Agricultural, Indian
and Deficiency. Gear Reed already has
another scheme to prevent general legs-
lation. 1t is to authorize, by Joint resolu
ton, continuance of all Of the regular
appropriations of the current year until
next December.
There was more or less interesting re-
publican rumpus in Washington the day
after the Inauguration, about which very
little has been heard. A meeting of re-
publican clubs had been called for that
day by Col. John Bowles. for the an
advising the new administration what it
should do to retain the support of these
clubs. Gen WOOdmansee, who is Chair
man of the Executive Committee of the
National organization of republican Clubs
and who claimed that the individual clubs
represented at this convention could not
properly act upon such resolutions as were
to be offered, succeeded in having the con-
vention adjourn as soon as it was called to
order. There was some very warm talk
about this application of the gag, but the
scent of the pie counter made it mostly
whispered among those interested
King Hanna has got everything he has
reached for up to date, but certain Sena-
tors who think he is now reaching after
too much are preparing to give him dis
appointment. and there are big odds in
favor of their succeeding. King Hanna is
reaching for place on the Senate Finance
Committee, in which there are two vacan-
cies caused by the retirement of Sherman
and VOORHEES,, in order that he may be
properly fixed to boss the tariff bill, which
will go to that Committee as soon as it
gets through the House. No new Senator
has been given a place on that committee
in the memory of the Oldest Senator, but
that doesn't make any difference to Hanna
He wants it and has made his want known
1t is practically certain that he won't get
it. Tom Plat also wants place on this
Committee, but rs he has been in the Sen
ate before, his aspiration is not considered
as audacious as that of King Hanna, but
whether he will get the place is very, very
doubtful