The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1897-05-07
(From Our Regular Correspondent)
WASHINGTON LETTER.
WASHINGTON, ID. c., May A, '97.

Mr.. Mckinley has fully made up
his mind to curtail some of the ex-
tensions of the civil service rules
made by Mr.. Cleveland, but he
lacks the nerve to do So until public
opinion has been worked up a little
on the subject. That is why mem
bers of his cabinet and other prom
inent officials are making public
their opinions against those rules.
OF course ever, body understands
that the rules do not keep the pres
ent democratic occupants OF the
positions in office, but so long as
they are in force they do operate to
keep those republicans who are not
already in the government service
out of office. And that is the milk
of the cocoanut. Promises have
been made that have got to be kept,
and the only way to keep them is to
withdraw the civil service rules from
some Of these places. Had MIR.
Mckinley been a man Of backbone
he would simply have rescinded Mr..
Cleveland's orders extending the
rules and said no more about it,
and that would have been a much
more manly way than beating the
devil around the bush in order. to
make it appear that the public de-
mands their abrogation, when every
body knows that the public doesn't
care a continental who fills the
minor offices underline government.
The Dingley tariff bill should now
be known as the Allison-A)diich-
Platt bill, since those three Senators
have added more than a thousand
amendments to the bill, which was
to-day laid before the full finance
committee Of the Senate. The
amendments have not made the bill
any less Objectionable as a whole to
democrats, but some of them have
started many republicans to kick
ing at a lively rate, but there is no
Likelihood that any of them will
kick out of the party traces.
There hasn't been a determined
fight made in the Senate against any
appointment yet made by Mr.. Nc
Kinley, but if he persists in trying
to make j. w. Lyons, the negro
member of the Republican National
COMMITTEE from Georgia, postmas-
ter at Augusta, Ga, there will be a
flight and a very bitter one, too.
The entire Georgia Congressional
delegation made a respectful pro-
test against appointing this negro
postmaster at Augusta, taking the
ground that there we're plenty of
places paying just as well that could
be given him, where the perform
ance OF his official duties would not
necessitate constant irritation of the
entire business interests of a city
and the greater part of its popula-
tion-probably nine-tenths Of it s
mail receiving population. Post
master General Gary had given the
Georgia delegation to understand
that he is opposed to making this
negro postmaster at Augusta, but
it seems that the negro, who was a
Mckinley whooper-up previous to
the st. Louis convention, had boss
Hanna's positive promise of the
postofice, if Mckinley was nomi-
mated and elected, and that he re-
fused all offers. of other places, al
though some of them carry more
salary and insisted upon being nom
mated postmaster at Augusta. The
Georgia Senators believe they can
defeat his nomination in the Senate,
and it is certain that they will fight
it to the last ditch, and hang it up
il they can't defeat it.
"Oh, its just the regular pendu-
lum swing" is the substance Of what
members of the administration say
when their attention is called TO the
large amount Of goid-more than
81 OOO,00O-engaged last week in
New York for shipment to Europe,