The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1897-07-15
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.
WASHINGTON, July 12, 1S9'

WASHINGTON, July IL, 1897.
Although the secrecy maintained
by the Senators and Representatives
ON the conference committee which is
at work on the tariff bill passed by 4
| the Senate last week is aggravating
TO the newsgatherers, it is considered
absolutely necessary to avoid delay
i'll the final disposition of the bill. If
each agreement reached by the con-
ference should be announced, there
would be no peace for the members OF
the committee, owing to the ObJee-
tons of those who are interested. 1t
has also been determined, to avoid
delay, that no partial reports shall be
made to the House and Senate, every
thing being held back until a final
agreement has been reached. EXpe-
rience has proven that partial reports
are productive of much delay, espe
cially when the measure under con-
sideration is of such complicated
nature as a tariff bill necessarily is.
Although there is nothing official on
the subject, have excellent reasons
for saying that the Republican con
ferees-the Democratic conferees will,
take no part in the conferences until
the Republicans have reached an
acknowledged to complete their
work this week.
President Mckinley has indicated
quite plainly to number Of promi
nent Republicans that he has decided
to modify Mr.. Cleveland's orders for
the extension of the civil service rules
and the Presidents order may be eX-
pected any time. 1t is not yet GER
tain how far this modification will 60,
but it is the impression of those who
talked with Maj. Mckinley on the
subject that deputy collectors of in
ternal revenue, who have charge of
the distribution of stamps, and dep
uty collectors of customs, who are in
charge of sub-stations, will be among
those placed outside of the civil ser
vice rules.
AS was stated in this correspond
ence several months ago, Mr.. Cleve-
lands consolidation of Pension Agen-
cies, announced to go into effect
Sept. I, 1897 will not go into effect.
The Cleveland order will in due time
be officially revoked by President
Mckinley, a thorough investigation
having shown that the government
would save nothing by the proposed
consolidation, and that it would
greatly Inconvenience thousands of
pensioners.
The report that Japan will file an
additional and stronger protest
against the annexation of Hawaii eX-
cites such very little interest in
Washington that nobody appears to
care whether it turns out to be true OF
not. Hawaii will be annexed in dde
time, and Senator Morgan, a dyed-in-
the-wOOl Democratic member of the
committee on Foreign Relations, says
that if President Mckinley wishes
the treaty TO be ratified at the pres
ent session of congress, instead of at
the regular session next winter, he
has only to say 50 and it will be done
The death of Senator Harris, of
Tenn, has once more made Repre-
sentatives McMillin and Richardson,
of that state, rivals; they both want
to go to the Senate, just as they both
wanted the minority leadership in
the House, that went to Bailey, of
Texas.
Secretary Alger has accepted an
invitation to deliver an address at a
G. y. r. reunion at Spirit Lake, Iowa,
on the 21st inst, and from there he
will go to Chicago to be present at
the unwilling Of the Logan statue on
the 22nd inst. President Mckinley
is very anxious to be present at the
latter event, and if Congress adjourns
this week, he will go. There is a
strong probability that Congress will
adjourn as soon as the tariff bill has
been agreed to, as it is unlikely that
there will be any serious attempt to
secure action on the Presidents cur
rency commission recommendation
at this session; at least, not in the
Senate. The House may act upon it,
Present indications are that the tariff
bill will be completed and signed by
the President before the end of the
week.
President and Mrs. Mckinley have
decided to spend the greater part of
their vacation on Lake Champlain,
which makes it certain that they will
not be able to make their contem-
plated visit to the Pacific coast this
summer. They will not give up the
idea, however, as the President is
very anxious to see that section of
the country and will go at the first