The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1897-02-11
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.
WASHINGTON, Feb. s. 1897.

of the electoral vote by the two
houses of Congress in joint session.
Representative Murray, the colored
member from South Carolina, has
announced his intention to enter d
protest against the counting of the
vote of that state, on the ground that
the state has not constitutional re-
publican form of government. Mr..
Murray says he has made up his mind
to this course in Difference to the
wishes of his constituents and with
out consulting with the Republican
leaders in Congress. If his protest,
which must be made in writing, be
signed by one Senator, it will be nee
essary to stop the counting of the
votes until the House and Senate in
separate session shall decide the
validity of the protest. So far as
known the protest has not yet been
signed by Senator.
The immigration bill will have to
go back to the House, as the Senate
rejected the conference report on the
bill and further amended it by pro
viding that illiterate wives and minoT
! children of immigrants who ca;f1nTeH
the requirements of the bill may be
admitted. 1t was stated that Mr..
Cleveland said that be would veto the
! bill if it were sent to him with the
! clause which would have admitted
the husband who could read and shut
out his wife and children over fifteen
years who could not, left in it. 1t was
also that clause upon which most of
the opposition to the bill in the House
was based; consequently the bill is
now reasonably certain to become a
law.
a conference with Speaker Reed
and other Republican leaders of the
House having convinced the Senators
who have advocated the Nicaragua
Canal Bill that the bill would not even
be considered by the House at this
session, no matter whether the Sen
ate passed it or not, these gentlemen
have decided to drop the canal bill
and allow it to join the great aggre-
cation of legislative might-have-
beens.
Senator Sherman has announced
his intention to endeavor to get the
Senate to take up the Arbitration
treaty for consideration at once, but
there are several reasons which make
it doubtful whether the Senate WILL
! during the present session, devote
enough time to the treaty to dispose
of it. The session is rapidly drawing
to close, and besides the appropria-
| ton bills there are a number of other
| important measures upon which the
Senate ought to act. In addition
there is a growing opposition to the
treaty among the silver Senator's
Two members of the Canadian gov
ernment, the minister of trade and
| commerce, and the minister of marine
and fisheries, arrived in Washington
authorized to offer certain trade con
cessions in exchange for duties low
enough III the new tariff bill to allow
| Canadian farmers to dispose of their
| products in the United States, Just in
| time to learn that the Ways and
Means committee had informally
agreed to the agricultural schedule
which prescribes duties high enough
to practically shut the Canadian
| farmers out of our market. They will
endeavOr to secure a reconsideration
on the part of the committee by offer
ing special inducements in the way of
concessions to certain of our goods
and products, but the committee has
already gone over the matter very
carefully, and been convinced that
Canadian competition was running
our farmers, in sections of the coun-
| try, without being of any special
benefit to anybody except the Cana
dams, under the low duties of the
present tariff bill, and it is not likely
to change.
In their zeal to give their papers
the news of the progress that is being
made on the tariff bill, some well
meaning Washington correspondents
have been making great deal of I'M
necessary trouble for the committee
by sending the rates left in schedules
that have been informally considered
by the committee to the papers with
the statement that they have been
definitely agreed upon. Neither
Chairman Dingley nor any other
member of the committee will con
slider any duty definitely decided upon
until the entire bill is ready to be
reported. They do not wish to be
commended or condemned for frac-
lions of the bill, but for the whole
measure, which will be made public
when it is completed.
The Senate committee on elections
have decided not to reopen the Du-
Pont case, no objection was made to
l.