Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1897-12-23
WASHINGTON LETTER.
lFrom Our Regular Correspondence



WASHINGTON, Dec. II, 1897.
President Mckinley has resumed
his duties, and. although he natu-
rally does not feel Inclined to work,
the hard work, into which he has
plunged, IL about the best thing he
possibly could do to take his mind of
his grief He looks fve years older
than he did two weeks ago, owing to
his anxiety and loss of rest while
watching at the bedside of his dying
mother. His nrst work after return
ing to Washington was to forward to
the Senate the large batch of recess
appointments. He has few Congress
sional callers, owing to the general
respect for his grief, the general dis
position among Senators and Repres-
entatives being to defer their bust
ness with him until the reassembling
of Congress after the holidays recess.
Congress will take an old-fashioned
Christmas recess, adjourning from
to morrow the 18th inst, until Jan.
5th. No time will really be lost, as
the members OF committees will
make use of the long recess to famil-
larize themselves with the various
bills before their respective commit
tees and in deciding just what busi-
ness outside of the regular appropria-
tion bills shall be taken up at this
session.
The caucus of the House dem
ocrats, held this week, was afraid to
carry out the will of the sugar trust
lobby, and try to make opposition
to the annexation of Hawaii a party
question. They could easily have
done so, as about hree-fourths Of
them oppose annexation, under the
orders of the lobby, but among those
who favor annexation are men whom
the others did not dare to attempt
to bind by caucus decree. They, Of
course declared themselves against
the Presidents financial recommen-
datiOns. and Ia favor of the recog-
milton OF Cuban belligerency. They
also adopted an ambiguous resolu-
tion In favor of a "just and wise"
bankruptcy law. which leaves them
free to oppose any bankruptcy bill.
Hon. A. p. Greeley, Acting Com
missioner ofPatents, who made a rep
utatiOn as a fearless and honest
judicial and executive officer by his
able conduct of the investig alton that
led to partial purging of the Patent
Once bar, and many reforms In prsc-
tice before that office. Is now making
another investigation, the object Of
which ia to break up that class Of
crooked patent attorneys who rob
inventors by making a pretense OF
obtaining and selling foreign patents
on their inventions, knowing that
no valid foreign patents can be OBJ
tanned for them, and that they can
not be sold.
The designation of the committee
chosen by the conference of repub-
lican Representatives - "The COM
mittee on reform In the administra-
tion of Civil Service Law" who OPP
pose a continuation of the present
rules and classiflcations under the
civil service law, to draw up bill
to meet their objections. is of itself
sufficient evidence that these gentle
men are not opposed to real reform
in the civil service, 1t is only the
sham reform they wish to abolish.
This committee, composed of Repre-
sentatives Hepburn, OF Iowa; Pear.
son, Of North Carolina; and Evans
of Kentucky, believe that they can
construct bill that will be accepted
by majority in both branches of
Congress, and by President McKin-
ley. The same conference also ap-
pointed Representatives Tawney, Of
Minnesota; Steele Of Indiana, and
O'Dell, of New York, a committee
to investigate the admi istration of
the civil service law aud rules for
the past five years, and their report
will be used as an argument for the
proposed change. The moderation
of these gentlemen has greatly
strengthened their position.
Secretary Gage tumbled over a
pile of lies as high as the Washing.
ton monument when he appeared
before the House Committee on
Banking and Currency, this week,
and submitted a single bill, embody-
ing all the financial recommends
tions Of his annual report, together
with q statement in their favor.
The committee will consider this
bill during the holiday recess, and
when Congress bles In jan
uary, It will be able to determine