Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1897-03-11
WASHINGTON LETTER.
WASHINGTON, Mar. 8, 1897

Mr.. Mckinley is likely to be much more
interested in the Senate than in the soft
speeches the army of Office seekers are now
pouring into his ears. if certain plans now
being strongly urged are carried out. The
majority of the Senate is composed of silver
men, but they represent three separate
parties, Democrats, Populists and Silver
Republicans. The greediness OF the Re-
publicans in claiming the right to change
the financial complexion Cf the Committee
on Finance by filing both vacancies with
gold Republicans has aroused the silver
men, and the proposition has been made
that they shall combine and reorganize the
Senate by deposing the Republicans from
the Chairmanships OF all important Com
mittees 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 COM
bining men who agree on nothing but
silver, but it has frightened the Republic
cans badly.
Senator Teller was speaking from personal
experience, having himself been Secretary
of the Interior from April II, 1882, to Mar
4th, 1885, when he told the Senate that Mr..
Mckinley had made serious mistake
when he nominated Cornelius N. Bliss to
be Secretary of the Interior. He said that
Mr.. Bliss was banker and merchant, 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 lawyer
Mr.. Teller did not speak in spirit of an
tagonism to Mr.. Bliss, nor did he vote
against his confirmation be merely called
attention to what he believed to be a mis-
take.
As might be imagined those Senators and
Representatives who are opposed to Car
Reeds idea of combining the legislation of
the extra session of Congress, which meets
next Monday, to the tariff bill by not ap-
pointing the Committee of the House which
would have to act upon other bills, are not
grieving over the failure of four of the
regular appropriation bills-The Sundry,
CIVIL Agricultural, Indian and Deficiency.
Gar Reed already has another scheme to
prevent general legislation. 1t is to author
ize, by Joint resolution, 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 the
Republican clubs had been called for that
day by Col. John Bowles, for the announced
purpose of adopting resolutions advising the
new administration what it should do to
retain the support of these clubs. Gen.
Woodmansee, who is Chairman of the Ex-
ecutive Committee of the National Organi-
cation 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 Convention ad-
journ 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.
Ex-senator Blackburn will attend the
extra session of the Kentucky legislature
that has been called to elect Senator and
will make a strong fight for his own reelec-
ton, notwithstanding the Republican
majority in that body. Nobody expects
the Senate to seat Maj. Wood, who has
been appointed to the vacancy by Gov.
Bradley. and whether the Governors of
Florida and Oregon will fare any better
remains to be seen.
King Hanna has got everything he has
reached for up to date, but certain Senators
who think he is now reaching after too
much are preparing to give him disap-
pointment, and their are big odds in favor
of their succeeding. King Hanna is reach
ing for place on the Senate Finance Com
mittee, in which there are two vacancies
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
trough the House. No new Senator has
been given place on that Committee in
the memory of the Oldest Senators, but
that doesn't make any difference to Hanna.
He wants it and has made his want known.
It is practically certain that he won't get
it. Tom Platt also wants place on this
Committee, but as he has been in the Sem
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.
Ex-Secretary Carlisle has been offered
the position of General Counsel for the
Pullman Car Co., now held by Gen. Horace
Porter who expects to go abroad, at salary
of $4,000 a year, and the expectation is
that Mr.. Carlisle will accept the offer.