The aegis & intelligencer., 1897-12-03
Washington Letter.
From our regular correspondent.

From our regular correspondent.
WAsHINGTON, November 29.-"Walk into
my parlor," says the spider to the fly; walk
into my national bank scheme" says the nG-
| mnistration to the Southern Democrats. AS
fast as the Southern Democrats arrive in Wash
| ingtOn, they are buttOnholed by agents of the
administration, who try to convince them what
boon it would be for that section and for por-
tions of the West, where banking facilities are
deficient, if national banks could be established
in small towns with capital OF $4,000, were
allowed to issue currency to the par value Of
| bonds deposited with the government, and the
tax on that currency was made merely nomi-
nal After talking up the advantage Of a
plentiful supply of currency at home, to meet
the home demand they try to get the Southern
Democrats to pledge themselves to vote for q
bill embodying these amendments to the ma
tonal banking laws. 1t is IL shrewd game, and
the arguments are plausible when used to men
who know how their constituents are at times
Inconvenience by the lack of sufficient cur
rency to meet their needs, and it is not surpris-
ing that some Democratic support for the idea
has been secured. The administration hopes
to get enough Democratic Senators to put this
scheme through the Senate, i'll connection with
other financial legislation, about which care is
taken to say nothing ut this time, or if that is
not feasible to put through bill with no other
feature. Anything that will strengthen the
national banking system will strengthen the
gold standard policy.
Secretary Longs annual report contains sew
eral sentences that must have escaped Mr.. Nc
Kinley's blue pencil by accident. For instance,
he speaks of possible annexation of islands in
the Pacific" as though he entertained doubts
about the annexation of Hawaii, and he ac-
knowledges his fear of that growing Treasury
deficit by saying that in expenditures for the
Nnvy"a due regard is necessary to the relation
of the national expenditures to the national
revenues" 1t is very difficult to reconcile the
decidedly peaeeable tone of the Secretary's Of
fetal talk about only small additions to the
Navy being provided for by this Congress, and
OF his intention to take warships out of COM
mission in order to save running expenses, with
the action just taken by his department in
placing large contract-the largest made
since the WARRIOR ammunition and guns.
Several hundred employees of the Treasury
Department lind it impossible to prepare for
Christmas in the proper Joyous spirit, owing to
the fear that the AK will in the meantime fall
upon their official necks. The civil service
law provides that each State and Territory
shall have Il prOportionate quota of the en-
ployes of the govern ncnt. Secretary Gage
has just had list prepared showing the resi-
dence of the employees of his department, and
has announced his intention to weed out the
pharmacies" This has been interpreted by the
employees to mean that diSmissals are to be
made among the residents of those States hav-
ing more than their share in order to give the
places to residents of States which have less
than their share. Should this be true, many
persons residing, or claiming a residence, in
nearby States will have TO go, us the nearby
States all cave more than their share, but the
aviest blow would fall upon residents of the
District of Columbia, which is legally entitled
to only nine clerks in the Treasury Depart
ment, but which has more than three hundred.
There have been several scares of this sort be-
fore, but it isn't the sort of thing that the poor
devils who have been in government employ so
long that they have forgot how, if they ever
knew to make Il living outside, can get used to
IT, The odd things about it, if carried out,
would be that it would catch many more Re
pubcans than Democrats, but not few of
them are political hermaphrodtes, making it
their business to always appear to belong to
the party ON top, without actually belonging
to either.