The Press., 1897-12-23
Washington Letter.
washington, Nov. 90, 1897.

washington, NOV. ~, 1881.
As party man who has followed his
party oftener than he has led it, Presl-
dent Mckinley finds himself confronted
with some hard party nuts, one at least
of which must be cracked before January
5th, when congress reassembles. Ih1s
mt relates to the civil service, and con-
sists of plain proposition submitted to
the president by some of the leading re-
publican senators and representatives,
which may be briefed as follows: VIII
YOU in the exercise of your unquestioned
authority, issue an order annulling all
extensions of the civil service rules made
by your predecessor, and thus save the
party in congress from the Impending
factional fight? There is not the slight
est doubt that the republicans in the
house postponed the debate on the civil
service section of the legislative, execu-
tive and judicial appropriation bill until
after the holiday recess solely for the
purpose of giving the president an oppor-
tunity to take such action as would make
that debate unnecessary. Notwithstand-
ing Mr.. McKinley's fat-footed declara-
ton in his annual message in favor OF
present civil service conditions, many OF
his party expect him to do what has been
asked of him; they say that when he
wrote his message, he did not realize the
extent of republican sentiment against
the wholesale extensions OF the civil
service rules made by Mr.. Cleveland. The
men who asked Mr.. Mckinley to do this,
told him that if he failed to do so, the
fight over civil service among the repub1-
cans in both branches of congress would
make it impossible for the party to win
in the congressional election next fall
and would probably result in the repeal
of the entire civil service law, as the
democrats in caucus decided that they
would vote solidly for repeal, but would
net vote for any bill proposing modifica-
tions which would only result in replacing
democrats, now in office, with republicans.
Senator Teller and Wolcott led such a
vigorous fight on the nomination of Chas
Bage Bryan to be minister to China, that
his nomination, although made out, was
not sent to the senate. Exactly why the
Colorado senators made this fight is IN
certain; they say that Bryan has neither
the judgement nor the experience to fill
such an important position. Bryan's
nomination is credited to Illinois, bu
Senator Cullom and Mason, while not op
posing him, are. not doing anything tt
help him.
Those who know what's going on are
predicting that another batch of disbarreC
attorneys will be the result of the inves
tigation now being made by acting com
complaints against so-called patent at
torneys, who get money from inventors
under pretense of securing and selling
foreign patents of their inventions, wheI
they know that it is impossible to ge
good foreign patents on the inventions O.
to sell them With Mr.. Greeley's sue
cess in conducting to the desired ISSUE
the greatest and most important investi
cation in the history of the patent Office
fresh in mind, his success in his new
effort to raise the standard of morals o
the patent bar, is not doubted.
The most important legislation, in fact
almost the only legislation, excepting tina
for the relief of the Klondike gold hunters
accomplished before the Christmas re
cess, which will last until January 5th
was the bill prohibiting citizens of the .
S. killing seals in the open seas. If tina
was all the bill did it would please tn
Canadians, who have refused all invita-
lions to join the U. s., Japan and Russia
in stopping open sea sealing, but it goe
much further. 1t prohibits the bringing
of sealskins, in any condition, into the U
s., under penalty of coniscation. As thi
country is the best market for seal-skins
this law-the bill will probably be signet
by the president before this is read-wil
be likely to open the eyes of both Canad'
and England to the fact that this countr.
means business.