The Arizona sentinel., 1897-01-30
WASHINGTON LETTER.
From Our Regular Correspondent.)

IfJohn Bull is really behind thai
 sensational protest against the Nicaragua canal bill, made to Sec
 retary Olney by the Minister of the
 Greater Republic of Central Amer
 ica, and sent to the Senate by sec-
 retary Olney, John Bull has made
 a break by showing his hand too
 soon. Of course the protest, by rshowing that the government of
 Nicaragua already regards the canal
 company as having forfeited all the
 concessions granted it by that gov ernment, will kill the present
 Nicaragua canal bill, but 1t will also go much further. It may
 kill the arbitration treaty recently
 negotiated between the United States and Great Britain. It has
 been openly charged on the floor
 of the Senate that English di- plomaey was working through the combination of those three little Central American Republics to put England in a position where 1t could either control or have a share in controlling the Nicaragua ship canal. This may or may not be true, but so long as there are grounds for suspicion, there will be danger that the arbitration treaty will be rejected by the Senate. If there is one policy upon which the Senate is practically unit, it is that the Nicaragua canal shall, if ever com pleted, be controlled by the United States, and if 1t be shown that this question might have to be submit ted to arbitration with the casting vote, in the hands of European monarch, then goodbye to the arbitration treaty. The Senators who have openly protested agaist the public clamor for immediate ratification of the treaty, on the ground that 1t was too important a
 matter to behurriedly acted upon, regard this Nicaragua canal in cident as a vindication of their position. Secretary Olney, how ever, dosn't take that view of it, and would not have been so prompt in sending that protest to the Senate had he supposed that it would cause additional delay in acting on the treaty.
 Some of his colleagues are in aclined to poke fun at Senator Pef-I fer because of the petition from Kansas populists against increas- ing the salaries of Senators and Representatives and extending the term of the President, he has pre- scented since he was defeated, and l an ex-Confederate elected to be his successor. There isn't the slightest probability that the bill to increase the salaries of Senators and Re- presentatives will even be seriously considered, but Senator Peffer is joculariy accused of holding back those petitions until he knew he would have to leave the Senate.
 The refusal to appoint a woman to vacant $500 clerkship in the war department, for which she had passed very difficult examination and was the only one eligible under civil service rules, is likely to be made the subject of Congressional investigation. The examination required that the applicant should be able to translate into English military works Tn French, German, Italian and Spanish; to do type in all of these languages; to do proof reading and prepare manuscript for the press, to be familiar with library methods, cataloguing, indexing, etc.; also to be tested in the use of the En- glish language and literary com position. Miss Maud Stalnaker, of Washington, D. C., was the only one who was able to pass the ex- but the War Department refuses to appoint her to the posi- , jion because she is woman.
 So much has been written about he lack of dignity on the part of ; gx-Representative "Billy" Mason, ] # Ill.,, who was last week named by the legislature as Senator oalmer's successor, that his friends ( lre rightfully beginning to protest. Mr. Mason is popular in Washing
 Awarded Highest Honors-Wofid's Fair, I
 G0ln Medal Midu1infaR Eninl