The Press., 1897-02-25
Washington Letter.
Washington. Feb. aad, 1877.

With all It's O0aSted dignity ana OellD~ eration the senate Is not above a bit of clap trap now and then. In view of its studied ignoring of the inhuman outrages in Cuba, right at our doors, so to speak, its latest effort In this line-the adoption | of resolution expressing sympathy with Greece for its stand in behalf of liberty in far away Crete-was about It's worst. As long as nothing is to be done for the cause of liberty in Cuba, 1t would seem to | be good taste to say nothing about liberty | elsewhere.
 The house committee on coinage has | favorably reported the senate information | al monetary conference bill, but 1t has added amendments which may cause the bill to fail, not because of opposition, but for lack of time. It is the opinion of nearly everybody that there Is only meagre chance for any legislation other than that which can be put on some ap- propriation bill as an amendment to get acted upon in the short time remaining of the session. There is much work yet to be done on several of the appropriation bills, and disposition, especially in the house, to wrangle over small items.
 An amendment offered to the sundry civil appropriation bill in the senate, may have far-reaching effect upon the feder- al oflce- holders, if it should be adopted.
 There Is no doubt about the meaning of this amendment. It Is intended to open the way for the appointment of @ large
 number of men in political sympathy
 with the incoming administration There are, however, a number of republicans
 who regret that this amendment has been
 brought forward. They claim that the
 president already has the authority 1t
 proposes to confer, and they like not the
 IntimatIon carried by the amendment that
 he has not.
 There will be some very spirited talking
 in the house when the naval appropriation
 bill, just completed, is taken Lp, but time
 and the rules will prevent It's being long
 drawn out. It Is expected that the princl-
 pal fight will be made against the item o
 S720, 900 for armor plate for vessels previ-
 ously authorized. The objection to the
 items is that 1t virtually authorizes a con.
 tinuance of the monopoly ofthe Beth leheu
 and Carnegie companies, notwithstanding
 the proof before the committee that thes'
 companies sold to Russia for $249 a tor
 exactly the same grade of armor that they
 charged the U. s. $55O a ton for. Th'
 ignoring of the offer of the Illinois Stee
 Company, one of the largest concerns of It's
 kind, to enter Into a contract to furnish
 the government all the armor plate fl
 a uniform price of $240 ton, Is not lik ed
 at all. Representative Hall of Missouri, a
 member of the naval committee Is expect ed to lead the fight against this item o
 the bill
 It Is already evident that a strong effor , is going to be made to induce Presiden
 Mckinley to revoke President Cleveland'
 recent order abolishing nine pension agen
 cies. Tennessee and Kentucky republi
 cans are already taking steps to bring th a matter to President McKinley's attention just as soon as he assumes office, and the,
 will probably be joined by others iron y states in which agencies were abolished I . self said: "If the arguments advance' - for the abolshment of half of the pension ? agencies are good, then all of them shoul, ba abolished, and the cheeks for pension be mailed direct from Washington a least, that Is the way 1t strikes me now may think differently when have time t, e look deeper Into the subject than hav been able to do up to thls tlme."
 The senate committee on public land - has begun an investigation of the issuin, by the interior department of a lanC
 patent for 23, ,000 acres in Florida to MT Perrlne, the present husband of Mrs Cleveland's mother, as the heir of D ' Henry Perrine, deceased, to whom tn, D original grant was issued. The settler U on the land claim that the original gran was legally forfeited nearly forty year ago, and threaten to carry the case int the courts unless the patent Is recalled. The acceptance of the presidency O Washington and Lee University by Post
 master General Wilson will place tha Q gentlemen back into an element that I 8 far better suited to him, mentally an - physically, that the hurly burly of activ, - politics which he entered when he becam IT a member of the house few years ago @ He was not cut out for a politician, an 3 must have realized it many times, whil Il In the educational field he will be thor v oughly at home. He has made no person ,- al enemies during his public career n although he has often been on the unpopu s lar side.