The Press., 1897-04-22
Washington Letter.
Washington, April


 E If the house Is to continue its pro- gramme, as seems reasonably certain, 1t may be little difficult for that body to respond to President McKinley's special message asking that the necessary leRis- lation for the official participation of the U. s. government in the Worlds expo sition to be held in Paris, in 1900, be put through congress. It could, of course, be done by unanimous consent" but important as the matter is, there might be obiectors in the house, not because they object to the legislation itself, but because they might object to that method of passing 1t. The method that will most probably be adopted, will be to report a special rule from the committee on rules. just as was done when the house passed the leftover appropriation bills. Many persons regard this matter as one of the most important that will come before this session of congress and one that should be speedily disposed of, as the time will be none too mucn in which to arrange for a creditable showing for Uncle Sam at the Paris exposition. There should be no politics ih this.
 It Is difficult to understand what the the unseemly wrangle among themselves which characterized two last meetings of the house. It seems to an uDprejudiced person that they ought to be able to see that Speaker Reed gave them recognition on their claims of "personal privilege just to allow them to thump each other for the edification of their opponents and for the amusement of the crowded gal leries. And it ought to be equally clear that the editor of the local paper, who declared that Representative Bailey, of Texas, wore a Reed collar, and who was denounced by MT. Bailey, as a malicious and infamous liar, has taken sides in the wrangle more to gain notoriety for his paper than for anything else. Some of those engaged in this wrangle have claimed that Mir. Bryan was opposed to Mir. Bailey being the leader of the minority in the house. This may be true, but If 80 MT. Bryan took especial pains when he was in Washington last week to leave a contrary impression, by being particularly attentive to MT. Bailey. The whole thing Is a tempest in a teapot anyway. The majority of the house sometime ago decided upon a programme which they have so far car ried out to the letter, and which every body knows they can continue to carry out just as long as they desire, regardless of what the minority does. The wrang- ling in the minority Is over the somewhat ridiculous question of whether the will of the majority shall be quietly bowed to or whether the minority shall kick their toes against the stones and butt their heads against an immovable brick wall everytime the house meets, the Baileyites being for quietly submitting, and the anti's for kicking, putting and bowling.
 The republican members of the senate finance committee are finding the tariff fight quite warm. Western senators have demanded that duty be put on hides and that radical changes be made in the wool schedule, and both demands are being bitterly fought by eastern senator's. These fights may delay the reporting of the bill to the senate, but If they are fought to a finish in the committee, it will greatly lessen the time that will be need ed to get the bill through the senate. If the arbitration treaty Is not ratified during the present week, 1t will probably not be ratified at all. Opinion differs as to how the vote will stand if Senator Davis succeeds in getting one taken. He Is confident that the treaty will be rati fled, but the opponents of the treaty ap, pear to be equally confident that it will not be- =:
 The, vacancies in the senate committees will be filled probably this week., AL though they are to be filled under an gIeements between the republicans and the democrats, the populists and the silver republicans are not to be. discrimi- mated against. The agreement was reach ed by both sides receding little from their original demands and Is. as most things of the sort are, a compromise, but Fthe general impression Is that the com bined silver forces will get slightly the best end of the deal. The republicans will retain the chairmanships of all the important committees, but there are number of them upon which the oppos1- tion will constitute the majority.