The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-08-15
A SHARPER'S KLONDIKE
NUMEROUS AT WASHING
TON AND EASILY CAUGHT.
GOvernm ent Clerks Fond of Trying
ton Lobby-ContrOIIer TraceweIl.
spseial to the Indianapolis journal.

| a profitable field for promoters of Alaskan
gold-developing schemes, and great many
| of them are being hoated in the town. In
| all the country there is class so easily
| worked" as the clerks who are employed
| In the departments. They form an army
of 10000 men and women, and the aggre-
| gate surplus available for small individual
| investments is quite large amounting
| probably to 81 600 600 more a month. A
favorite method adopted oy sharpers for
| getting hold Of a share of this surplus is
to inveigle the clerks into speculation in
| bucketshops. The clerks probably lose from
! 5000, 900 to $3.50 900 month in this way there
| being forty to fifty of such concerns in
| full blast. Formerly the Louisiana lottery
bled the town freely and in those days
| open gambling permitted Now all the
card playing that is done is poker in hotels
and private houses and the blackboard is
| the only form of speculation open to the
| small players. The introduction, therefore,
| of Klondike promotion enterprises is well
! coined as a relief, and as a chance for the
| expenditure of accumulated savings In
| huential officials are very chary about the
! use of their names in connection with the
| numerous gold-hunting companies, but
| everybody more or less, is contributing
| cash in the way of subscriptions The only
| Washington official of prominence who has
| gone to the front openly is Hon. Benjamin
| Butterworth of Ohio who is vice president
and director of &londike developing cor
poration organized by Gas" Addicks, of
Delaware, New York and Boston. Ex-Gov-
ernor James T.. Campbell of Ohio, also
figures conspicuously in the same way in
! another company.
Gen. Ben Butterworth, by the way, is
al to
increase in the visible supply of gold. He
took a lively interest in the scheme of the
Chicago syndicate that was trying few
weeks ago to form partnership with the
government in the manufacture of gold
from tin, but when the treasury officials
sat down on the proposition he dropped il
like hot potato.
The clerks in the the departments of
Washington are now very well protected
against sharpers and Adventures of the
ordinary sort They had come to be re-
garded as such easy money" by the wolves
of society that Congress some years ago
went into the guardianship business, and
| enacted variety of laws to make it more
difficult for the outside world to get at the
money of the government employees. The 10
| per centers. who used to fill the depart
ments on pay days and grab the earnings of
| the clerks have been barred out. Penalties
| against gambling have been made so harsh
| that the professionals find it impossible to
| do anything in the District. Strong efforts
| have been made to clean out the bucket
| shops, but the men who run them have been
| able to battle the authorities by conform
| ing to the outward rules and usages gov
| erning legitimate transactions. 1t is doubt
| full if these concerns can ever be success
| fully attacked. Under its present form of
| government, Washington is a highly moral
| city, so far as public form" goes. 1t is a
| straightlaced community in it's local man
| agement, and its morals are jealousy
| guarded by a Board of Commissioners who
are opposed to license in every form. Wash
| ington is essentially a clean town.
There is going to be a big lobby in Con-
gress next year against the annexation of
the Hawaiian islands 1t will be headed by
a gentleman who has been suspected of
| close Identification with the Sugar Trust,
| although he has Indignantly repealed
| charges to that effect. Senator Allen, of
| Nebraska, will be his right-hand man. Sen
| ator Allen introduced the first resolution
for the annexation of Hawaii, but strange
| ly enough he is now found on the other
| side and is bitterly opposed to the ratifica-
| ton of the treaty. He says that conditions
| have changed" since he introduced his an
nexation resolution, and he explains the re-
| Versal of his position by the statement that
American sentiment will not consent to
| the addition to the population of $4,000 or
| 49, 900 Japanese and Chinese on plane with
| our free-born and emancipated labor. He
| contends that the admission of these low
grade laborers will be in direct violation of
existing laws against anti-coolie immigra-
tion Senator Allen is a candidate for
election, and he will have his campaign
to make next year. One good turn deserves
another, and it will be strange, indeed, if
the annexation lobby does not contribute
a liberal supply of the sinews of war for
him. Senator Allen will be assisted by a
very energetic contingent in the Senate
which processes to believe that if Hawaii
is annexed the marrow will be taken from
the backbone of the Monroe doctrine, and
that the United States by voluntarily going
out of its way to take on remote territory
will give the nations of the old world ample
excuse for mixing into the affairs of the
western hemisphere. 1t is not believed that
the lobby will be able to defeat the ratifca-
ton of the Hawaiian annexation treaty, but
it will undoubtedly be sufficiently formid-
able to delay favorable action and to keep
up fight that may last several months.
Those who are on the inside of affairs
are still laughing over the manner in which
the Canadian Pacific lobby was caught
asleep during thel last days of Congress The
thing was done so quietly and so ceverly
that the lobby did not awaken to the fact
until a few days ago. By the very finest
diplomatic maneuvering and the combina-
ton of many interests the agents of the
Canadian Pacific Railroad had been able,
through a period of ten or twelve years, to
prevent the contamination sought to be at
tanned when two three sections of the
treaty of Washington were abrogated.
This mere statement conveys no meaning
to the general public, but when it is ex-
planned that by means of its maneuvering
the Canadian road was able to hold a prac-
teal monopoly on the cross-country trans
portation of the tens of millions of dollars
worth of merchandise imported from China
and japan and other Eastern countries the
importance of the play will be realized
While the matter was being held in abey-
ance in the State and Treasury Depart
ments the Canadian Pacific was free TO I'M
derbid it's American competitors who We're
held TO the schedule by the interstate-com-
merce law but now all imported merchan-
disc that is hauled over the Canadian route
to points in the United States is subject
TO a discriminating duty of 10 per cent
III, ba, 4 ;ts,