Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1897-10-27
Washington Letter.
From our Regular Correspondent. ]

WASHINGTON, October %, 1897
Secretary Gage has not yet even
started to put his annual report on
paper, although the subject has prob
ably not been out Of his mind many
hours at time since he became sec
rotary of the treasury; therefore the
enterprising newspaper men who
have, by making use of an old inter-
view with Mr.. Gage just before he
came to Washington and a little
guessing, attempted to give the public
in advance the financial recommend
atoms that the secretary will make
in his annual report are a little pre-
mature, not to use harsher term
Especial care will be taken by Secre-
tary Gage to prevent his financial
recommendations becoming public
until his annual report has been
made.
Secretary Sherman put stop to a
lot OF nOnsensical stories when he
announced his intentions of going to
Ohio for the purpose of casting his
vote for the Republican state and
legislative tickets, in the success of
both of which he is deeply interested.
Assistant Secretary Howell, of the
Treasury department, who has direct
charge Of the custom houses of the
country, has just returned from a
visit of inspection to Detroit and
Chicago He says he found business
booming, and added: The total
value of exports provisions, includ-
ing cattle and hogs, from the north
ern border districts during the month
of September were 81, 281, 243
| against 1913, 1853 IN September, 1896,
| and In addition there was a large in
crease in the exports of domestic
manufactures over tnat September
last year" That's what protection
is doing for the United States.
Ii the charges which have been filed
with the Postoffice department
against Postmaster Mowry, at
| Charleston, S. O.. are true, he has
been making public office private
snap sure enough. He has held the
office for about eleven years, hav-
ing been originally appointed during
the first Cleveland administration
and left in Office during the Harrison
administration because of the failure
OF the Republicans of the city and
Postmaster General Wanamaker to
agree upon his successor. He received
his third commission during the last
Cleveland administration, and it has
about a year to run before it expires,
but if the investigation now being
made substantiates the charges made
against him, he will probably be
summarily dismissed. One of those
charges is that ever since he has been
postmaster he has had in force set
Of rules for the trihing infraction of
which fines have been imposed upon
the employees of the Office, and that
these fines, which aggregate a large
sum, have been pocketed by Mr..
Mowry.
William P. Smyth, United States
consul at Hull, England, has made an
official report to the department of
state that ought to be read by every
| opponent of a protective tariff in
this country. This report says in
part: "'The fall of 1897 recalls the
fall of 1890, when the Mckinley bill
put it's first crimp in English compe-
! titiOn. | remember the staggering
| blow it received when the bill had a
chance to reach out with full swing,
and what a loud and terrific shout
went up from all parts of the king
dom for retaliation. But il the Nc
Kinley bill floored English industries,
in 1890, and held them in subsection
for three years, while our manufact-
uring interests at home were per-
mitted to enjoy a brief period of
prosperity, the Wilson bill brought
them to their feet in a hurry again.
It's enactment was boon and a
blessing to English labor. The bill
might have been appropriately styled
IAN act for the revival of British
trade 1t lit up the fire under many
d boiler in Yorkshire, and set in
motion many thousand looms that
had lain locked in disuse for years
1t made the United States the dump
ing ground for foreign products, and
tended to impo verish American labor
by lessening the demand that sus-
tanned it, and diminishing the oppor-
tunities that advanced it. These
statements are incontrovertible A
comparison OF the exports for the
.;c l.,