The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1897-04-10
WASHINGTON LETTER.
Regular Correspondence of the WING.
WASHINGTON, April 5, 1897


passed the House, receiving every Republic
can vote, five Democratic votes and one
Populist vote, is now in the hands of the
Senate Committee on Finance. Every
statement made concerning changes in the
bill by that committee is a guess. Senators
Allison, Aldrich, and Plat, of Conn, who
have been going over the bill as a sub COM
mittee are not the kind of men to announce
their conclusions, even when they have
definitely arrived at them, to the public,
before making their report to their COL
leagues on the committee When the COM
mittee decides upon the amendments to
the bill will be time enough to praise or to
criticize its work. Until then your guess
is as good as anybodys, if you must have a
guess
The honor of being the first fourth-class
postmaster appointed by President Nc
Killey fell to Mr., John p. Kelley, of
White Cloud, Kansas. The delay in max
ing appointments of this class was owing to
the change in the Office of Fourth Assistant
Postmaster General. Mr.. Bristow is now
occupying that position and will proceed as
rapidly as possible to fill the $500 vacan-
cies which have accumulated since the new
administration came in. There will prob
ably be an average of about 80 appoint
ments day made until the work gets up
to date.
Senator Elkins has for long time been
studying the question of how best to re-
store the old time prestige of American
shipping. As result of that study, he
made very strong speech in the Senate in
favor of his bill providing for the imposing
of duties upon imports in a manner that
will discriminate in favor of American
ships
President Mckinley seldom makes
promises in connection with appointments,
but he has made one that will please every
patriotic American, that is, to appoint
young Phil Sheridan a cadet to West Point
as soon as he reaches the aye Of eligibility,
which will be sometime next year.
Representative Grosvenor. of Ohio is
good lawyer, and the following opinion
from him on the decision of the Supreme
Court which so many persons, especially
Democrats, profess to think is opposed
by the amendment to the tariff bill
making the duties imposed by that
bill so into effect April |, and upon
the right of Congress to pass such an
amendment, is both timely and interesting
After citing other Misunderstanding, Mr.
Grosvenor says: "Simply and solely what
the Supreme Court did hold was that the
Wilson law, which went into effect on the
2Sth day of August, and was said to take
effect from the first day Of August, did not
repeal the Mckinley law until the day
when it was passed, and how anybody
could have had IA doubt about that is a
mystery to me, but the Supreme Court did
not hold that the long line of retrospective
legislation in the Wilson law was not ap-
proved. That law bristles with retro
spective legislation. Whiskey in bond and
not in bond that had been manufactured
and deposited in the bonded warehouse or
was on that day deposited at tax of
ninety cents, was Immediately raised to
$1.10. New bonds were required, the
whole system remodeled, but no lawyer in
the United States ever disputed the power
of Congress to pass just such an enactment
The best evidence of the popular estimate
Of this retroactive amendment is found in
the fact that the vast body of importers
who presumably have the very best legal
advice at their command, have all accepted
as conclusive that Congress has that power
President McKinley's appointments have
been uniformly good, and even his bitter
est political opponent have found it ex-
tremely difficult to criticize any of them,
and his appointment of Maj. Benjamin
Butterworth to be Commissioner of Patents
is commended by everybody, including
democrats and populsts. This is just as it
should be, for Maj Butterworth as Com
missioner Of Patents is surely the right
man in the right place. He is an able
lawyer and statesman of wide experience,
and having been Commissioner of Patents
once before, and had service on the House
Committe on Patents, is thoroughly IA
miliar with the important duties of the
position. He is quite large enough for a
Cabinet position, or for that matter for the
highest position in thecountry. But there
are few public places in which man OF
Maj. Butterworth'S equipment can do SO
much good as in the Patent Office The
practice in, and especially out of that office
is desperately in need of reform.
Hon. II. Clay Evans, the new Commits
Toner of Pensions is now in charge of that
office. He says his policy will be to justly
administer the pension laws, and his record
is such that his old comrades have every
confidence in his doing so.
The natural loss of hair, either by disease
or the age of the hair itself, may be replen.
ished with heavy growth by Halls Hair Re.