The times., 1898-02-03
CAPITOL GOSSIP.


ent in comparing notes and preparing
| Tor the campaign next fall and the cleo
ton of Democratic Congress. He
said that no special conference had
taken place, but that the friends of sill
| YER were mingling together in a har-
| monlouS manner, holding impromptu
| conferences when three or four hap
/! pened to come together. In his opinion
| the outlook for the friends of silver at
| the next general election is particularly
| bright and promising, and ne predicted
| good majority for silver in the next
| House.
| From what has transpired within the
| last week it is plainly evident that the
| silver men throughout the country are
| making an effort to perfect an organi-
| zation as complete in detail as that
| which governs either of the two great
| parties, and thatsit is more than prob
| able that before the summer closes q
national organization of proportions
| that will carry dismay into Wall street
| Will have been effected. Complete CO.
| operation has meyer existed between
| silver organiZatioiis although their af-
| filiations have been the same in the
| effort to obtain the same result.
1t is said THAT Charles Towne, OF
| Wisconsin, chairman of the silver Re-
| publican national committee. has been
| devoting the two weeks time that he
| has been in Washington to the effort to
bring about complete national organ-
| Zation of silver men, for the purpose
of forcing more plainly the issue be-
fore the people of free silver and the
| gold standard - Another significant
| thing is that Joseph G. Sibley, Il former
| member of the House, andsone of the
| silver leaders in Pennsylvania has, for
the last day or two, been seen at the
Capitol holding consultations with the
silver Senators and Representatives,
and a portion of the time he has been
accompanied by Mr. Towne.
a member yesterday received 4
telegram from former Senator Dubois
of Idaho, chairman of the Silver Re
publican national executive committee,
announcing that he was on his way to
the capital. and the daily papers have
announced that William j. Bryan IS
about TO come East to consult with
some of the leading advocates of free
silver. 1t was said at the Capitol yes
terday that all of these apparent coinci-
dences have been prearranged, and the
impression created is that the sole OBJ
ject of the gathering of these leaders IS
for the purpose of advancing the cause
of free silver, and that the adNisabilIty
of attempting to consolidate the Tree
silver men of all parties into one grand
party is to be discussed and determined
rpon.
The proposed creation of a new Cab
met officer. to be known as the Secre-
tary of Commerce and Industry, viii
probably be decided upon Friday, when
the House Committee on Commerce VIII
hold a meeting. The members Of this
committee are at present divided in
.;r,tn nd hl hat a G.hTg
promise will be effected which Will
create the office of Commissioner of
Commerce. who will be under the di-
rection of the Secretary of the Treas
ury.
The Hawaiian annexation treaty may
be defeated, but it will not be rejected
because Of the refusal of the House to
pass the Teller resolution, nor because
of the failure of the silver men to Sc
cure legislation satisfactory to them, as
has been asserted in some of the East
ern papers.
The Hawaiian and the silver ques-
ticns cannot and ought not to be linked
together" said Senator Teller. "Ev-
erybody knows where | stood on the
silver question. and there ought not
to be any doubt as to my feeling with
respect to Hawaii / am one of the
most ardent of the anneXatipnistS. The
silver question has absolutely nothing
to do with it. and those silver men who
have been favorable to annexation are
still so The two subjects are separate
and distinct propositions, and have no
business being copsidered together.
Ex-Congressman Charles Towne. of
Minnesota. chairman of the national
silver party. was at the Capitol yes
terday in conference with the silver
leaders. Mr.. Towne leaves tomorrow
for the Pacific coast, accompanied by
Mrs. Towne. He has been booked for
something like twenty speeches in Cal
ifornia. Oregon and Washington.
James f. Edwards. of Missouri. one
of the doorkeepers Of the Senate on
Tuesday celebrated his sixtieth birth
day anniversary Mr.. Edwards has
been a messenger and doorkeeper since
the Forty-fourth Congress, and dur
ing his twenty-five years has seen
many men come into prominence and
then pass into oblivion. Statesmen
come and go, but he remains.
When the diplomatic bill comes up
in the Senate the friends of Cuba and
Hawaii are to attack it Jointly. Sena-
tor Hale, of the Committee on Appro-
priatiens. understands that something
of this sort is to be done, and he will
postpone reporting it until the latest
possible moment. IL there is anything
he can do to help Spain and hinder the
friends of Cuba he will not be slow in
doing it. 1t is customary in the SEN
ate to give notice of amendments that /
are intended to be offered to bills, but !
this policy will not be pursued with re-
Spect to the diplomatic bill. Senators I
FRYE, Chandler, Mason, and Morgan [
propose to take Mr.. Hale unawares, so /
far as the official record is concerned. /
When he reports his diplomatic bill /
and calls il up for consideration several I
amendments Will be offered, and the /
chances are good that every one OF /
them will be adopted. Among these /
amendments will be one granting bel I
ligerent rights to the Cuban insur- |
gents: another appropriating the sala =
ry of a minister to the Cuban republic, /
and still another incorporating in the I
bill the full text of the Hawaiian an /
nexation treaty. There is little doubt |
but that the Senate would agree to all |
three of these. and the friends of Cuba /
and Hawaii are in such mood that if /
they are not agreed to there will be no
appropriation bill. When
the diplomatic bill then goes back to
the House that body will be brought
face to face with the Cuban and Ha-
Waiian questions. If the Senate amend
ments are agreed to in toto the con-
summation so devoutly to be wished
will be had, but if they disagree, as is
more likely, the disputed matters will
go to conference, and the House can