The Meeker herald., 1899-06-10
WASHINGTON GOSSIP
AND DEPARTMENT NEWS.

The Duke of ARGOS, the new Spanish
minister, and his American wife are
passengers on the steamer Kaiser VIII
helm, and are expected to come to
Washington Immediately after their ar
rival. They will have a hearty well
come. The Duke of ARGOS was q very
popular member of society here when
he was known as Jack Brunetti and
was an attache of the Spanish legation.
AS Virginia LOwery the duchess was a
recognized belle. and her friends say
she once Tilted Admiral Dewey. IL
was a happy idea of the Spanish gov
ernment to select the Duke of Arcos to
reopen diplomatic relations between
the two countries, and he and the duch-
ess will be conspicuous figures in
Washington society next winter.
All of the British colonies in Ameri-
ca are about to send agents to the
United States to negotiate reciprocity
treaties, and the first delegation is ex-
pected this week. The Industrial and
commercial condition of the British
colonies is deplorable, particularly
those where sugar is grown, and that
is the staple of most of them. The
price paid by the sugar trust for raw
sugar after the tariff duty is deducted
is so low that the planters cannot make
a profit, but If they did not have to pay
the duty sugar planting would pay.
They ship all their sugar to the United
States in the raw state. and the trust
is their only customer. therefore it can
regulate prices in most arbitrary
manner. They cannot ship their prod
uct to England or other parts of Eu-
rope, because it is impossible to com
pete with the bounty-paid beet sugar.
Therefore they must sell in the United
States, and the only way they can
make money is to induce the sugar
trust to increase the price or Uncle
Sam to lower the duty. They natur-
ally consider the latter alternative the
more easy to accomplish, and are pre-
pared to offer concessions in the way of
reduced duties on the goods they i'm
port from us rs an inducement.
The Post says: General Otis has in
formed the War Department that h
will be satisfied If the army under his
command be kept at maximum of
10000. The President will give him
this number. The situation in the
Philippines was the subJecr Of an ex-
tended conference to-day between the
President and Adjutant General Cor
bin. In view of the more or less alarm
ing reports which have been sent to
the United States from Manila, 1t Is
important to know that the President
does not share in the anxiety which
these dispatches have nearly created.
General Otis has kept in close touch
with the authorities here, and If he
was in tight position, which the
press reports seem to indicate, 1t is
felt that he would not hesitate about
making his dilemma known. On the
contrary, the advices received from
him show that he is not in need of
largely increased army. He has cabled
that press reports Of activity of the In
surgents south of Manila have been
greatly exaggerated and he thinks 3d.
600 men will be ample to meet all re-
quirements. The present strength of
the army in the Philippines, including
volunteers who are still in the service.
is 10000. When the volunteers return,
some 24.OOO regulars will remain, or
6,OOO less than the number estimated
as necessary by General Otis. The re.
Inducements now en- route to Manila,
or under orders to depart, will bring
the total regulars up to the required
figure. but as there will be consider
able loss through sickness 1t Is pro-
posed to decrease the companies now
stationed in garrisOns in this country
to the minimum and increase the com
panies In the Philippines to the maxi
mum.
A newspaper correspondent speaking
of the revenues of the government
says: The monthly report of the con-
dition of the government finances,
which will be issued from the treasury
tomorrow, will show unprecedented
prosperity. The revenues from all
sources exceed the expectation of the
most sanguine. They are nearly 20 per
cent. greater than the estimate submit
ted to Congress, and it is uusally the
other way. The receipts from import
dues under the Dingley tariff laws are
considerably in excess of the predic-
tions made by their author when he
was trying to get votes for the bill In
the House of Representatives. and the
of the war tax are beyond the
highest calculations. Yesterday was
was not an unusual day, yet the re-
ceipts Mt the treasury from ordinary
sources were only S65, 900 less than So
OOO, 600, and the receipts for the month
of May. with one more day to hear
from, will exceed $41 100000. Already
there Is m excess of S2.2J5. 545 over eX-
and the disbursements
have been unusually heavy-S3s. .23S,-
COO for twenty-seven days. This in
cludes S12,0O0.00O for pensions. $4,000
600 for interest. S9OOO.OOO for the
army, $4,5OO.OOO for the navy and ST.
SOC, 900 for miscellaneous civil expend-
lures. The same evidences of prosper
ity are seen in every branch of the gov
ernment. The receipts in the land Of
flee are much larger than usual. and in
dicate that the farmers who have
proved up their claims are able to pay
cash for them. The receipts at the pat
ent office show unprecedented activity
among the mechanical Industries. while
the revenues of the postoftice depart
ment, which are the best barometer of
the commercial condition of the coun-