The Opelousas courier., 1899-04-01
Washington Letter.
rom our Regular CORRESPONDENT.

From our Regular Correspondent.
WASHINGTON, d. c., March q, 1899.
Whew! such a rumpus has not taken
place during the present administration
as is now raging around the head OF
Attorney. General Griggs. It's all
about q letter that Griggs wrote about
trusts. containing opinions that the re-
mainder of the administration are
afraid to stand for. Some of his fellow
members of the Cabinet have said a few
things to Griggs, but it is understood
that their remarks will be entirely for
gotten when Mr.. Mckinley returns and
empties the walls Of his wrath upon
him. Some Of the administration hang
crs-on say that Grigss was buncoed in
to writing tho letter by his correspond
ent, who asked for the information,
stating that he was a Republican and
that he would not have written IT had
he supposed it would be published. or
course, everybody knew that the ad-
ministratiOn was not untfiendly to the
trusts, with which Boss Hanna has such
close business relations, bat in defer
cnco to voters who do not share in the
profits Of the trusts, it has been under
stood by those who are close to tho
throne, that an antitrust plank was to
be inserted in the e Republican
platform, meaningless Of course, to
head off the Democratic claim that the
Republicans are responsible Tor all the
trusts. Mr.. Griggs must have known
this. Yet he wrote as follows, to q cor
respondent unknown to him personally.
concerning trusts: "As a matter of
fact, all of the companies which you
refer to IA now organizing for the pur-
pose Of securing complete Or partial
monopoly OF different branchesO Of man
ufacturc, are similar to the sugar COM
binatiou, and are not within the jurls-
diction of the Federal Courts. 1T amen
able to any law they are amenablc to
the laws Of the respective States" But
the following was the gem of the letter:
"With references to these large combi-
nation. Of capital, which are now form
ing, my Judgment is that tho danger is
not 40 much to tho community at large
as it is to the people who are induced to
nut their money into the purchase of
the stock" There is nothing in this
situation to make Democrats mad, buta
prominent Republican, after a number
Of unprintable things, said: "The At
torGey-General has gratuitously made
the announcement that the government
is poweriess to prevent or regulate the
/ u iiItIllIjii VA tpth ~.
to control the manufacture of the ne
cessaries of life, and he winds mp his
remarkable statement. with a f1lpDant
remark about the danger of invest
ing in trust stocks. Mr.. Griggs is III a
fair way te become sec0nd BucfIard to
the Republican party"
Senator Stewart, of Nevada, who new
er minces words when he expresses an
opinion, said of Col. Bryan's refusal to
attend the belmont Jefferson ban
auent Bryan made tho hit OF his
career when he refused to attend
the Belmont $40 dinner, Not one
Of tho crowd would ever vote
tho Democratic ticket, anyhow. Bry-
ans position brings him closer to the
people. Conserving with ~renesades
would estrange them from him ne
will certainly he renominated in 1900.
The Chicago platform will be reat1irmed
and the Democracy will win"
The heavy price Of American life and
| blood paid for our victories over the
| Fillpinos ii the heavy fighting OF
the last three days, in consequence OF
the movement of Gen. Otis against
Aguinaldo, adds interest to this plain
talk from Senator Mason, who is now
in Washington. Il tind," said Senator
| Mason, "a pronounced change of sentl-
| ment among men with whom | talk. Sub
| %stautial business men who tbreemOnths
ago were red-hot for expansion, now
say they have had enough of it. | ask
| them how about the prestige OF Their
country, and they say they care little
| about prestige derived from conqucring
| such men, but that the taxes resulting
| arc what we fear. The idea Of calling
| those FllipinOs rebels as some of our
,>,cc;ct in saniur ic rri,,ot
They have never taken the oath of al
legance to the u. S. They wanted In
! depeDdence from the start and they said
so. They will always hate US, and
nothing is to be gained by conquering
them. Even if we do overcome them,
| they will turn around and poison our
people. | have just learned from the
Surgeon-Ge Generals office that 81 per cent
of our men out there are afflicted with a
loathsome disease. This is a bad be-
ginning for our army. | am not a high
moralist, and not so much opposed
to stealing in itself but | do
question the judgment OF a man who
steals q red-hot stove that he is no pO.
sition to carry oft. Such q thief is a
fool. The attempt of the U. ). to steal
the liberty Of the Filipinos is OF the
same sort. / believe the American
people are waking up to this question"
cit is a little odd" said a prominent
New Yorker, "that none of the shrewd
newspaper men have nosed out the true
inwarlness Of the sudden friendship of
Boss Platt for Teddy Roosevelt. The
guess that Plat, who has been a gnest
at Teddy's Albany home, was
grooming Teddy to be a candidate
against Mckinley for the Republican
nomination for President next year, is
away off. PIatt pledged the New York
delegation to Mckinley in the early
days Of the present administration, and
his jol)ying Of Teddy is for the purpose
of preventing his trying to interfere
| with the carrying out OF that pledge.
Watch the result, and you will see that
| this is straight"