The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1899-03-03
Washington Letter.
From our regular Correspondence

President Mckinley will take no
part III the contest which is now in
the Senate, and which will determine
whether an extra session of Congress
Will have to be called There will be
no necessity for an extra session, un-
less the democrats filibuster to prevent
vote being taken on the Hull army
bill. If they are willing to take that
responsibility, they can do so. An
attempt is being made to bring about
a compromise tnat will let the demo-
Gratis who are opposing the Hull bill,
down easy, but republicans are not
concerned in it, and Senator Hawley,
chairman of the military committee,
who has charge of the Hull bill, says
he will accept no compromise; that it
shall be the Hull bill or nothing.
Senators are determined that they
shall not be charged with responsible
ity for the failure OF Nicaragua Canal
legislation at this session. The House
having, by majority vote, sustained
the ruling of its presiding officer, that
the Canal Bill was out of order as an
amendment to the Sundry Civil bill,
and 1t being certain that no time can
be secured in the House for considera-
tion of the Hepburn Canal bill, which
was made substitute for the Morgan
bill and reported to the House, the
Senators propose giving the House
another opportunity to act upon Canal
legislation, that cannot be blocked by
points of order, by putting the Hep
burn Canal bill in the River and Har-
Dor bill. The bill so amended has al
reapy been reported to the Senate, and
there is no doubt that it will pass that
body.
The Naval Reorganization bill will
become law in few days. 1t is now
in conference, having been slightly
amended before passing the Senate,
but it will go to the President shortly.
Senator Frye has offered an amend
ment to the Sundry Civil bill, author
izing the payment of 100000 a year
for twenty years, by the government
for the use of Pacific cable, from
some point in the U. S. to China and
Japan, via Hawaii, Guam and the
Philippines, provided that the cable
be in working order to Honolulu by
July l, 1900, and to Manila by Jan. ], +,
1901, and that. messages Of the U. S.
government he carried free forever.
No one was surprised, after the
Canal bill was ruled off the Sundry
Civil bill, on a point of order to see
the item approprlatlng 20,000,000 to
carry out the terms of the Treaty of
Peace with Spain go the same road.
But the money will be paid. Repre-
sentative Cannon has introduced bill
making the appropriation, which will
go through all right. The attempt of
Representative Gillett, of Mass. to mix
up the appropriation and the McEnery
resolution, adopted by the Senate last
week, will do no harm, as the bill will
never be heard of again.
Mr.. A. E. Noyes, a well-known Min
neapolis lawyer, wagered a case Of
champagne against case OF beer that
the democrats will not nominate Bry-
an next year. The wager was taken
by Representative Jones, of Washing
ton, but when Mr.. Noyes offered TO-
make the same wager that President
Mckinley would be renominated and
reelected, Mr.. Jones declined.
When President Mckinley, in his
Boston speech, punctured the lmperl-
alistic balloon which the democrats IN
Congress have been trying SO hard to
get sufficiently inflated take it off the
ground, he also punctured the hopes
OF numerous democrats, who, having
nothing else in sight to make an issue
out of, had been hoping that the straw
man of imperialism they have been
trying 20 set up under that balloon
might be used Needless to add that
the Presidents remarks pleased the
republicans in Congress, because they
were in accord with nearly alb their
speeches. There arc no advocates of
imperialism in this country, nor is
there likely to be, simply because there
is no room for such under our form Of
government.