The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1900-04-20
OUR WASHINGTON LETTEE.
WASHINGTON, D. c., April 10th.

Mr.. EDIToR:-A dministration Senators
and Representatives are wrang,ing fear
fully over the plums made available by the
Porto Rico Act, which goes into effect
May list. Nearly everyone of them is
grabbing after at least one of the biggest
and juciest of these plums for constitu
ent and they are making Mr.. Mckinley
very weary by their persistency. The Sc
lection of Mr.. c. H. Allen to be governor
was entirely personal on the part of Mr..
Mckinley, just as the same gentleman was
personally chosen by Secretary Long to
be Assistant Secretary of the Navy when
Teddy" Roosevelt resigned that office to
become rough rider If some of the
men who are after the other places over
there succeed in getting them Mr.. Allen
will have to keep his eyes wide open to
prevent his administration of the affairs
of the island getting into the breakers of
scandal.
1t is little puzzling to understand why
the administration is preventing action on
the Nicaragua Canal bill at this session of
Congress, but perfectly plain that it is
doing so through its agents in both House
and Senate. There is something behind
the desire to postpone this legislation,
which has been endorsed by all the politi
cal parties and by the public sentiment of
the country as well. Of course, Mr.. Nc
Kinley isn't openly anita gonizing the Canal
bill, but it was administration Senators
who voted down Senator Morgan's motion
to take up the Canal bill, and it has been
administration Representatives who have
headed off Representative Hepburn's sew
eral attempts to get a date set for its con-
sideration by the House
A bill to make more republican patron
age, which can be utilized in the coming
campaign. has been reported from the
House Census Committee. 1t provides
for the creation of Census. rinting office,
with superintendent at $4,000 year,
and large force of printers and book
binders. In previous censuses this work
has been done at the government printing
office, and there is no other reason than
greed for more patronage on the part of
republicans why it should not be done
there for this census.
1t is bad enough for paid lobbyists to
engage in manufacturing public sentiment
in favor of or against pending legislation
in Congress, out it is infinitely worse for
a bureau of the government to engage in
T,<o
Commission has been sending out thou
sands of circular letters, printed and
mailed at public expense, asking that let
tiers be written to Senators and Represen-
tatives to make them support the Cullom
BILL for the enlargement of the power of
that Commission. The exposure of this
official lobbying has caused sensation in
Congress, and it ought to cause the sum-
mary dismissal of every official who either
participated therein or countenanced it. |
but Mr.. Mckinley's backbone is hardly |
equal to such heroic treatment of the case
Only one democrat in Congress is pub |
licly supporting Admiral Dewey for the
democratic nomination for President |
That is Representative Levy, of New |
York, who is very nice gentleman, but |
who has not been recognized as one of the |
democratic leaders. Admiral Dewey now |
openly says that it is the anti-Bryan demo- |
Gratis from whom be expects support
enough to get the democratic nomination, |
but where he expects to find enough of |
that brand of democrats to come within a |
hundred miles of nominating him, is some
thing that is beyond the comprehension of
ordinary folk. proposition in connec- |
ton with Admiral Dewey's candidacy is
being talked about in Washington, and it |
would be good thing to carry out. 1t is
that Admiral Dewey and Col. Bryan shall |
pledge themselves to support the ticket |
nominated by the Kansas City Conven-
ton before their names are presented as |
candidates. Every Bryan man to whom
this proposition has been submitted has |
endorsed it. Admiral Dewey says he will |
make public this week a statement of his |
position on public questions. 1t awaited |
by the public with more curiosity than
anxiety.