The Republican., 1900-08-16
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.
WASHINGTON, D. c., August 10, 10


ephone, keeps just as well posted in
Canton on the news from China as he
could if he were in the White House.
Every official message sent to China
has been dictated by him. The mes
sage sent to Minister Conger, in ans
wer to his exposure of the fraud prac
ticed by the Chinese Government up
on the foreign ministers in Pekin by
telling them that their governments
were urging that they be sent to Tien
Tsin under escort, has not been and
will not be made public. Mr.. Conger
had been previously instructed to re
main in Pekin until the arrival of the
allied army, and the fact that Russia
has instructed it's Minister to leave
Pekin under a Chinese escort will not
change Mr.. COnger's instructions.
This government has nothing to do
with the landing of British troops at
Shanghai; consequently no action will
be taken at the request of Ii Hung
Chang that it use it's good offices to
prevent their being landed
Col. NJ NJ. Parker, National Com
mitteeman for the District of Colum-
bia, who has just returned from a Wis
it to Canada, is one of those who does
not regard the political calm as indi-
eating Republican over confidence,
but as Indicating absolute certainty
that Mckinley and Roosevelt are to
be elected and the present prosper
Gus times continued indefinitely. Col.
Parker said: while on my way
home ! stopped at several places in
the Eastern States, but | heard no
politics, saw no badges, and found as
little interest taken in politics as in
any off year. The country is pros
porous. The conditions are such that
the whole people not only will decline
to make change, but they are not
going to waste time talking even of
the possibility of such thing
Another man who sees things as
Col. Parker does is Mr.. Chas. W. Grif-
fin, Massachusetts business man,
now in Washington, who said: 1.-THE
people are not talking politics in New
England. Every one regards the
election of Mckinley as a foregone
conclusion, and the fact of the mat
ter is, the people are too busy and too
prosperous to waste their time on
what they regard as possible CON
tingency. In my opinion, Mr.. Bryan
stands not the slightest chance for
election, although | will admit that
too much confidence is sometimes
dangerous in politics.
One of the first things that Secre-
tary Long will have to tackle when
he returns from his vacation will be
the bids for armor submitted under
the provisions of the Naval Appro-
priation Bill for the current fiscal
year. The Carnegie and Bethleham
Companies submitted identical bids,
each for half of the armor desired,
the whole to be furnished within five
years. The Midwife Steel Company
submitted a bid, somewhat lower
than the other two, for the entire lot
of armor, but it will require eight
years to furnish it all. None Of these
bids are entirely satisfactory as to
time, as the ships for which the ar
NOR is needed are contracted to be
furnished in three years, and the gov
ernment is obligated by the contracts
to furnish the armor as fast as it is
needed, and its failure to do so might
give the ship builders foundation for
Long has authority to accept either
of these bids or to reject them all and
expend $4,000,000 in establishing a
government plant for making armor.
There are reasons for the belief that
the Democratic National Committee
is concocting a scheme for the whole
sale purchase of small German papers
in order to try to create the impress
sion that there is an extensive Bryan
sentiment among the German voters
A gentleman who claims to know
something of the details of this scheme
said: II know that the Democratic
Committee has large fund which is
TO be used exclusively on the German
press. 1t has a number of Germans
employed to work the German edi
tors. Cash will be paid for Bryan
matter in German papers when edi'
tors are willing to accept it,and when
they refuse to sell the political poll
cies of their papers the papers will be
bought outright if possible, and turn
ed into Bryan organs" This scheme
will enable a few German editors tC
unload Improbable newspaper prop
critics upon the Democratic Commit
tee, but to assume that it will make
any considerable number Of voters is
an insult to the intelligence of ouI
German citizens, who are about as
hard to bunco as any class of our peo-
pie. The average German carefully