Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1900-08-16
WASHINGTON LETTER.
From our keguIaf E0rfesDondellfI
W ASH NGToN. AUGUST u. 1900


WASHINGTON, August 70, 1900
Russia dickering with China independ-
entity; England landing troops to Shanghai
where there had been no serious tfoubles
Germany naming the COMMUNICATIVE Chief
Of the foreign troops in China, and the
government Of China trying to trick the
foreign ministers at Pekin, including the
American Minister, into going out OF Pekin
to be killed by Chinese soldiers There are
q few of the important items Of news which
have come to Washington during the last
few DAYS. and haze had to be handled by
the suboriinates in charge during the con-
tinued absence Of Mr. Mckinley and Seere-
tary Hay One message was semi to
Minister f'onger that was made public, and
one was not. The first left him free TO
act IN his discretion, which leaves the
administration free to make an official
serapegoat Of him if lie should be 50 un-
fortunate as 80 make a mistake. That Is
also the sort Of order that General Chatfee,
who is in command Of the handful OF
Americans who are with the so-cailed allied
army, which has fought its way about one
fourth OF the distance between Tien Tslp
and Pekin, is acting under They are so
convenient you know II everything goes
right. they c4n be claimed as implying the
perfect confidence felt by this government,
etc; while il anything goes wrong II can be
charged to lack OF iudg neat OF BRAINS on
the part OF the agent.
Every iisenterested man who goes into
any portion Of the Middle West reports the
existence Of conditions which are calculated
to increase the confidence Of Democrats in
the election OF Bryan and Stevenson Mr..
j. II. Ralston. well-known Washington
LAWYER. has Just returned from a visit to
Quincy, Illinois, his old home. Speaking
of his trip he said: Il did not go West to
observe political conditions, but in the
course OF my journey | had numerous
opportunities to learn how things were
going At Quincy | had many intimate
friends, and / talked politics with a large
number Of them without indicating which
side | was disposed to favor. The character
of my information was very favorable to
the Democrats. can give you two instan-
ces which know TO be reliable. They are
Of men who used to practice law with me
in Quincy. One of them is Capt Michael
Piggott an freshman of much more than
local fame, who was postmaster OF Quincy
for eight years, and four years ago an
enthusiastic estar. of Mr.. Mckinley
and the Republican ticket. ITl;-- year he il
sulal,els for Mr. Bryan. He is man Of
.infsuenee in these parts and highly respected.
X other man ! have in my mind is w. A..
Richardson, the son of a former United
States Senator, and an ex-member of the
Legislature. In 1896 he was Gold DEM
zrsat. and wrote many articles supporting
Mr.. Mckinley. Now he is advocating Mr.
Byans election. There are many Germans
in that vicinity, and the German vote this
year will be with the Democrats. The
German farmers are against the administra-
ton Of Mr.. Mckinley, and will not sup
port him again. | took some pains to
secure accurate information on that point,
Mr.. T. j. Bailey, who is drummer with
headquarters at Little Rock, Arkansas, is
visiting Washington friends. He said of
the political attitude of the drummeIs:
THE drumnlers realize that their only hope
is in the election Of the Democratic ticket
The Democrats are pledged to enact legisla-
ton to control trusts, and unless something
is soon done to correct the evils of trusts it
will he but very little while before the
drummer viii find bis occupation gone
The drummers see the drift of the Repub-
lican party, which is controlled by the
trusts, and therefore it is to our interests to
do all we can to insure the election of
Bryan and Stevenson. | have failed to
meet any man who believes in changing the
Republic into an Empire. as the Republic
cans seem bent on doing. | have recently
met a number of Gold Democrats who sup
ported Mckinley in 1896, and they told me
they were for Bryan and would work day