Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1900-02-22
WASHINGTON LETTER
lrrom Our Regular corsspondsusl
wAsHrNo7oS, Feb. 10th. 100.


legislation of this Congress was
reached when the Senate passed the
republican Finance bill by healthy
and substantial majority. The bill
passed Is substitute for the bill
passed earlier In the session by the
House. Both bills will now 20 to q
Conference Committee, composed of
Senators and representatives, which
will decide which bill will he finally
put through, or whether 1t will be
more advisable to make composite
bill, composed OF parts of each. There
are differences In the bills, but mas
much as they both have the same OBJ
ject In view 1t will not be very diff
cult for the conference to reach an
agreement, and there is no doubt
that when an agreement Is reached,
it will be promptly ratified by the
House and Senate.
Chairman Payne, of the House
Ways and Means Committee, has
given notice that the Porto Rican
Tariff bill will be called up next Mon
day and kept before the House until
disposed of. The democrats are busy
circulating rumors OF republican op-
position to this bill, but the most
careful search has failed to find sim
gle republican member of the House
who will say that he will vote against
it. The bill will pass.
Senator Davis, Chairman of the
Senate Committee on Foreign Rela-
tions, which Is still considering the
Nicaraguan Canal treaty, never ex-
presses an opinion without knowing
what he Is talking about. Therefore,
when he expressed the opinion that
the treaty would be ratified, it car
ried more weight in Washington
than the stories. circulated largely
by paid lobbyists, to the contrary,
The stories of the strength Of the
opposition to the treaty have no bet
ter foundation than those alleging
that President Mckinley contemplate
ed withdrawing the treaty from the
Senate, and the last has absolutely
no foundation. President Mckinley
believes the treaty Is good one, and
that 1t will be ratified.
Representative Grosvenor, of Ohio,
| Chairman of the House Committee
on Merchant Marine and Fisheries,
which has charge Of the shipping
bill, gave out a statement concerning
the numerous fakes published about
this bill, in which he said: ut pro-
poses to put American vessels in the
foreign trade on an equality with the
foreign vessels now doing our carry
ing, When that Is done we expect
to see American shipyards turning
out the shipping that is needed to do
our foreign carrying. There are
some people who are so afraid that
this bill will give chance to Ameri-
can ships to secure share of our
foreign carrying that they can't
sleep nights, and tlese are the ones
who are Matching up the rumors,
false and partially false, with which
the people are being RECALLED in the
Opposition and free trade press. ]
don't find any of the American free
trade papers denouncing the subsi-
dies and bounties the foreign ships
in competition with our own receive.
They reserve their denunciations for
the suggestion that American ships
be put upon an equality of conditions.
1t is the same kind of situation
that we have confronted several
times on the tariff bill, and the coun.
try haze not been ruined by that. ]
believe there is no bill before Con
gress today that means"so much oil
material benefit to the nation and tt
the people in every part as this ship
ping bill"
There SCENE to be an almost unau
imous sentiment in Congress in favor
OF ending the session before the ma
tional conventions meet, and unless
something not now expected shall
turn up, and cause an extension o
the session the adjournment viii
probably take place about the frs
of June.
| Senator Allison was paid a higl
compliment when he was chosen b.
the republican caucus to be chairmal
of the Steering Committee of Seven
charged with arranging and control
ling the legislative program In tn
Senate for the remainder of the ses
, sion, and authorized to choose tn
other six members of the committee
but the republican senator kno,
Senator Allison's sterling qualities
that his experience fitted him 70
the place given him and also 70
choosing the right men as his asst
, ciates.
/