The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1901-11-22
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.
WASHINGTON, D. c., November 18th

WAsHINGToN, D. c., November 18th
MIR. EDIToR:-The announcement from
Senator Vest, of Missouri that he will
under 70 circumstances consider re-
election to the Senate will prove matter
of regret to the democrats not only of
Missouri but of the country He has been
loyal democrat and consistent fighter
for democratic measures in the Senate for
nearly two decades Senator Vest laughed
when asked what the republicans would
do in the matter of the trusts. He said
that during the last Congress the republi
cans in the House passed bill making
the provisions of the Sherman law more
effective but the republicans never per
mitted it to come , vote in the Senate
They referred it to the Judiciary Commit
tee and there it died. Every effort of the
democrats to have it reported was de
feated. That shows pretty conclusively
how the republican party stands on the
trust question concluded the Senator
The cold experienced by the Alaskan
explorers would feel like genial warmth
compared with the chill that the spoils-
men have received during the past week
from announcements and rumors that
have emanated from the White House.
The President has declared that "all ap-
pointments in our dependencies" will be
made solely on the ground of merit. This
assurance was made to Mr.. Clinton r.
Woodruff, Chairman Of the Committee on
Dependencies Of the National Civil Ser
vice Reform League. Furthermore, the
President has allowed it to be known that
he will oppose Representative Hopkins
scheme for transferring the clerks of the
Census Bureau to the Civil Service CLASH
fed list, and it is rumored that all the
''laborers" in the departments, most of
whom, like Maclay of the Navy Depart
ment, are laborers in name only, are to be
placed within the jurisdiction of the Civil
Service Commission.
The President recently told Representa-
tive Sherman, of the Committee on Inter-
state and Foreign Commerce, that he
would make no recommendation in his
message of any particular company or
method of acquiring Pacific cable, but
that he would emphasize the necessity of
Congress making some provision for one
After leaving the President Mr. Sherman
said that he would, at the first session, in
troduGe bill authorizing the Postmaster
General to enter into a contract with any
persons or corporation for the purpose of
securing the construction of such a cable.
Mr.. Sherman is opposed to the govern
mehts laying its own cable and his bill
will be practically TIE same as that intro
duced last year and held up by those mem
bers of Congress who favor government
ownership.
Some very pointed questions have been
put to the President during the past week
to ascertain low far he is prepared to en-
dorse the speech which Senator Lodge
made in Boston recently and which, be-
cause of the known intimacy between the
President and the unior Senator from
Massachusetts, has been given wide pub
licitv. While the President is too good Il
friend of Senator Lodge to turn him
down. unless it became absolutely neces-
sary, it is believed that he considers that
his friend was a little reckless in his utter
ances. Mr.. Lodges statement that for
any foreign nation to secure naval sta
ton on this side of the Atlantic or the
Pacific would be regarded as direct VIC
lation of the Monroe Doctrine has IA strong
faint of iingoism, and his demand for "a
navy so strong lhtt no other nation would
dare , attack US Is not in accordance
with American principles. The policy of
this country in the past has been to so
compel the respect of other nations that
there was no necessity for maintaining
immense military and naval forces in
order to prevent attack These facts have
been Emphasized in III. hearing of the
Pres dent and it has been suggested that