Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1901-12-26
WASHINGTON LETTER.
From our Regular CORRESPONDENCE
WASHINGTON, Dec. %, 1901.

from our Regular Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Dec. %, 1901.
Secretary Gage is, at last, to leave the
Presidents Cabinet, and new Secretary
of the Treasury is to be selecSed. IL mas
been evident to everyone IN touch with the
White House that this change has been
desired by the President for some time,
but having included the Secretary OF the
Treasury in the general invitation TO the
members of the Cabinet to remain, Mr..
Roosevelt postponed his action IN the nope
that Mr. Cages resignation would DE
voluntarily offered. 1t is believed that
the Wakeman affair in New York and the
objections to Assistant Secretaries Spauld-
ing and Allies have precipitated Mr. Cages
resignation.
The removal of Mr.. Wakeman and the
probable appointment of MIR. George w,
Whitehead to succeed him were announced
in these letters some time ago. Mr..
Wakeman, however, refused to surrender
his position as appraiser Of the port of New
York, and lodged complaints against the
Secretary of the Treasury and some OF his
subordinates. The President has dlsap-
proved Of the language in which Mr.
Wakeman couched his complaint and has
summarily removed him, ordering MT.
Alfrew w. Brown, appraiser at Boston, TO
take his place until Mr.. Whitehead, whose
name will be sent to the Senate as soon as
Congress reconvenes, can be confirmed.
The charges of Mr.. Wakeman include,
among other things, the statement that,
after they had unearthed extensive frauds In
the valuation of importations of japanese
silks, he was refused permission to come TO
Washington to confer with the Secretary
and the legal advisors Of the Department,
and was subsequently, instructed to pursue
his investigations no further. He also
states that, after he had recommended the
dismissal of Assistant Appraiser Warner
Sherwood and his recommendation had
been approved by the Whitehead Com
mission, after investigating the facts, Mr.
Gage assured him that Mr.. Sherwood would
be dismissed and later wrote personal
letter to a friend authorizing the friend to
show the letter to Mr.. Wakeman. This
letter stated that Mr.. Gage had reconsidered
the dismissal of Mr.. Sherwood because OF
the personal opposition of Assistant Secre-
tary Spaulding. Mr.. Gage says that the
relations between himself and the President
are cordial, but others say that Mr.. Wake
mans revelations revealed to the President
condition of affairs he could no longer
tolerate.
The President has not yet selected Mr.
Cages successor and the latter will retain
his portfolio until the new appointee is
ready to qualify. The names OF Colonel
Myron I. Herrick, President of the Amerl-
can Bankers Association, and Mr.. L. Jetf-
erson Coolidge, of Boston, ex-M1nlster TO
France, are both believed to be under con-
sideration.
MIR. Roosevelt has not remained content
with merely recommending reciprocity Win
| Cuba in his message but has taken steps to
ascertain the facts in relation to the oblec-
tions of the Beet Sugar men who called on
| MIN and presented their vics some time
ago He gave them no encouragement and
met their objections with some very pointed
questions and emphatic statements. Ills
| friends outside the White House have been
spurred on to renewed efforts and, when
the question comes up in the Senate, Sena-
tor Lodge will have by him an amount OF
ammunition with which to put the oppo-
sition to hasty flight Whether the Presl-
dents friends are warranted in their belief
is questionable but they believe that they
have all the logic of the situation on thelI
side and that will carry the day.
The most powerful implement OF warfare
at Mr. Lodges command will be letter
written by Henry T. Oxnard, president Of
the American Beet Sugar Company and
countersigned by W. Bayard Cutting, a
[ director of the same company. The letter
was issued in 1899 and definitely stated
that ''There is, however, no fear that Cuban
production, even under an annexation to
the United States, can, in our day, expand
to the point where the United States would
become exporters of sugar instead OF i'm
porters and hence that protection would nc
| longer protect" The letter goes on to say
as sugar can be produced more cheaply
here than in Europe that even with the
free trade provided by the Mckinley tariff
bill, the price of sugar never fell belo"
$40 90 per ton which might be assumed as
the lowest price to which sugar would &C
under free trade, that the beets necessary
to produce ton of sugar cost $500, and
the cost of manufacture was $500, there
ssxsszo tiiore would be q profit "in eomeeti.
zion with the world'' of $500 per ton, q
profit of As per cent.
Mr.. Roosevelt continues to demonstrate
that he is master hand at the game Of poll
tics although his methods are particularly
clean. His appointment Of Mr.. Henry G.
Payne to succeed Mr. Charles Emory Smith
as Postmaster General is considered mas
ter stroke Mr.. Payne is vice-chairman o.
the Republican national committee, and
will bring to the Presidents council table
a long and successful political experience
1t has been rumored that Mr.. Payne would
succeed Mr.. Hanna as chairman Of the
national committee, but that report il
discredited, and it is believed that Senator
Hanna is too good a philosopher to make
such step necessary.
| In the contentious Of the various factions
which have from time to time besieged the
White House, Mr.. Roosevelt has always
managed to come out ahead, even where
he was obliged to refuse appointments to
all the candidates urged and select Clark
| horse" Whenever he has been obliged to
do this he has managed to select man SC
well fitted for the Office that he was sure to
gain the approval and support of the citi-
zens Of the district in which the appoint
| ment was made, and he has almost con-
vinced conflicting political factions that
their only safe course is too agree on a
candidate before they take their claims to
the White House, as to appear there with a
contention means the almost inevitable loss
of the appointment to both factions.
There is one position which the President
will have to fill in the near future and
which is likely to prove stumbling block.
[ refer to the position of Recorder of Deeds
for the District of Columbia. For many
years it has been the custom to appoint a
colored man to this position. The present
incumbent is Henry W. Cheatham, and the
President has permitted it to be known
that he will not be allowed to continue in
the Office. The Recorder Of Deeds has be-
come very important Office, and includes
as subordinates some twenty-five white
women. Many people, of both parties,
believe that colored man should not be
placed in position of authority over white
women.
WASHINGTON.