Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1901-02-01
WASHINGTON LETTER.
tFrom our Regular Correspondent

session OF Congress has to be called to
pass the Ship Subsidy hill, as now
seems probable, the republicans are
going to make Philippine legislation
the excuse for the extra session. After
leading publican Senators had re-
pestedly said that there was to be no
Philippine legislation by this Congress,
and Senator Speoner had abandoned
his bill, which by the way gives the
President about the same authority
over Civil Government in the Philip
pines that he now exercises under his
authority as Commander Chief of
our Military forces, and announced
his intention to try to get a Congress
sional Committee sent to the Philip
pines, it was little surprising and at
first confusing for Mr.. Mckinley to
send report from the Philippine
Commission to Congress, urging the
immediate passage of the Spooner bill,
reinforcing it with the Endorsement of
Secretary Root and his own. Mr..
Mckinley knows the absolute impos
sibility of getting the Philippine legisla-
ton asked for in the short time left of
this session, and only sent the report
and message to Congress to prepare
the way for an extra session of the next
Congress, in which some Of the most
active opponents of the Ship Subsidy
bill will not have seats, if it becomes
necessary.
Democrats are not worrying over
the extra session question. They can
stand it if the republicans can, and
neither the fear of it, nor the desire
for it. will influence aslngle democratic
vote, or lessen democratic opposition
to a single measure which is opposed
on principle.
Mr.. Mckinley has tried to lesson the
republican scramble for Army Com
missions in the expanded regular army,
by announcing that he intended to
give those commissions to mon who
had served in the Philippines with the
volunteers, as far as possible to do so.
The qualification was doubtless added
because he knows very well that some
of those commissions Will be demanded
by men whose demands he dare not
turn down. A big republican row is
probable over the distribution OF these
places.
A single firm of Washington Patent
Lawyers, G. A. Snow Il Co., the most
successful Patent Solicitors in the
world, obtained. during 1900, l497 al
lowances of U. s. patents, many of
which had been rejected when previ-
ously presented by other attorneys.
Here is hint for the inventor who
wishes his application for patent to
be allowed.
| Senator Towne, whose successor is
expected to present his credensials
during the present week, made his
farewell Congressional bow in what
many of his admirers declare to have
been the best speech he ever made.
The speech was nominally made on the
following resolution, offered by him:
THAT justice, the public welfare, and
the national honor, demand the i'm.
mediate cessation of hostilities in the
Philippine islands, upon terms re
cognizing the independence of the
Philippine people, and conserving and
guaranteeing the interests of the U.
50, but it was not confined to the
| Philippines. 1t embraced the general
political conditions and the outlook
for the immediate future, incidentally
showing how unwise Mr.. Mckinley
and his advisers have been in most of
their policies.
| Senator Bacon has been given the
honor of being designated to read
Washingtons farewell address to the
Senate on Washington's birthday. The
Brewers put the acrews on Senator
| Hanna, and he in turn put them on
the Senate Committee on Finance.
and the result is that the amended
bill for the reduction of War taxes as
reported to the Senate, keeps Hanna S
promise to the brewers in exchange
for their campaign contributions, and
reduces the tax on beer to $3.50 a
| barrel. And it ia dollars to brass
buttons that the House will agree to
this, although when the bill was before
the House, an amendment fixing the
tax at those figures was voted down.
The House Committee on Banking
and Currency has reported two finan-
cial bills, but whether either will get
acted upon is not yet certain. The
Committee has adopted a resolution,
making one of them, the Hill bill for
establishing the parity between the
silver dollar and gold, special order
in the House with two days for debate,
but that resolution will have to be
o. KID by the Committee on Rules be-
fore it becomes effective. The other
measure reported Is the OyerStreet
bill for maintaining at all times the
parity Of the standard silver dollar
with gold. Two democratic members
of the Committee. briggs, of N. Y,
and Thayer, of Mass.-vOted with the
republicans in favor of reporting the
latter bill.
70 judge from the talk of Senators,
one would not know that such meas
ure as the Nicaragua Canal bill was
pending in the Senate. Since the Re-
publican caucus decided that the bill
should not be called up until the British
government acted upon the Hay
Pauncefote treaty, many Senators have
regarded the bill as too dead to be talk
ed about. There was no probability of
early action on the part of the British