Jasper County Democrat, Volume 7, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 December 1904 — WASHINGTON LETTER. [ARTICLE]

WASHINGTON LETTER.

Political and deneral Oossip of the National Capitol. Special Correspondence to The Democrat: Mingling with Senators and Representatives of the minority party results in the impression that official Democracy though disappointed by the result of the election, is not dismayed. Dixie anu Tammany will have a very firm hold upon the next Congress and will be capable of making a great deal of trouble for the champions of extravagance and imperialism. If they cannot pass resolutions of investigating and appoint committees, they can at least indulge in a great variety of irritating and embarrassing remarks. Meantime Cockran and Dalzel have peacefully fallen upon each other’s necks, and the status quo ante bellum reigns once more. Democratic members of both | houses will fraternally participate in the inaguration exercises, and both the President and his Democratic escort will forget what they said about him in October. It will be interesting to see Senator Carmack and Representative Kitckin have a place on the Inauguration Committee. It is understood that these twain are expected from the President’s general amnesty. They enjoy only the privileges of ticket-of-leave men. It looks to-day as if the inauguration itself will take place —at the Capitol building. The House objects to tearing up the Pension Office and interrupting business there, and the Senate objects to granting the use of the Congressional Library—by far the most appropriate place for it. The Inauguration Committee announces that no refreshments will be provided for the public —a quite superfluous announcement, as no president since Jackson has tried to feed the oi polloi. He tried. Receiving a vast cheese weighing several tons from a New York farmer, be placed it in the cental of the East room of the White House, then called “The Palace.” The populace made a rush for it They clawed it. They scooped it out. Thev flung it at the chandeliers and carried it from room to room, trampled it under foot on the oarpet, and the m _ji _ S A— tt

latter-writer of that time wrote: “A profusion of refreshments had been provided. Orange punch by barreisful was made, but as waiters opened the door to bring it out, a rush followed, the glasses were broken, the pails of liquor, upset, and the most painful confusion prevailed. To such a degree was this carried that wine and ice cream could not be brought to the ladies, and tubs of punch were taken into the garden to entice the crowd from the Palace. It was mortifying to see men, with boots heavy with mud standing on the damask satin-covered chairs, from their eagerness to get a sight of the President.” No, there will be no attempt to feed the American people on March 4th ] however much Hiß Strenuosity 1 might enjoy the sight.

Secretary Taft, just back from Panamn, lias spent some time this week helping to rescue the Philippine bill from defeat. The debate on the bill touched mainly on the right of Congress to delegate to the Philippine Commission power to revise the insular tariff. Several Republican Senators as well as Democratic denied that right. Senator Newlands urged a redaction of the interest on the railroad bonds which the Philippine government must guarantee, from five per cent to two and a half per cent, insisting that the United States would be morally bound to redeem the bonds and by assuming the legal responsibility for them they could easily be sold for a higher price. Senator Carmack got the floor yesterday with his usual effectiveness. He said that after the late election he might not have had conrage to take any further part in debates had not the president in his message distinctly aligned himself with the Democrats and Anti-Imperialists. The President expressed the hope that the time would come when the Philippines would hold such a relation to the United States as Cuba now holds—the very thing advocated in the Democratic platform. Wonld not the President's message anticipating self-govern-ment for those people tend to excite insurrection there! The President farther said that onr presence in the Philippines was justified only by an effort to aid and assist them. “These two utterances qualify the President for

the Senator* amid laughter. The bill passed last evening by a party vote. The confirmation of the sentences of Machen, Lorenz, and the Groffs is greeted with “I told you so” on the part of Republicans who promised that official delinquencies should be punished. In this connection it is announced in the Postmaster-General’s report that 1,698 post offices were robbed during the last fiscal year. And this recalls inevitably the optimistic prediction of Senator Beveridge, who, in one of his oratorical rainbows, asseverated that our government of the Philippines would be so just, so honest and so exemplary that it would be reflected back upon the United States and immensely raise the moral standard of our own people. This is a good time to invite his attention to the prophecy.

For instance our laws against smuggling seem to be violated with impunity by our naval officere the fragrant Porto Rican scandal has not ceased to assail our olfactories when comes the detention of the cruiser San Francisco at New port News, Va., and the confiscation of thousands of dollars worth of dutiable goods smuggled from Japan. There were cords of ostrich feathers, Japanese fans, Japanese bronzes and silverware and valuable lacquered goods all protected by United States naval officers and consigned to a Baltimore firm.

Hundreds of emanciated, galled and tired horses are tugging, stalling and falling in painful effort to do the work which, until Senator Hale from Maine came to town, was done by a donkey locomotive. Millions of cubic feet of earth are being excavated for the new palatial House and Senate offices that are to be built at each end of the Capitol. Senator Hale’s splendid carriage horses evinced some surprise and shied at the little iron horse. Nobody was hart; the Senator was only a little scared; bnt he arbitararily ordered the locomotive removed and the result is the tragedy of toil and beating of wretohed hones that mast work for a month to do what the machine would do painlessly in four days.