People's Pilot, Volume 3, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 August 1893 — Washington Letter. [ARTICLE]

Washington Letter.

Prom o«r regular correspondent. Washington, August 18, 1893. “Standing like a mountain of granite amid the fog of uncerI taintv caused by the claims and j counter claims made by various factions in Congress,” said a I Senator, “is one fact, plainly visible to the naked eye of those who are able to look at it with unprejudiced eyes. That fact is the impossibility of getting a bill for the unconditional repeal of the Sherman law or of any j portion of it through the Senate, j There is yet a good prospect of j securing compromise financial! legislation that will give thej country some relief from the i present strained condition of! affairs, but if those who refuse; to recognize the existence of that fact and persist in declaring j their intention to have uncondi- j tional repeal or nothing do not soon realize the situation the j prospect will disappear and they j and the country alike will get! nothing from the extra session.” |

The silver debate in the House j is half over, and although many j of the speeches made have! shown marked ability and origi-! nality the speakers have had ! very slim audiences. The speeches, however, that would be most interesting to the public could they be obtained are those made by the members to each other in private. Accusations of being improperly inllu- j enced are bandied back and 1 forth quite freely, and threats are heard which indicate that some of them may yet be publicly made. A decided flurry was created among the anti-silver Democrats bv a report early this week that forty Republicans had agreed to vote for the amendment providing for the free coinage of silver at a ratio of 20 to 1. Representative Bland, the leader of the silver men, says he knows nothing of such an agreement, and that lie expects the vote for the amendment for the free coinage of silver at the present ratio to be the largest that will be cast by the silver men. While he will not admit as much, it is plain to those with whom Vie talks that he does not think the vote will be large enough for the adoption of that amendment. Notwithstanding the frequent statements made by fool friends of President Cleveland that he will not accept any compromise, but will veto any bill conditionally repealing the purchasing ; clause of the Sherman law, the 'shrewdest men in Congress, j among them many good friends | of the President, are certain that j lie will gladly sign a compromise bill, if it be one that promises to meet with public approval. Many regard as insignificant j the continued attempts of close friends of the administration to feel the pulse of Congress, as to a large issue of bonds, aud it will not bo surprising if a bill providing for such an issue shall be introduced shortly, with the inftuencs of the administration behind it.

Senator Peffer had the public, regardless of politics, behind him when he objected to the consideration of the joint resolution making the mileage of Senators and Representatives payable at once instead of in December. Congress found it easy enough to devise this quick means of putting a little additional money in its members’ pockets. Let it do as much for the public and it will add to its popularity. Evidently the Senate does not intend to confine its extra session legislation to financial matters. It this week passed a bill for tliq purchase of a site and the erection of a fire-proof building for the storage of public records. The Senate Finance committee is holding daily meetings, but no agreement is yet in sight on the silver question. The bill which it reported early in the week, allowing National banks to issue currency to the full amount of bonds deposited with the government is now before the Senate and its opponents are trying to load it down with amendments. A similar bill wa; passed by the Senate at the last session, and this bill will go through the Senate, but ft will have a hard fight to get through the House, notwithstanding Secretary Carlisle’s active support. There is considerable kicking on the side among Congressmen over the result of the Behring Sea arbitration, but inasmuch as the decision has to be accepted as final, few of them are saying much against it openly. While the main decision was against the United States the rules adopted to govern future sealing

are decidedly favorable to this country, much more so than any which Great Britian has in the past been disposed to agree to The decision will, it is expected, | result in the payment of a conI siderable sum of money to Canadians as damages on account of their vessels having been seized by U. S. officers in water over which the United States has now been decided to have had no control at that time, but this will be offset by the damage done to the Canadian sealing industry by the new* rules. In fact, those who ought to know say there will be no Canadian sealing, if the new rules are enforced.