The Arizona Sentinel

Washington Letter,
(From our Regular Correspondent.)
WASHINGTON, Dec. 3, '94

Congress is with us again. And a very much sadder and a somewhat wiser Congress it is than it was when it adjourned last August. One who saw the ending of the last and the beginning of the present session and who was entirely ignorant of the intermediate occurrences would not need to be told that something important had happened, and the faces of the Republicans and Democrats would give him an excellent clue to guess what that something was. Proportionate to their number there was a better attendance of Republicans in both House and Senate than of Democrats. A witty Democratic member of the House perpetrated the following just after the Democratic chaplain had concluded his opening prayer; "I say," he said in a stage whisper, turning his head towards the member seated next to him, "that fellow has an almighty poor memory."
"Why?" asked the gentleman spoken to.
"Why? Why great Scott! he omitted to say a word about the great November catastrophe, just as though the loss of $5,000 a year by such an awful lot of us was an insignificant affair already forgotten. He should have given us a word or two of religious consolation; we need it. The contemplation of the loss of his own job ought to have aroused his sympathy."

If Mr. Cleveland really wishes to see the warring factions of his party in Congress get together amicably his wishes are not made apparent by a hurried reading of his message. On the contrary, the impression left upon one's mind is that he merely offers them a choice between accepting his views and being kicked out of the party, and that he doesn't care very much which they choose. Already there are mutterings of the coming Democratic storm, and it will become more difficult to keep it from bursting after Secretary Carlisle's financial scheme, which is fully endorsed by Mr. Cleveland, has been submitted to Congress and has been fully taken in by the Democrats, a majority of whom hold opposite views. The scheme in all its details is a part of Secretary Carlisle's annual report, which will, it is expected, go to Congress to-morrow.

The honor of receiving the greatest ovation extended to any individual member of the House upon the opening day belongs to Hon. Thomas Brackett Reed, whose big face beamed with a sunny smile which was contagious and who fairly shook his elephantine sides when he was jocularly asked if he was ready to take the Speaker's chair. He was constantly addressed as "Mr. Speaker," by both Republican and Democratic members.

Some very ugly reports are again being circulated in connection with the names of Senators Gorman, Brice and Smith, and the sugar trust. It is charged that a double deal is now on hand, which, to put it in the language of the street, is to catch the public both going and coming. The poor mouth the sugar trust is putting up is to stave off further Congressional legislation and also to force down the price of sugar stock held by those who are not in the deal, and in order to aid the speculators it is said that a great stir and pretense of adverse legislation is to be made in the Senate. Verily, the Fifty-fourth promises to be known in history as the sugar Congress; but there seems to be no probability of anybody's getting punished, except the poor public.

Senator Sherman does not as a rule bother himself about contradicting newspaper stories in which he figures, but he lost no time in informing the public that there was no truth in the statement that he helped Mr. Cleveland fix up the financial portion of his message. He doesn't care enough about ordinary misrepresentations to run them down, but he draws the line at being charged with acting as financial adviser to Secretary Carlisle and Mr. Cleveland. He considers that an extraordinary misrepresentation.

Representative Cannon, of Ill., isn't a man of vindictive or revengeful nature, although when the occasion calls for them he can throw his share of oratorical brick bats. When asked whether the Republicans would during this session taunt the Democrats with the defeat, he said: "If they show us their scarified backs and ask us to do some rubbing I think we can find a little salt and water handy to touch up the sore spots. However that with their apologies and explanations and finding fault with Cleveland I do not think the Democrats will give us a chance to get in a word edgewise."

The calibre of Mr. Cleveland's Cabinet was never more forcibly demonstrated than by the annual reports which the members, with the exception of Secretary Gresham who makes the report, have submitted. Of course nobody expects anything thrilling or exciting in these annual reports, but the public has a right to expect something better than the common place work which was put on them this year. There isn't a single department in which a score of minor officials could not be found who could, given the same facts to work on, produce in one week's time better constructed and more concise reports than those which have been signed by members of the Cabinet.