Show washington LETTER washington january 9 1898 has the steamship lobby secured pledges pledge from a sufficient number dumber of congressmen to defeat any or all of the blus bills proposing to suspend europ european e an immigration for one year thamm that ia I a long question but circumstances have come to the surface during the last forty eight hours houra which have caused js it to be asked lauy birnes in congles con gres atonal circles senator man of the senate donate on im migration and ah chairman airman of the house committee are both positive that some gome bill will become a law at this session but other sare not and the in the go 0 o confident men employ of the aforesaid lobby not members of congress nay bay that no law on this subject will be enacted by this thi coo grew A clause in ia the quarantine bill which was before the senate farbia fri jay and saturday the piret first saturday menton estion of the senate this session gives give ethe the president the authority to suspend immigration whenever it may in hla his discretion become necessary to keep out contagious disease it was known that the steamship lobby was making extraordinary efforts to prevent the passage of ef any bill suspending immigration but until the last two days it was supposed that they would be satisfied if they could succeed in having the suspension left to the president but now as the story goes they will be satisfied with nothing lees es than blocking all legislation on the subject abject and this they claim to be able to do this to is not to be done by direct vote but by tangling up all the immigration bills that may have a chance of getting through w to th cumbersome amendments and by causing delay at every opportunity so BO that theena of the session shall come before any of them will be in a condition to be sent to president harrlson harrison for his signature the manipulators of this scheme are mid aid to believe that their program can be carried out without compelling members to put themselves on record but now that suspicion is rampant it will be very difficult and if persisted tu in it may result in a big congressional scandal which would put an en benj J to not a few very promising political careers the very nature of our government makes nearly every important law enacted by congress the result of it a compromise between the extremists on both sides aud and although the men now arrayed on both sides of the silver question are saying that no compromise will be accepted it may be set met down as certain that if any silver legislation gets get through at this session of congress it will be a bill or an amendment that represents a mise between the extreme views of men like representative harter of ohio who want silver used as a money metal at al and of those who favor the free aud and unlimited coinage of silver even mr cleveland Clev elaud whose record as an anti silver man is known to all the world is now advocating a compromise corn promise the rhe talk about abolishing the bounty on sugar by the next congress is already bringing protests to washington irom from the sugar beet growers of nebraska and kansas kaness who according to these protests do not believe that congress will dare to put a tariff on foreign sugar high enough to prevent the ruin of the beet industry there is going to be music on the sugar question when the next congress gets to work on a now new tariff bill A do delegation legation of prominent railroad men are in washington fur for the second time this season for the purpose of persuading congress to pass the bill introduced by senator cullom aboud ing the i ter state commerce law so as to allow the pooling ot of freights by railroads the worlds fair folks are after congress again they want to open the fair sundays and they want a number of small apar privations tor for expenses of judges s board of lady managers etc aggregating about A number of congressmen are kicking about what they call the extravagance of et the amount asked fur for and it will probably be reduced there appears to be a feeling among the sona senators toris that unless the anti option bill which was crowded off the track for two days by the quarantine biroan bileca n be pushed to a vote this week it will be permanently shelved its ita friends expect it to be passed this week representative otis stirred up quite a lively little squal equal in the house by offering an amendment to the district of columbia appropriation bill providing that the district of columbia should pay three fourths of the total amount carried by the bill instead of one halt half as it bas baa done since 1878 when the present form of government go was adopted the amendment was lost but it developed unexpected strength it has been decided by the democratic managers ms of the house to set apart a day in the near future for the consideration of the proposition to elect U B S senator by direct vote of the people also a day for the torrey bankruptcy bill which is being actively pushed |