Washington Correspondence

Washington, D. C, Dec. 10, lsw. The deraocrats in congress have surprisedeverybody,including themselves, during the past week. Instead of the bickerings which vvere expected and predicted by detnocrats as well as members of the other parties, they have been quietly at work and have actoally succeeded inmapping out a partial program of legislation which they expect to pass. They held no caucus in the riouse, but are aeting upon general consent of the party in pushing the Fithian free ship bill and the two appropriation bilis - pensions and fortification - which have been reported. The railroad pooling bill, now before the house, isn't regarded as a political measure. The democrats of the house committee on banking and currency, who were hopelessly at sea during the last session, have announced their intention to report a currency bill before the holiday-recess, and it is an open secret that it will be very near to the recommendations made by Secretary Carlisle and endorsed by President Cleveland's message - an extensión of national bank currency and an authorization of state bank currency under proper safeguards. This week the committee will grant hearings to a ber of prominent financier!:, beginning today with Secretary Carlisle. The idea is to get the bill reported before the recess, so that it can be fully discussed by the public before the reassembling of congress. The democratie senators wisely concluded to ignore what they could not agree upon and instructed the steering comniittee to arrange an order of business to cover the following: a bankruptcy bilí, bilis for the admission of Arizona and New Mexico, Nicaragua canal bilí; and a bilí involving the interests of Indian Territorv, leaving the qnestion of precedence to the rliscretion the steering comniittee. These things are very gratifying to the average democrat, and if they continue through the session will put the party in fairly good shape. Chairman Hatch, of the house comniittee on agriculture, was one of the slain, but his greeting to exSpeaker Reed shows that his wit is still aüve - "Reed, I want to congratúlate you; I have in part repreresented the State of Missouri in congress a good many years, and I thought I knew something about it, but I am ready to acknowledge that you know more about Missouri than I do. I read the speech you made in St. Louis with great disgust. You said the people of Missouri were good people except that they didn't have sense enough to know how to vote. I am blessed if you weren't right." Delégate Fawlins, of Utah, has notified Secretary Smith that if the government does not remove the Ute Indians froni Utah the people will drive them out by force. He says he fears tnat an Indian war will be the outcome of the present difficulties, owing to the depredations of the Indians, which, he says, have reached the unbearable stage.