A Good Letter From The National Capital

Washington, [). C, Oct. 12, 1897. The peplo of Washington ave nnfortniiatp iu a sense in beiiig nutsiuo 'the vo:kl of Ktriie and removeil froiu the poiitii-U arena. Kven n iiational eleulions they liave no direct, voice or ínteresl in who may or muy uol be elecleil to ufflue, and vet on the other lian-.l they luive the Htlvantage iif living in ri;y to which tlieré ia ito counterpart in the land, and one, while fíot ti political center itself, sees the reflections of tliinj{s politieal front all over the country. Especially is this so wlien congress is m sessiou and representatives froin all quarters coiifíregate to make laws for the people and also to eugage in ardent and eloquent chatapioDsbips of irinciples and politics. Even when congross is nut in session, there are of necessity mauy distiugaished and réputable men stopping at tlie capital, for more or less patronage is beiug at all times distributed and wires are always beiug pulled by the iuitiated and experieiiced. There is no national oampaign this fa.ll, but there are uampaigns which are oí national imp'ortauce. Tne .Senate of the United State.s is dow very closely divided, it beiug considerad tliat it was bvonlv the most consúmate ship tliiit tlie t.n ill' l)ill was passet! as advántageonsly as it as, ia the face of a direct majority opposed to the republican party, and nove, in Marylánd and Ohio, senators are to be elected, and it remains rltli the eitizeii3 of those states to say whetlier the complexión of the upper mase of the national legialature shall be republican and progressive or demoera.tic and obstrúctive. So that considerable interest is feit heve in watcliing the progress uhich the campaigtis are niakinj; in those states. Interest centers specially in Ohio, the home u{ the president, and in the canilida.-y there oL Senator Hauua the shrewil chairuian of tlie republican national coinmittee of 1896, wlio lei l the paily to the greatest victory witiiin the recollection of its niembers. Tlie party lias gotton well togetlier in Ohio and is pulling along a good stroke, while on the other hand the demócrata of the state are divided into factiousand pulling in various directions. Tlie gold demócrata are working vigorously Bgainst the success of the silverites, and populists have placed a regular ticket in the Held and are fighting the demócrata at every poitit. And last the silver republicana are very sore on the democrats and refusing to co-operate vith tliein in the election oL free-silver lolm Mei. eau to the senate. The freesilver proposition seeins to be steadily osing ground and none know it better than does McLean. This would seem to account for his silence as well as that of other Ohioaus on the silver subject, ïor is tliis gradual dropping of silver :he case in Ohio alone. It is perfectly apparent that the silver issue is a child of bard times and that it cannot tbrive under tbe prosperity which seems to be returniug to the country and which it is useless longer to deny. It is the generally expressed opinión among all classes of politicians that the free-silver sentiment is gradaally contracting and losing ground. "High prices and plenty of work are knocking it out," said a prominent statesman the other day. "I come myself f rom a rural district and I own a farm myself and I eau say that I know of lots of old-time democrats who voted for f ree silver and Bryan, who will never do so again, no matter how 'regular' the ticket is. They never believet in it as a principie and they see the mis take it would have been H Bryan hai been elected. They see that all th prognostications that he made as to low prices and ruin, etc., in case of Mulviu ley's election have proven false, ant that on the contrary the promises of th republican party have been and are be ing fulfilled as rapidly as possible, anc satisfactorially too, and the result i that though they may ahvays be demo crats, tliey will never be free-silve deinocrats again. And many oL then would vote with the republicans rathe than be forced onto a silver ticket. Th silver cause has irrevocably lost it hold upon the agricultural classes of th country, and will n the future find no Bympathy among thera. Last jrear was the best time the silverited could liave seleeted for the "springing" of.their issue. I'riocs were föW; and pe.5pfè vero issatisiied with the condition of the mutry, TBsuIting froin ;x low tarifi', denicüve of American labor, and by a cal of sophistry aud laying of the ouble at the hands of the "gold power" ley won over many people to their liise. It was tlit' most. ingeniously inceived aud executed politica] scheme of many years, and it is startling to think how many honest men it fooled. But free Btlverhftsgone wherethe woodbine twinetli."