Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1854-10-18
WASHINGTON NEWS AND GOSSIP.

Us, who, week or so ago, were very sure Of
the election of this or that distinguished oen.
tleman, completely dumbfounded at the ute,
state OF uncertainty into which the fall cleo.
tions, so far, have cast every thing of the sort
1t strikes rs that the Democratic party ara to
be congratulated on one effect which these
elections have already had this is, on the in.
Simultaneous check they have put upon the dis.
position OF gentlemen tackled each to the coat.
tail OF some particular Democratic aspiraut. to
labor to get him the nomination. rather
than In the cause of the principles they pro-
TESS Not long since most of the Democr ats
seemed to be Buchanan men, or Douglas men,
or Hunter men, or devoted to the fortunes
OF some other leading man; now, however,
ever, all who have not left the party and turned
Know Nothings, to be on the apparently strong
est side, seem to be content to be Democrats,
anxious only for the selection of the stron gest
possible candidate to bear aloft the Demo
cratic banner. Nevertheless, there will be a
tremendous struggle for the Democratic ma
tional nomination. AS General Cass is under
stood to have laid aside all pretensions, hisyery
large force Of Democratic politicians are un-
derstood to have divided between Messrs.
Buchanan and Douglas-the former being un-
derstood to be fairly in the field. Mr.. Buch-
anan falls heir to most of the Cass politicians
east of Ohio, while Mr.. Douglas gets those
from the Western States. General Cass had
none worth mentioning in States south of
Maryland. #aaI ,d.. F.
These elections have already raised up
strong parties Of strikers for various dis
tinguished Wings, Mr.. Clayton, Mr. Fillmore,
and Gov. Seward, each being spoken of as the
man to bear aloft the Fusion banner. That is
those who sympathise with the idea of purely
Northern party to embrace the Wing party OF
the North, Abolitionism, Know Nothingism
and the Maine Liquor law, are unanimously
Sewardites; while those who are for fighting
the battle on Whiggery and Know Nothingism
only combined, are for Mr.. Fillmore or Mr..
Clayton. The Southern Know Nothings take
particularly to Mr.. Fillmore, while those of
the North (out Of New York; who, being
Wings, are yet not 7Abolitionists, are for
Mr. Clayton, owing to the well understood
bitter hostility which all the higher law wing
Of the Wing party bear to the distinguished
ex-President, that wing of the party out num-
bering the other ten to one in all the nom
slaveholding States. 1t strikes US, however,
that it is much too soon for rational men to be
making any calculations on the subject The
only thing appearing clear to US, is that the
next President of the United States is to be
elected by the House of Representative, and
that he is to be the man for whom the South
will vote in body: as they certainly will for
some one, who will then require but few more
votes to be elected; which said votes are OBJ
tainable, as against any candidate identified
with the purposes of Abolitionism.
Business before the Pension Bureau, &C.
The business of the Pension Office has been
kept up to date for the last nine months. All
letters are now answered the day after they
are received and registered, except when they
relate to cases that require thorough exam
ination. In some instances the Examinations
require that information should be obtained
from other bureaus, in which cases delays are
unavoidable. These delays, however, are ex.
cepions to the general rule. For instance,
all applications for land bounty have to be
sent by the Pension Office to the Third Au-
ditor, the Second Auditor, or the Adjutant
General, for verifcation of the service claim
ed by the applicant, and are returned with the
proper certificate. These applications are
now made at the rate of about forty day
and such is the promptitude with which they
are disposed of, that not more than one hun
dred and Fifty cases are now on hand, includ-
ing those that are sent TO the rolls for the
purpose aforesaid The consequence is, that
the business with the Pension Bureau that used
to be done by agents residing in the city of
Washington, is now done almost entirely by
the parties interested, or by persons residing
near them. This causes some complaint on the
part Of agents located here, that there is moth.
ing doing in the Pension Office But we opine
the Commissioner annual report will show
that there has been no lack of busin ess during
the last year. We shall be disappointed if it
does not appear that more than three thousand
revolutionary claims have been favorably ad-
Indicated, and more than half million Of
dollars distributed on account of revolutionary
services, besides the annual current pensions
to those that are upon the pension list When
the correspondence of tho Office was six months
in arrears, this business was chiefly done by
agents resident in this city, who were paid
from twenty to fifty per cent for their services,
but which they now lose on account of the
prompt manner in which correspondents from
q distance are answered by the bureau Our
friends, the agents, may therefore have cause
of complaint; but the community will not
sympathise with them so long as they receive
what the agents lose. Indeed, during the last
year or two, 80 general has been the improve
ment in the manner of transacting business
here in all the branches of the Executive OIL
Ces as tn praaflv reduca tho huc;,,ass 80 ~