The true Democrat., 1855-02-07
Letter from Washington.


 cf OM Solliers-TAe Speculatioms cf Agents
 and otaers-Missomi Senatorship-Dr. Ssu-
 naards Discovery-Reduction cf the IarD-
 Meeting cf Democratic Senotors-The Home
 stead BiNdeteated ttrough the Agencyef Kao,o-
 Nothingisma-C Coalition ef Northern and South-
 e'n Whaggvy-iSebastqpol not take'a-IN,aess et
 Hon. J. F. Mason-Hs Successor-Deat1s of
 Senator Norris and Hon. Josn g. Barbour
 The report of Lieut.. Whipple on the Pacific railroad route gives the following facts which may be of interest to many of your readers:- Napoleon is eighty-two feet above the level of the sea; Little Rock three hundred and ten feet and Memphis ninety feet The Petit Jean mountain is nine hundred feet high; the Dar- danele Rock one hundred and fifty feet, and the Magazine mountain eleven hundred feet, Fort Smith is four hundred and sixty feet above the level of the sea- and astronomical observa- tions place it in 35 deg P sec. 55 mn north lati tude; longitude 94 deg. 2l sec. west of Green wich. He says from the difference of eleva- tion between Fort Smith and Little Rock, should the high lands intervening offer as few obstacles as supposed, a railroad between those points can be constructed at moderate expense. That such road even should 1t proceed no further, would be of incaculable advantage to the State. The convention of the old soldiers of the war of 1912, which met here on last Monday, was we'll attended. Resolutions were adopted, urging their claims for bounty lands and pen sions. The object of the convention was to have an effect upon the hard hearted men who compose the present Congress; whether sue cesstul or not, l cannot say. The convention meets here again next year, when 1t IS believed every State will be represented. Arkansas was represented in the recent convention by Mr. Coryell, who was appointed one of the vice presidents. The object of the convention meets with favor from the numerous claim agents here, some of whom 1t is said have al- ready bought out the interests of the soldiers for a small consideration. It is also believed that large amount of claims to be effected by the passage of the French Spoliation bill have been sold to agents for in fact nothng-say one cent in the doar-and if it should pass it will only inure to the benefit of speculators.
 It is now very evident that Senator Atchison will not be reelected by the legislature of Mis- souri. The Bentontes are uniting with the whigs and it is believed the result will be the election of Col. Doniphan whig.
 Dr. Shumard during his explorations last year obtained a portion of the gum of the mug quite tree, small quantity of which he trans mitted through Supt Drew, to the Indian office. After full experiment the Doctor says it is very similar to gum arabic, answers the same pur- poses, and will Ill great measure supercede its use-that 1t can be procured ill large quantities at comparatively small cost The gum sent to the Indian office has been placed in the hands of chemists to test its value. The amount sent to that office being small, many applications for specimens could not be supplied The result of the experiments upon 1t are not yet known. Should 1t prove to possess the merits claimed by Dr. Shumard, 1t is one of the greatest disco veres of the age, and will give remuneratve employment to large number of persons in obtaining it. The Doctor says the supply is in- eXhaustible.
 The impression seems prevalent at this time, that the tariff will not be reduced this session, on account of the difference of opinion existing between those in favor of its reduction in re- gard to the details of the plan for that purpose, and the further re son that the revenue is so tnues it will require all the duties obtained by the present tariff to dcfray the ordinary expen- ses of the government. The surplus ill the Treasury has been greatly rcduced-and from the same cause will be further reduced-by the reduction of the public debt, and furthermore, the decrease in the revenue for Dec, 1851, was within fraction of two millions of dollars as compared with the same month of the previous year.
 An on dit Is, that a preliminary meeting of the democratic Senators has been held upon the sub ect of secret political societies, opposing them and that all but one Senator iavorS the movement.
 The Homestead bill as an amendment to the land graduation bill was defeated in the House last week, and although an effort will be made to pass the Hunter substitute which passed the Senate about the close of the last session, but was never reached in the HOuse-t will fail- The land graduation bill is the best and only homestead bill Congress will pass for years, as a larger proportion of the members from the old States elected to the next Congress are op- posed to the principle than of the present. At- ter passing the House the last session it's defeat can be accounted for now, for the reason that same who were friends of the bill have since become know nothings, and because foreigners and Catholics were not excluded from partci- patton ln its benefits they now oppose it. Every know nothing, even those from the new States will oppose the bill unless this unjust and ini- quitous discrimination be made, and the hardy pioneers of the West and South west are de- prived of the privilege of having secured to themseves homesteads, by the know-nothing party. Let them remember this, and further more hold them responsible for it.
 Mir. Cox of Kentucky, whig, made speech in the House few days since, in which he defend ed the know-nothing doctrines and notwith- standing he voted for the Nebraska bill, he is now willing to forgive every northern whig who voted against, and attempted to prevent its pas sage by the most unheard of legislative expe- dients; and wishes to coalesce with them to de- feat the national democracy. The whig party north has long since become thoroughly abo- litionzed, and it now only remains for it to be- come so at the South, to all intents and pur- poscs through the means ofknow- nottingham concocted by the freesoilers, aboltionists, and political and religious fanatics of the North for that purpose. The hequeston presents itself, will the entire southern whig party coalesce with It's abolitionized wing, in a crusade against its most vital interests, and the religious opinions of portion of the citizens of this confederacy.
 The fastest foreign news is to the effect that Sebastopol still holds out against the allies, and the war IS no nearer its end. The allies have ere thls found out they have a foe who in abli- tV ski and ,,oIl ,,,or,b,x