St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1862-02-20
Washington Letter.
WASHINGTON, D. c., Feb. g., 1862.

EDITOR DEMoCRAT.-1h have frequent
ly, during my so)ourn here, had the hon.
or Of being introduced to men high in su-
thority who have read the DEMOCRAT,
and I am invariably put through the FOL-
lowing catechism "What part Of Mime
sofa are you from ?'' Central part-St.
Cloud" eyes, I have heard of the town ;
Its where Mrs. Jane Swisshelm resides
What kind of woman is she ~ "Well,"
1 say, "it is hard question. think she
is not quite so bad as she tries to appear.
She is kind neiyhbor, has pleasant So
cial qualities, genial disposition, loves or
likes her friends and hates her enemies ;
she abounds in many christian virtues, but
is rough in politics, neither gives or asks
quarter :; she is a great admirer Of the
lords of creation hut thinks that distance
lends enchantmcnt to the vlew.'" IF yon
are not satisfied with the picture have char
ity for the artist, and console yourself by
quoting the proverb, "faithful are the
words of friend &c."
The people in the Capital City are much
elated with the events efthc present week
The traitor Bri yht has been expelled from
the Senate. The One Hundred and Fifty
Million Treasury Note Bill passed the
House and will without much doubt soon
be law. I believe no bill ever passed
Congress that the great West will, or has,
received half so much benefit from as will be
conferred by this bill. Our farmers will not
be obliged to take wild cat money for their
pork and grain, and our merchants will
not be obliged to lose much of their prof
its to buy exchange. think the saving
on deprecated currency and percentage
on exchange will nearly if not quite pay
ou taxes. Finally, the victory of Com
modore Foote on the Tennessee river clos
es the events of the week. May the next
week be equally propitious, is the wish of
all patriots.
In advance of Winslow's telegraph /
send you the following information exclu-
sively for the DEMOCRAT. Gen. McClel-
lan's authority as Commander-in-chief of
all the armies of the Union, has within a
few days been reduced to embrace only the
division of the Potomac-not distrusting
the Generals ability, but the system was
found to work bad with an army of over
half million, scattered over so great ex-
tent of country.
What said in my last communication
about the promotion of Dick German, OF
Minnesota, in one of the N. Y. Regiments
was premature as it was another rose Of
the same name. If the information l con.
vcy should all be confirmed, l would not
be permitted to associate with the report.
ers of our leading journals.
Gov. Ramsey's Message suggests that
the property of our State University may
have to be sold to iquidate the debts Of
the institution. Would it not be advisa'
bic to have the Legislature pass an act
con6scating or sequesterinS the debts due
Gov. Aiken, of South Carolina, ard othe,
rebels, who have loaned money to the Uni
versity and are now trying to destroy ou'
national existence and reorganize society
on the basis Of unpaid compulsory labor
A similar bill is impending in the Legis
lature Of Pennsylvania.
Urge our citizens to get a memorial
through our Legislature, to exchange the
land grant from Crow Wing to St. Vim
cent, and in lieu thereof, give US one from
St Peter, via St Cloud, to Lake Superior
A road to Superior is our only salvation
politically aud commercially. Keep it be-
fore the people.
- Your Neighbor,
ST. CLOUD.