The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1869-01-18
The wa, Mr. wa.hburue Does IL.

Ofall the men who have put them
selves conspicuously forward of late, as
the champions of economic reform, Mr..
Elihu B. Washburne stands first and
foremost. He has become the chronic
obiecter to all propositions involving
an outlay of money, and with idiotic in
discrimination he attacks everything
and everybody having any such pur-
pose in view. 1t is the design of this
paragraph to show that this Cerebus of
the Treasury abates little of his zeal
GUS concern for the public purse when
his o wn private interests are involved,
and that the still small voice Of con-
science, so easily aroused within him,
and so violent in its protestations
against u widows pension bill of $50, or
a soldiers bounty bill of like amount,
becomes very still and very small when
few hundred dollars of his own money
are at stake. A few days ago
Mr.. Washburne presented q can
didate for a female clerkship in
ful influence of Grants guardian, of
course, broke down all such tritling i'm
lpediments as the want of vacancy,
and the appointment was speedily
made. Next came request from the
same great source that tho new appoin-
tee should be allowed few special
privileges in the regulation of her hours
Of labOr-that is to say, that in her par
ticular case the rSles of the Department
should be waived, and she should be al
lowed to come and 60 as suited her own
convenience, receiving the same pay as
if she worked the full number of hours.
This request has not yet been granted,
and the consequence is that valuable
officer may be lost to the Government
on the accession of the new Administra
tion-for Washburne is greatly enraged,
| and his wrath will be damaging TO
man shortly.
And the sequel is not, as the reader
may suppose, kindly concern for the
young lady . health, or fatherly inter
est in her eyeSight, on the part OF the
Galena member. 1t is neither more nor
less than a desire to infuse into the
Washburne family a knowledge of the
French language-and to do it at Gov.
ernment expense-the young lady being
a French scholar and teacher, and the
clerkship being q way selected by Mr..
Washburne to compensate her for her
services. Now this same thing done by
any other member of Congress might
not be worthy of special note. l GER
tainly should not have woven 1T into
letter to the Enquirer were any other
person than Washburne the central fig
ure of it. In fact, it has been a not un-
common practice Of late years for Re
publican members of Congress to pro-
cure female clerkships for purposes
much less honorable than the introduc-
tion of French teachers into the family
circle.
But I submit that one who has spent
so much of his time as Washburne has
in denouncing all appropriations as cor
ruptions and in advocating all sorts of
retrenChments as expedient, ought to
cOntrive to parle= rOus FrancdiS at his
own expense. 1t may be very impor-
tant to thu world and the nation that
the Washaurne family should speak
French, ant for that matter it would be
we'll to improve them little in Eng
lish-but that they should acquire the
gift of many tongues at the public eN-
pense is quite another matter. Besides,
we have borne Washburne's bad Eng
lish for twelve years, and | think we
can get along with him during the re-
naming years of his official life with
cut the addition of bad French, spoken,
as it would be, with aprairie accent and
n nasal twang.-MGck.