Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1869-11-16
Letter from Washington.

I
known that we did not possess. Boarding
houses are sufficiently numerous here. but
their accommodations compared with those
OF other cities are inferior and very expen-
sive during the congressional season.
Boarding houses are kept generally by wo-
men in INDECENT circumstances, who have
no money to go to market with one half of
the time, and are compelled 70 trade on
tick at the corner grocery, paying twenty
per cent. more for too often inferior) pro-
visions than they would otherwise have to
give if they paid cash at our city markets.
Some Of our hotels are In the same fix to
be sure, but this epidemic is not general
with them, and therefore strangers do have
some show, by paying respectable price,
to get good accommodations in Washing
ton.
The Worlds Fair and the New Capital
movement continues to be the all-absorb-
ing topic Of conversation among the prop
erty owners here, who feel pretty sure if
Washington is only favored with the for
mer it will not be dispossessed of the lat
ter, and hence the prospects of more than
usual effort made the coming winter to Sc
cure the Worlds prize. OF course it is to |
be expected that the committee of mknocn
men appointed by the Capital Convention
in st. Louis recently, will be forthcoming
at the meeting of congress to make them |
selves kH01cH.
The meeting of congress is but three
weeks away. Then comes the customary
routine of business preparatory for real
work, the changes in the committees, ma
king up the slate, &C., which will consume
no little of the time elapsing before the adj
journment of the holidays We are anx-
ious to know which of the many important
measures demanding their immediate at
tention they will attend to first The at
tentiOn of the senate for several hours each
day for some time will be given to the con-
sideration Of numerous appOintees of the
president, not acted upon last spring, and
those appointed during therecess. In this
part Of congressional proceedings, there
will be no little excitement; as is well
known there were last spring on an aver
age as many as dozen applicants for each
office in the gift of the president, and each
applicant too bearing credentials from sat
isfactory sources of his just claims upon the
government, and his entire fitness for the
position he sought. Now it would indeed
be strange if out of the number of disap-
pointed applicants numbering ten times
the number appointed, there were not at
the meeting Of congress goodly number
Of them, backed in most instances by their
respective representatives, fighting their
contestants confirmation in the senate.
The reports of the departments 50 far as
known of them will be replete with sug-
gestions Of reforms for the government Of
Retrospective bureaus. Postmaster Gen
eral Creswell's report is said to embrace a
recommendation for the abolition of the
ranking privilege, and that the depart
ments be required to pay their own postage.
This of course is intended TO increase the
revenue Of his department and place it in
a position to be more respected. The
franking privilege, though greatly modified
by an act Of congress last winter, does not
prevent the great imposition of sending
through the L. 5. Mail, matter Of unofficial
character, and such as would, if the de-
partments were entirely excluded from
Thanking, be paid for, and thus net to the
government a vast amount of money.
Commissioner Delano it seems is still
having trouble in collecting the Internal
Revenue taxes. There are so many WAYS
to detraud the government that it is next
to an impossibility to even approximately
, collect the Internal Revenue. Whisky
3 tobacco and malt liquors are troublesome
r commodities of trade. The different in
ventions and devices on spirit metres foI
/ whisky are again to receive an overhauling
Only year ago last spring, by an act O
r congress, a board was appointed to investi
! gate the subject of spirit meters and to ex
? anime the merits of some twenty working
models from different parts, brought her,
e by inventors or their attorneys. One am
= ong the number presented recollect was
complete rectifer, with which it was claim
ed to be able to make whisky ten years ole
out of new in few hours, upon the prin
ciple Of forcing the whisky through tn,
same process in this short length of tim
that it would undergo in ten years by re
o naming in the cask. The Board, the pres
/ ident of which was Prof Henry of tn
! Smithsonian Institute, did not howeve
, take this novel invention into account il
: connection with the metres, and after sew
eral weeks examination and deliberation
i it 1.-THE board recommended to the secreta
: ry the adoption of the well known lis
: Metre. This metre has served its time an,
is considered a very good metre, but no
e sufficiently good to battle against the in
5 trigues Of the Whisky Ring and its auxil
iaries, and prevent the defrauding of tn
: government millions every month.
e The Internal Revenue Department is ap
i prised of the fact that probably not on
, half of the tax on malt liquors are collect
!. ed, and that one of the principal causes fo
y this is that revenue stamps are used owe
and over again by means of process c
0 removing all evidences of the cancellatio
: mark. There was stamp presented to til
J. Post Office Department some time since,
/, have forgotten by whom, which has tn
/ novel and it would seem important featur
u about it, that as soon as any acids or watt
!. touches it sufficiently to detach it from p,
/ per or any other material, it will cancel i
= self by Immediately bringing to the SUI
face the word " cancellation"
J The Supervisors of the several District
: will soon be notified by the secretary of tn
r treasury of the importance of their office
by requesting them to keep sharper lool
= out for frauds in their respective district
u If we have supervisors at all the commits
Il sioner wants not only honest men but lgorj
y ing men, men who will see that the la
=" which govern this service is rigidly obeye,
81 and not treat their Office as, it is feare
IL many do, as sinecure affair The il
70 forming business" in this service has
I late been exceedingly lucrative, and I
doubt has done much toward preventir
frauds generally, but as the pay for the il
4 former of little petty frauds amounts to b.
l. little, those one horse establishments ha,
e. been overlooked and in consequence a
OF now getting to be very numerous. On