The New York herald., 1870-05-04

MIR. Washburn, OF Wisconsin, has s0mo
sound views upon the Postal Telegraph
question. Upon that subject he ls entirely in
accord With US. He comprehends the whole
matter very intelIigently, and has done good
deal in Congress to advance the interests Of
system which, when adopted, as It must be
one day, will prove Of infinite service to this
country, not only in crushing out odious
monopolies, but In facilitating the transmission
of thought among the people. But when he
assalls the navy Of the country, which needs
encouragement from every source, he makes
mistake. In his late speech the Congressman
from Wisconsin has evidently been at sea and
without knowledge Of navigation. Mr.. Wash
burn, not satisfied with cutting down naval ap-
preparations to figure that would cripple the
navy seriously, has endeavored to divert the at
tenti0n of the country from his covert purposes
by insidiously attacking certain naval officers.
He introduced into his speech, for instance,
various matters relating to contracts abroad,
and endeavored to have tackled on to the
Appropriation bill a clause prohibiting COM
manders on foreign service from purchasing
supplies of coal and other material without
having the matter arranged through the
medium Of q United States consul. 1t Is well
known what the calibre of some Of our consuls
ia, and we think the government would be at
least as safe in conducting purchases Of coal
abroad by leaving the matter in the hands Of
our naval commanders, who are governed
by very stringent regulations, such as these
that purchases shall be made by the paymas-
ter, inspected by the officer in whose depart
ment the article may be required and the price
certified to by the merchants Of the best stand
ing in the place and the bills examined and
approved by the commanding officer" If
there was any attempt at fraud 1t could
scarcely be carried ont successfully with such
regulations in force.
Might we not regard Mr.. Washbu rms
attempt to incorporate the clause to which we
have referred into the naval appropriation as
direct insult to Admiral Farragut, who COM
manded the European feet when the ''irregu-
larities" of which the gentleman from Wiscon-
sin makes such q parade occurred2 No one
in this country will feel satisfied to know that
an attempt has been made to impugn the con-
duct OF the gallant old Admiral. Not Mr..
Washburn, with all his prestige, could success
fully undertake such task.
AS far as we can learn, our Minister to
Portugal when Congress refused to appro-
pirate the money for his salary, undertook to
meddle in coal sold by dealers In Lisbon to our
vessels of war. His reports say that the ves-
sells of the feetOf which Admiral Farragut had
command dealt with a person who had the
misfortune to be Jew, and kept lager beer
saloon, although It was admitted that he sold
coal at three shillings ton cheaper than
Mr.. Harvey's pet man, who was not
a Jew and did not keep a lager beer
saloon. Mr.. Harvey, not liking the way
the squadron purchases were conducted by the
Admiral's direction, made formal report to
that old seadog, Gideon Welles, who merely
sent for his long speaking trumpet and hailed
him across the ocean as follows:-" Minister
Harvey, please attend to your own business
and don't bother yourself about naval matters.
This department can attend to Its affairs with
out your assistance" This unfriendly hail SC
"riled" Mr.. Harvey that he appears to have
united with Washburn & Co., or Washburr
& Co. have united with him, as the case may
be, to do all the damage they can to the navy
These gentlemen do not reflect that in en-.
deavoring to fix blame upon bureau they ar
in fact doing their utmost to stigmatize Admi-
raj Farragut, who had the entire control of thu
feet; who approved all Mr.. Abercassis' offer
for coal, which were three shillings ton less
than the offer made by any one else, and wh'
was governed by the regulations of the nav!
in all that he did.
| All the stuff introduced by Mr.. Washburr
into his speech on the floor Of the House was
probably intended to reflect upon the service
not to correct abuses. If the latter was hi
object he could, by application to the Bureau
of Equipment, have found out in ten minutes
that there was not particle of truth in Mr.
Harvey's statements, and Admiral Farragut
ill as he is and much annoyed at these asser
tions, would have given him ten lines tina
would have put the matter entirely at rest
We are sorry that Mr.. Washburn, wht
evidently understands how to run telegraph
! on land for tho benefit Of both govern.
| ment and people, should have gone 80 far int
salt water as to get out Of his depth and com
| into collision with the old salts Of the navy.
Mrs. LrNooLN's PENSION. The United State
Senate, without any chafsring, ought to pas
at once the House bill providing pension o
three thousand dollars for Mrs. Lincoln. 1t
little enough, considering her claims upon tn
government, and it involves simple matter Q
public debt which cannot be evaded withou
disgrace. It should have been paid whe
due; it must be paid, however, and the soone
the better for the credit Of the Senate. Ths
economical body, for once, would do well
| ccase this straininp at Qnat when it ca