, 1870-05-20
WASHINGTON.
a Congressional Excursion.
Down the Potomac.
Some Talks with Officials,

Some Talks with Officials.
fFRox nrH OWN CORRESPONDENT
WAsu1Sc1os, May 1a-
Yesterday an excursion Of noble M
healthy sort was given to Congress- by th
sercnty y-67e pubhc-spirited citizens Of Wash
iugton. Fully two-thirds Of the whole mum
ber of members OF the House and Senate &c
cepted the invitation to take Saturday hol
idas, and, besides, the President and family
General Sherman and family and staff, Ex
ecutives Belkuap, Cox, and Hoar, and severn
other preferred citizens aud their kin-fols.
we're On board tho boat "Lady o.
the Lake" This is tho finest steam
scarcely excepting some Of the grea'
government war transports, and it Was built a
Wilmington, Da1nwaro,-now tho most active
ship building spot in the Un!on, for LAKE
Pontchartrain, at cost Of 9175, 900. Drawing
too much water for the lake it was put on tht
Chesapeake, and WAS finally purchased by S
r Brown, q Northern man, and the most en-
tcrpris1ng citizen Of Washington, for $4,000
to be used as semi.weekly vessel between the
capital and Norfolk. The boat has proved {
successful piece OF property, and runs down
tho Chesapeake generally full Of tourists,
bridal parties, Congressman and iuvalids, while
its freiglts, southwar1, is -four. and north.
ward, early Southern fruits and vegetables. II
stands tigh out of. tic water, being Z three.
decker, with beautiful saloons, with an iso1
hull, and swift paddles. The excursion cos
$4,000, and there werc three hundred and fifty
-commutable invitations for two persons
each, while tile actual number OF people On
board was probably five hundred. The boat
ran nearly to Piney Point, 8 Chesapeake Wa.
te1ing place, abont ono hundred miles down
stream, OF where the broad river grows wide as
. sea, and it's coasts show faint and atmos-
pheric. All the way the table IN the Indies sa-
loon was full Of good things, served by John
Welker, an artistic Dutchmsn, who has seducetl
one-han this government into chronic gout and
unconscious1y helped unny job to consum-
nation by way Of the guzzle.'' Sixty bas-
kets of dry Vtrzcuay were exploded on this
trip,-a sufficient answer to tie absurd ques-
tion: 81 Will tho coming Congressman drink -
and the Captains Office vas facetious]y turned
into place for the gratuitous distribution OF
cigars and while upon the lower deck Senator
H1m1in and about hundred others danced
for twelve consecutive hours, the Marine Band
on the hurricane deck was booming shoo
Flv, for the benefit of A1r. Cox. The party
set out at O'CLOCK, k,-unfortunate leaving
Senator Rerels behind, WHO was discovered,
by telescope, waving an umbrelI4 at the
stern OF The Boat, and haiing, in what seemed
to lie the words " Fifteenth Amendment" and
returned at 10 o'clock, night, in state Of much
conce1n for tho memory and relics of WASH
~ III 1sAO1 III
full Isle of tho Sea-" and ancient enemies
swearing mover to do mutual offence more.
This excursion gave mo opportunity to have
considerable talk with some Of tho leading men
in the government.
: THREE EXECUTIVE SECRETARIES.
Mrs. Be1knap was attended by her widowed
sister, Mrs. Bowers, charming young resi-
dent Of keoluk. who divided the praises Of
tlose p1cecut with General She11uan's daugh-
tcr,-of whom the General is very fond; Miss
Beck, Of Kentucky: Miss Logan, and few
others. Tie average Of good looks was above
general experience, and it Was plain that SEN
sible promenade dresses becamo their wearers
better than tho FREQ style OF evening and re-
ception dress. The two young Secretaries,
Cox and Bclknap, enjoyed themselves heartily,
Cox having tritle OF reserve, while Attorney
General Hour played whist much Of the day
fairs betwixt the Judiciary and tho Senate Nr.
Hoar's carnestness to have created Depart
ment OF Justice Le explained to arise from the
excessive suns sluanlered at present
by having solicitors for each depart
ment and bureau, and 20 much
outside council that the expenses under the
head OF justicc are now among the least ex-
cteab1c and most extravagant in the State.
Secretary Coz complained that he was allowed
little time for study and reading, but that he
liked the climate Of Washington exceedingly
General Eelkuap gave me interesting details
ct the process By which he was lately enabled,
greatly to the delight Of President Grant, to
eaJc Of unnecessary mules, and nearly as
much more by clerical reductions and the cut
ting down Of rents. This process was to
ehock circumlocution hy making the snbordi-
nate cuatodiana and of1ieials report directly to
the Secretary in explicit replies TO certain in-
tcr1ogatozies, and the returns were made the
basis Of prompt sales or settlements. asked
General belkuap if the government had re-
solved policy about the Indiana?
.tYes," tie said, "f lostilities break out
there will be direct dealing with them. Tue
Quaker policy is an expedient to keep the
peace; but war is tho immediate alternative II
the Sioux want it."
"Do you think we ellall have an Iudinn war
this SUMMER"
II do not. For time it threatened to como
soon and abort, but now Red Cloud is coming
in, and every dignifed effort will be mado to
kn0Ig LQo 1IulelClt. AUUNl VIC oAaOty VI .4ao
Indiana We are not much alarmed"
"Do you address tho Iowa soldiers this sum-
mer:" ,,,.c ~.
eral Sherman will 10 there and fully ten thou
sand state troops, Tho State has appropriated
81, 1000, and with the tents that they can get
and we can lend them, they will be well accom-
modated."
asked General Delknap what was to be done
about tho State Department building, for.hich
the Senate voted half million dollars to begin
with tho other day.
"Wcl," lie said, " A1r. Fish has an idea that
tho State Department ought to be near the
ecutige transactions Of formal sort The
building in which we now are is very old at tho
bottom and very rieletty At tho top. Tho
Nar Department, in the proposed new build
ing, viii have the end nearest Pennsylvania
avenue; the State secretary:s rooms will be in
toward the Potomac. This can Be properly
arranged. Tho stylo OF tho building is not
definitely fixed for, as you know. two Of three
sites had been previously selected and aoan,
dontd; but the architect Of tho Treasury WILL
not have charge Of this work. as y does not
will require about 160 rooms in the new editicc,
or Is many aR both the others. At present we
pay in rents many tens OF thousands Of dollars
and. indeed, hardly knew how many
buildings our department occupied until stau-
TOMS death, when one could tell by tho houses
Tsa satea hueE e os tse e5RSit 5Rnitea sf,tas from
The time of tho revolution, arc Kept
in tho present brick and wooden ediice; and
though ne have efficient arrangements 10 sup
nress fire. vet it is source OF doubt and un-
caeiness I'll tho while. It is my opinion thnt
the building. If resolved upon, will DO in the
style, ana in shape to correspond
with the Trensu1y on the other elde oil tho
Presidents house." -...
!. .Havc you any personal position, as u mem-
Ier Of The executive government, upon the
Amy hill" o.~,, ,-,
positions, and some OF Senator Wilson's. l
think, on tho whole, tho aJmy people bad bet
ter accept what Wilson offeza thera, as It is in
ing, like everything else, must be considered
as fact and not as sentiment, and tho gov
cannot be more tender With its yete-
rans than tho people arc. There are, undonbt-
edly, parts Of the army which exist by g1ati-
tudo instead Of By necessity. Where popular
patience or fear stands toward these parts,
government will have to. come; sooner
tho United states army is. well-otiicere{1,
even in the bureaucratic parts. Take your
friend Humphreys, for example, Oh whom you
were rather hard in summarizing the 1hver
aud Harbor bills. II you nsl1 him a question
OF statistics lle will ask half m hour to an
sHer it in, but at the end OF that time he viii
be exhaustive and correct 1ondeT 1s MelGa
down the river II We could feel It safe to
move troops from tho South. We could take
caro- of the Indians with a reduced army, nut
eyery time VIC moyo 2 regiment the1e tne
Southern Congressman and State Governors
arc after us sharp. The South is in the way
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