Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1870-01-04
Letter from Washington.


Letter from Washington.
WASHINGTON, D. c., Dec. %, 1869.
The adjournment of Congress, the de-
parture of Congressman and members of
the Third House" for their homes, leaves
Washington 4 dull place for news gather
ers There is one idea, however, perhaps
worth preserving, which is that Christmas
in Washington as is everywhere in the .
South is marked as day set apart for the .
commingling Of the high, the low, the rich .
and the poor upon a common level, all en-
joying the sumPtuous board supplied with /
turkies, pumpkin pies and generally egg
nogg as done in the North on Thanksgiving !
day. The colored people as well as some
not colored, as a kind Of an instinct, ex-
pect Christmas gift from almost every
one they know, and the giving Of presents
seems so much As matter of course that
the purse string. of those whose purses are
empty are unloosened. But there are
many here as in all large cities, like, per-
haps, few in your town, whose pride
mingled with sorrow and poverty, will not
allow them to so forget their distressful
situation to enjoy this day. While | desire
Mr.. Editor, to join with you in wishing
your readers, even those who have not re-
ciprocated for the incalculable benefits de-
rived from your past years labor Merry
Christina, and Happy New Year. l do
pray that ere another year rolls round that
those sickened and sorrowful hearts may be
made glad with the bountiful gift of the
Author Of Nature.
The lamented death of Hon. Edwin NJ.
Stanton, on Friday morning was most I'M
expected, and the report of his death was
received as an additional solemn admOni-
! ton of warning to those high in official
rank, that Death Is no respecter ofPersons,
| and in whatever position, rank, or however
desirable that position may be to them and
/ important to the country, at most it Is on
" held by the simple thread, like tenure of
/ the uncertainties of life In rapid success
sion our country is losing many of its con-
spicuous statesmen, and in Washington
where they most reside, is felt and realized
more perhaps than in other places, the
grave, important and just lesson. it teach
es to our public servants.
Tho oI,;o.+ Of ~ or,
whose recommendations and influence dis
trict judges have been appointed, was caus-
ed by a disahected class of men whose
noses have been disjointed by virtue of
those judgeship appointments, and who al
lege that these nominees are purely crea-
lures Of Judge Hoar's making and not par
ticularly the choice of the people of the
district over W h c h they are
to preside. The friends of Judge Hoar,
since the action of the Senate on Tuesday,
have no hopes of his confirmation.
The National eight hour executive COM
mittee are still at work in this city, and
have agreed upon bill to amend the eight
hour law so that in all public work, to be
done under or by virtue of any law or res
olution Of Congress or by any Office, agent,
architect, engineer, superintendent OF con-
tractor for the United States, eight hours
shall be a days work, and for which labor
ers, workingmen and mechanics shall re-
ceive the same pay per day or month, as
! = hot 70 orl- h.,
cinity where the public work is being done ;
that the reduction of hours shall not reduce
the wages and when work is to be let, it
shall be stated in an. advertisement that
the work must be done at eight hours per
day, and so stipulated in the contract. The
object is to require all public work to be
done at eight hours per day, and is intend
ed as an example for workmen on private
work
{ The bill to promote the reconstruction
of Georgia, which has passed both houses
of Congress and signed by the President
provides that the Georgia Legislature shall
be convened by the governor, and the ex-
PEELED colOred members restored to theil
: seats, and those Ineligible under the four.
T teenth amendment excluded, and that the
state must ratify the fifteenth amendment
before her representatives can be admitted
to seats i'll Congress. Gov. Bullock is san
guine that he can call together on the 18th
2 proximO, quorum of the Georgia Legis
| lature, and made assurances before leaving
that the ratification of the fifteenth amend
f ment would be in Washington in less thar
= a month The Governor has had much t.
| do of late in influencing Congress to pas:
e the Georgia bill, and he therefore feels re
: sponsible for the course his state will pur
i sue in the premises.
e The museum of the agricultural depart
: ment improves daily in attractions anC
: utility, and producers begin to understand
a its use, and exhibit there their first fruits
e grains, textile materials, fabrics, &C. Sine,
d the last report, a second lot of very fin,
:. fruits has been received from Nebraska
e comprising fifty specimens of apples ant
e pears of large size and excellent quality
r Arkansas has also sent some twenty sam
It pies of large snowy apples and delicious
: pears. Colorado has contributed monste
y beats, turnips, onions, etc, grown on he
= high table lands within about 1000 feet o
n the region of eternal snow. A cotton plan
S from Georgia is on exhibition which meas
: ures about seven feet in height, and il
}, thickly set with branches from two to tire
e feet long, all of which are loaded witt
e snowy cotton balls.
r new feature of the museum is the lare
e collection of specimens of wood from al
:, parts of the world, donated by the Smith
sonian Institution, and now being classified
5 and arranged by DR.. Parry, botanist, 0