Orangeburg times. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1872-1875, 1872-12-04
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER
FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.

The Jenkenses of the local press here
have been overhauling the military Major
Donlos of The White House, regarding
the writing ofthc Presidential message,
and the public are informed that none
but special visitors will be received by the
President while he is engaged on the
message which, as usual, will take about
ten days, devoting two hours each day
to the work, making in all about twenty
hours The impression sought to be con.
vcyed is, that Grant writes the message,
and does the job quietly. From the die
ton, and the matter contained in them,
he paight well be the author, and in the
time specified, but competent judges con.
tend that a fist other than his is easily
recog gnizcd in them. Well, if he will only
turn over new political leaf as some
sanguine rctormers say he will, and
secure the backing of his friends in Con-
gress to carry out what he is going to
promise, there will be a general joy over
his conversion, but. with the experience
OF the past, one cannot be hopeful of his
future. tars.s SIS rn.
Fs.4sesT+tt s.ss+t CfyIL SERVICE REFORM.
The President will find that his civil
service reform will not bring him that
peace which he so dearly loves. The
politicians see their patronage about to
slip from Their grasp, aud Ulysses will
find them about his ears like swarm of
bees shortly, for what they lose is in
directly gained to him, which was the
purpose Of :hc policy. The negro Fred
Douglass in Ills paper, the New Era,
pitches into the civil service reform and
says that the board of broken down
school masters, who arc to examine the
applicants for Office in rcadin', ritin', and
'rithmatic, will give the Office to the one
who passes the best examination, though
he be IL noisy Democrat, or pardoned
rebel. That is how tlle civil service re
form works in practice. The Rcpubli-
can here endorses the views expressed by
the Era, that it is advisable to exclude
rebels and Democrats, and to this end
the civil service rules should be SO chang
Ell as to confne its workings exclusively
to the faithful, which it thinks General
Grant intends shall be the case. All this
will not alter the case as it now stands of
struggle between the President and the
Senators and members Of Congress for
power, which will create lively times be-
fore it is over.
EXTENSION OF THE SESSION. 4
The proposition to extend the session
over couple of the spring months by
re- -,nacting the law of 1867, which pro-
vides that each new Congress meet ON
March 4th, meets with almost unanimous
favor from those members of Congress
who have already arrived here. There
arc cighty-thrce hills which along with
other legislation can scarcely receive
the attention of Congress by the 4th OF
March, as there will he considerable time
lost Ey the holiday recess. The consider,
alton of matters arising out of the Wash.
ington Treaty will consume great deal
of time.
THE Liberal. REPUBLICANS
In Congress may expect TO be maliyncd
by their former political friends on every
ayail.blc occasion The Radical iourn
ais here are gloating over the avowed
purpose of General Banks and Governor
Blair to resign their chairmanships or
the meeting of Congress. No doubt "back
seats" will be assigned all those Republi
cans who left the Grant ranks. Senator
Trumbull denies the statcmen. that h.
intends to resign his seat in the Senate
and will wait his displacement from thu
head Of the Judiciary Committee, which
he, Of course, expects to lose OH the re