The Portland daily press., 1872-03-22
Letter from Washington.
WASHINGTON, D. G., March 1e, 1872.

WASHINGTON II. o., March 16, 1872.
''BARKIs TRUMBULL" AND HIS FIFTY SINS.
The debates in the Senate for a week past
have not been so exciting as they were during
the discussion of the French Arms Investga-
ton, but they have been spicy and personal to
a degree quite inconsistent with real Senatorial
dignity, and without eliciting any truths calcu-
lated to enhance the respect due to so distin-
guished body. The point was on motion of
Mr.. Conkling for an investigation into recon-
mendations for Office by certain Senators with
a view to determine the comparative virtue of
each, or active interest of each in the matter of
patronage. 1t all arose from an attempt of Mr.
Trum bull to parade his superior merit in re-
spect to influencing appointments; but Trum-
bull being known as an actual sinner in this
business it really seemed hard to brother Sena-
tors that he should be suffered to represent
himself to the country as agenuine saint unless
the facts were in his favor. Admitting the
wickedness and improperly of Senators sign
ing recommendations for office, which was the
gist of Trumbull's accusation, the effort to es-
tablish his own righteousness because he had
only sinned fifty times in three years was lit
tie ludicrous, and yet the grave Senators debat-
ed it earnestly. Morton attempted to show one
hundred and three acts of transgression but
Trumbull insisted that the fact of his signature
proved vital interest in only about fifty or so,
and quite adroitly succeeded in getting up
wrangle upon the import of his name upon the
odd ffty-three cases, thus 1iverting in meas
ure the attention due to the enormity of the
fifty cases confessed The whole spectacle was
far from exhilararng It certainly was not
pleasant to see Senator strive to make capital
out of the fact that cussedness had only got
the better of him fifty times, but it was more
unpleasant still to have a talk of several days
on the point whether he was little better OF
little worse in that respect than any one else.
Mr.. Trumbull mentioned as an ameliorati1gcir-
cumstance that one of the appointments made
at his request was relative of his deceased
wife,-a pathetic allusion showing the possess
ion of some degree of human feeling on his
part and establishing the fact that no more
than forty-nine of the cases were affected by
purely malicious or mercenary considerations;
and l am happy to note the improvement in the
male sex since the beginning for it will be re-
menbered that Adam charged the whole of
his transgressions to the influence of his wife
while Trumbull is willing to assume forty-nine
nlGlcbLlS ulIlStll,-tuu blllS tu6 ONLY valuable
thing can discover in the contest tf--f
SENATOR HOWE ON THE CIVIL SERVICE.
Mr.. Howe made an able speech on civil ser
vice reform, much superior to Carpenters on
that question, and the Senate by one majority
voted to raise $50,000 to test the scheme of Mr..
Curtis M H4se f.E 7anrrrs f
BROOKS INVOCATION OF WEBSTER AND CLAY.
The House on Wednesday had an animated
talk on the amendment to the appropriation
bill giving an extra half million as a subsidy
to the China line of steamships, which brought
out the leading orators of the House of both po-
litical parties, though for wonder it was not
made party question. The amendment was
defended by Dawes, Garfield, Bingham, Hale,
and notably James Brooks democrat and free
trader of New York. 1t was opposed by But
ler, Fernando Wood & Co., and Farnsworth
was anxious to help American Industry by al
lowing the Company owning the line to do
their business with British shps-an odd way
of building up home navigation interest and
giving the mastery of the seas. Brooks
showed that nearly all the old Democrats of the
stamp of Polk, Robert j. Walker and Stephen
A. Douglas were in favor of measures of this
kind, as also were Clay, Webster and Crtten-
den and the Wings generally, but it must be
admitted that the impression in relation to the
statesmen of Polks time is akin to Hosea Big
lows.
"That they didn't know everything down in JUDGE"
And what Webster or Douglas thought is not
now so important as what Wood, Crebs and
Speer think on the question of subsidies, for they
have votes and the voting days of the others
ended some timeago
GLARING INCONSISTENCY
believe your Maine people have heard some
plain language from the Democrats about the
decay of American Commerce under the blight
ing neglect of Gen. Grants administration. but
the policy of aiding it was as warmly opposed
by Wood, Beck and Farnsworth, as the other
policy which:they declare was its ruin.
After all there was something amusing in OBJ
serving the eagerness with which sundry gem
tlemen-notably Mr.. Garfeld-defending the
principle of subsidy, and how they spread
themselves rhetorcally over the great prize of
Asatic commerce-and then to remember that
less than two years ago they were all found ar
rayed in hostility to the same ideas and policy
as suggested by Mr.. Lynch land favorably by