Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1873-03-08
CORRESPONDENCE.
letter from Philadelphia.
PHILADELPHIA, March 4, 1873

heIIer IfO" Hn1IaucIpn1a.
a.t rniil PHILADELPHIA, March 4, 1878.
Friend Wilpst.--
Business preventing my going to Wash
ington to-day, and having no axe to grind,
no desire to go--and not being much of an
admirer of jams, especially in cold, wet
weather, L will devote the day, or portion
thereof, to dropping you line. Once
more the whrlagig Of time brings us to
another Inauguration Day, and with il
ends the FIRST four years of General Grants
| administration of the honorable position of
Chief Magistrate of this great Republic.
| Looking back over the past term, as he un-
doubtedly must and will to-day, when en-
tering upon his second term, he may well
be proud of his record. Four years of up-
interrupted peace and prosperity-at home
and abroad-our gigantic debt greatly re-
duced, and with it the burdens of taxation
80 greatly lessened, and at its close the fin
ger of scorn pointed at 80 many of the un-
| worthy representatives of his party-so
many hitherto looked up to by the people
with trust and confidence; yet without
an intimation of his connection herewith,
his skirts clear ofeven suspicion; and above
all, his almost unanimous reelection to
| the position formerly held by the immortal
| Washington and his noble successors down
! to our loved and martyred Lincoln. Con-
| trast the position OF things to-day with tie
situation when he grasped the relDs of
State, when the country had just passed
through successful though bloody civil
strile--and had since been nearly ruined
| by dishonored Executive, when financial
ruin seemed imminent then his stern, un-
I tinching honesty brought us through
cleared away the meshes of incompetency
and at the expiration of his term receives
the well merited plaudits ofa grateful con-
stituency, AID enters upon his second term
with the encouraging prospects, if as sue
cessful in it as in the first, of receiving
upon his retiring thercfrom the grateful
thanks of the people, and rest, after his
eventful and honored career, with the bless
ing of well done thou good and faithful
servant,n resting upon him, and be carried
into history as one who served his country
well, and prove to dOubters the fallacy of
the old adage that Republics are migrate
ful.n
While on the subject OF new regimes
about commencing, l see your people have
done very sensible act in continuing in
office the efficient Chief Burgess of the past
year. We can all see the good he has
done, and ii is well it should be continued.
If town is TO improve and assume its
proper station in this progressive age, it
must be by encouraging improvement, by
judici0us expenditure of the public money,
and now that the county has rid itself of
it's drawback in its dishonest officials, it is
good that the county seat should be rid Of
its incubus of old-fogyism and spirit of op-
position TO Improvement. n town Will not
improve, however great it's natural advan-
tages may be, unless some attention is paid
to making it attractive, and having its or
dinances of cleanliness, as well as others,
fully carried out. l congratulate your peo-
pie upon their choice, and that they have
not repeated their errors of other days in
dismissing an energetic Council and Bur-
CESS, after their first years trial, as il they
had been negligent of duty, or done wrong
in urging on improvement. 1t is well to
be rid Of the clogs in the wheels. Coun-
cilmeu who never see the inside of the
Council Chamber, unless drummed up TO
attend, when their voluntarily assumed OBJ
legations are as great as those whose ac-
tiOns they hinder.
The Constitutional Convention drags
itself along the even tenor of its way, with
out much progress. 1t is a body not up to
the excellence such body should manifest.
1t has many, very many excellent and
bright minds upon its floors; but many
more very much below the ordinary.
Some days ago when the subject Of woman
suffrage was under discussion, one of the
members from QUA neiShboring county OF
Montgomery, made speech thereon, in
tended to be witty, but trausgressing the
bounds of exact decency, and l am happy
> to say saved himself the disgrace of having
: his speech excluded from the minutes by
resolution-which was drawn up and about
to be presented--by requesting the report
ers not to report it. 1t is an evidence of a
better tone than our Legislative bodies
! have generally, that it should be so re-
ceived, and certainly was redeeming.
During the past week Judge " oodward
has employed his time traducing and mis-
representing our city. He has never been
able land never will be, suppose, to for
give our people for being patriotic, by
turning upon and ,trampling in the dust
the pretentions of himself and his dlsloyal
associates, when they essayed to weaken
t our forces in the field, by giving them one
ignominious defeat after another. Happy
for the State, and happy for the nation,
; that the counsels of such men availed SC
little. To-day Judge Woodward is weaker
than ever in this city, and that is needless,
for he was always weaker than his party.
Still there was certain amount of respect
: shown him out of respect to the abilities
accorded him, but now even they are gone
Till another time, yours, -L..
nIINA SInNkI