The daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1873-1877, 1874-12-17
wAsHTNGroN, Dec. IA, 1874.

WASHINGTON, Dec. IA, 1874.
My DEAR ARGUS If / neglected writ
ing this week you would surely charge me
with being unduly elated at having liv-
ing piece of royalty--if it be rather over
done in the tanning-in our midst, and to
escape an indictment of that kind, I'll
cen run the risk Of boring you, as nothing
of consequence seems to be aioat except
terribly severe colds, which are of conse-
quence to the M. d. and to their proprie-
tors.
Yes, he's here and his name is Kala-
kaua, pronounced Kal- lau-c Va, with the
accent on the co,o.) and he's tan-colored
and not particularly beautiful; creates a
good deal of excitement however, and is a
god-sent to the newspaper world. whose
representatives watch for the royal sneeze
with patience and perseverance lovely to
behold.
And how touchingly beautiful his recep-
ton was! Why,not darkey accustomed to
tramp along with every colored band when
engaged in furnishing the music to which
the departure of their defunct brethren is
set, but met him, and escorted him, and
gazed lovingly upon him, with a devotion
and pride rarely beheld ia this cold world
of ours. And then the marines. and the
band, the bayonets and the drum major
ah when come to that functionary, and
his cap, my powers of description utterly
fail me; and if king Kalakaua is
not thoroughly convinced of the might and
grandeur of these United States and their
inhabitants, then nothing less than dose of
Wards which will act as a restorer of the
fraction of Captain Cook which must be
somewhere in his anatomy, by inheritance,
will ever convince him of these facts, and
advise his being sandwiched between the
drum major and his cap, and returned e.
o. d., to his native heath, l. e. if they
have such thing there, which doubt,
Mark Twain never having mentioned the
fact.
Seriously, though, there seems to be a
disposition on the part of our officials to
make everything as pleasant to this King
David X. as possible, President Grant
even making himself agreeable to the ex-
tent of state dinner, and Secretary Fish
unbending from his usual reserve as sell
dom before. As many Americans make
the Sandwich Islands their temporary
home, for the sake of profit or pleasure,
these courtesies will be apt to bear fruit
hundred fold and hope that nothing
may occur to mar the existing friendly re-
lations between the parties concerned.
But there, you will hear enough from all
other correspondents in regard to our visl
tor, and III leave him to their tender mer-
ces, my ideal king not answering the DIES.
cription of this one by any means.
During the summer and fall when bust
pouu xuau Jul1 md tho tutnrn IF wnrE ipU
men aud women gloomy beyond expression,
hope and anticipation pointed to the assem-
bling Of congress as the panacea for all
these ills now that it the assembling) is
an accomplished fact the outlook hcle is
gloomier than ever, hundreds of men EN-
ployed ia the navy yard having been dis
and no other work within reach The de-
partments too are lessenlng the number of
their employees; and what with all these
reductions there is dark cloud of want
and misery hanging oyer rs which appalls
all thinking, feeling people beyond expires
sion And it does seem hard that people
who are anxious and able to work should
be condemned to idleness, want, and posi-
bly, crime while millions upon millions are
im bedded in piles of stone upon which
tHe WOTkeTS WuSt pay tdAcSl, Dullt up lol |
the glory of God" Would it not be bet
ter to 20 back to a more primitive age,
where this church building is concerned,
and, while hum bling our hearts in plain,
unpretending chapel of some kind, take
the remaining immense capital which now
lies dead and unproductiye in all our cities
invest it in some manufacturing or agricu
tural enterprise and give these pool, stary.
ing children of the God we worship an OPP
portunty to earn an honest living Less
would be required to build and maintain
jails and penitentiaries-for want creates
to my thinking the Almig hty
would relish the odor of such an offering
great deal more, would smile with more
wing kindness upon bis Just children, than
e can now when. under cover of honoring
is name, his portionless children are COM
eled to sin in order to live.
But I'm saying more than | intended to
y. The truth is that have just seen
me cases of heart-rending restitution,
lich have convinced me more than ever
the necessity of radical reform some
lere /; and as my conception of the Su-
eme Being is that of a loving father, not
vain glorious potentate, can't help
linking that less costly churches and more
.ctories would be blessing here at least,