Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1874-12-03
Correspondence.
Letter from Washington.
WASHINGTON ID q Nov


WASHINGTON ID. C., Nov. 80.
cuRiosTTIEs oE THE cuoRpryNfxG rR,rp
Recent msnifes'o of Mr.. Dawes. and an.
other by DIR, Chaffee. notorious lobbyi.,,
brings 10 mind s,me thing have heard con-
corning the Chorpenn'ng claim. which. t,ksn
IN connection with the manifestoes. will he
Interesting reading. Mr.. Dawes saws he rev.
ef isi'ei TO deneunce the claim as fraud. and
Chahee SAYS the claim was never subie # of
conversation between them. Chaffee makes
MS statement to show that Dawes could no,
have been concerned in the blark.mailine
operation which was charged AGAINST bim.elf
10 understand the bearing. of the matter ur,.
on Mr.. Dawes. 1t IL necessary to give some
facts tina, are not disputed BY him.
Cho' penning had been more than doz,n
years pressing his el i'm before the p. q. De.
psrtment. Congress. President. and Court OF
Claim. and he and his business were well
known In Washington. HIS claim had been
examined bvs Committee of the Senate AMI
House. anu faNoraby reported on more than
once and bill OF relief hal been passed and
approved by the President. Postmaster Cen.
Brown was direct d 10 make an award which
he did. but the Claimant thought it Ief out a
part Of the sum due. which was included In the
bill lie a.kcdflra review. but Brown died
before anything was done and he Ia n went TO
the Cuuri Of Claims where his appeal was re-
le'tcd for wa Of jurisdiction Then he
brought the case on more bet III Congress,
aud got a biil an hoFiz NJ Cre>wcli to act in
the premises and make an award according TO
the original evidence on fle. ,rcswell tx
amined the lapcrs aud made sn award Of near
ly half u million. New bali mill ON is sum
altogether too irge to escape the attention OF
Washington -harpers of the Chsf,e stripe.
who have their SCENTS in ali the Departments
Clerks who keep posted. iutcrpose to de.
lay claims, ani who divide the plumber With
the lobby. ,horpen Iing's Ct i'm reached the
sixth Suditor'- Office and there stuck. two or
three Clerks Of that office being in a close
communication with the BlacA- Mail ng ring
The ring in tie mean time gave him notice
that the cl i'm was aground. aud that IL wouli
take fny thousand dollars TO h1at II. Choir
psnning refused 10 come down. an | To- three
weeks the gans hcll on aud pressed him D.
come TO terms. This was a, long a. they
the next step. the day before the auditor
was to Il N the warrant the enlisted Dawes
who broush the case before The Hon .. de-
nounced it a. fraud. AMI 90; Congress to pr.
resolution forbdl NJ the payment This
was the tisi time Mr.. Dave, had dcnounce
II thou h 1t hsj becn penIins a dozen years and
he had be n in Congress I'll the Tire.
Perhaps the mot sin4u'a- thing in the
whole business. i. now dsciop j FOR The
first time by pr. Chaifcc. and TIT, j.. ia t the
claim wa- never alluded 10 between thaffsr. I
and pawc,
II must be borne 10 mind that IN Il, i, ono
OF the most noted lobb,i,,> IN Washington.
and the lobbyist, levy upon al clai - OF
magnitude. This Is done n, cnis to get
money from each. bot 10 make tie power Of
the ring felt, and make all Claimants think
that they must patronize their shop. 80 each
OF the scamps works against every Ciaima mt
who won't divide with the rin;. CnalIee ~a>
t"rribi, In earnest in stopping the Chorpen-
ming claim. when it became certain that the |
,laiman: was not intending 10 pay. Dawes
was also ierridcaliy In earnest. and Wa the |
great man in the House. who performed the
necessary work. lie and ChAfee ar Of the
same political party. belong 10 the same state.
the same district, arr Old n,igabor, and
friends. and so intimate that the opinion Of
ChAhec as 10 wha; Dawes may DO Ia a gwen
case is by some regarded hotter than the
opinion Of Dawes himself With the.e close
IT a,ions between them and they meeting
every day. the fraud. The town talk. both
hard a; work TO dcfca; Il, and yc; there wa.
perfect silence between them. silence under |
the circumstances was morr siSniacan: than
speech, and indicates mutual understanding.
Why should two men periodically engaged IN
heading OF fraud not speak TO each other
Abou, il and 50 decidedly not. that one Of them
years AFTER distinctly RENE mbers ~ II al was
square, there was no reason WHY they shoulI
not TAX. but every reason why they should.
The letter Of ChaG'e therefore, written to
exculpaie Dawes, really raise. 4 strong I'M
p.ication against him. In thi, connection IL
must BE- remembered that when Dawes wa.
sent for 10 give information TO the Judiciary,
be refused to appear.