Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1875-02-17
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER
WAsHINGroN Feb. z, 1876.

WASHINGTON Feb. z, 1876.
DEAR COURIER Tho Civil Rights
bill which was inherited by % from
Horace Greeley and Charles Sumner,
late leaders of the Democratic party,
has passed, and now goes back to the
Senate, which originated 1t, for con.
currence in amendments tackled on TO
it. and taken out Of 1t. One Of the
most am,,sing Of these was the one
proposed by the blond Shanks, Of In
diana, to add to the bill the preamble
Of the platform adopted by the right
and left wings Of the Democratic party
at Cincinnati and Baltimore in 1872
These fellows who went into the ~
campaign with something like the old
rebel yell, under this declaration Of
perfect equality, now squirmed and
twisted at Shank's prescription like q
boy in the green apple season taking .
dose of castor oil, but the doctor had
them by the nose and they had to
take il.
It is the humble opinion of this
writer that the country had had
enough of legislation on the subject
before thiss tA~A - ..., 80
= saO 0ossss s.s.uss BOOKS touching the negro,
rather than more buncoMb legislation;
but whatever may be our individual
opinions upon this subject, it 10 now
matter of fact that the Democratic
party has been put upon the record -
voting soiidly against the vital part of
the platform upon which they tried
to come into power under Greeley In
1872. The concurrence of the Senate
in the emascnlated bill is matter of
The New York Tribune bitterly de-
nounces Barnum, q Democratic mem-
ber of Congress from Connecticut,
whose absence from his seat enabled
the Republicans to pass the Civil
Rights oil. And now if the invisible
aud iasaA gible spirit of the late Hor-
acc Greeley is travelling about through
the uncolumed air, we should like to
ask it how it likes to see the Tribune
damning man for not voting against
the pet measure of Charles Sumner
and Horace Greeley? Eighteen hum
dred years OF Roman Catholic religion
has given thirty feet Of debris around
the columns of the Co oseum; the
Roman Forum has become rope
wslk; the descendants of Brutus and
Fabius Msximus may be seen daily
sitting on the sunny side of Catholic
nunnery eating lice off each others
bodies o squirty brainless young reb.
ell Erigadier General rants around
like cabbage seed in wagon box, in
the seat once occupied by Carl Schurz,
and Jay Gould and Whitelaw Reid
in the stock jobbing Democratic New
York Tribune howl in satanic chorus
because Q Democratic member OF
Congress failed to vote against . bill
intended to give the colored man and
brother, equal and exact Justice with
all other bifurcated animals! What
next?
The pressure brought to bear against
the transfer OF Supervisors and the
other special agents OF the Treasury
Department, to which I referred In 8
recent letter, has been suspended un.'
til further orders, whereat there 10
supposed to be great rejoicing amoue
said officers, - the change only In,
volvad them in additional labor aud
expense without any increased pay.
The Iowa delegation has recently
recommended Hon. w. g. Donnau, the
present member Of Congress from the
Dubuque district, for Minister to
Turkey, and Major G. G. Bennett, or
Washington, lows, for an Asaociate
Justice Of Dakota. The name of the
latter has been sent in TO tho Senate
aud just confirmed. lie Is . lawyer
OF reputable parts who has frequently
been candidate for Congress before
nominating conventions in his district.
He was also Senator from his county
TOR four years, aud chairman Of the
Judiciary Committee during . por-
tion of that time. He was Lieuten.
ant in the 7ih Iowa Infantry, and sub
sequently an assistant Adjutant Gem
eral. Major Donnan has an equally
creditable military record. He also
served four years in tho Senate, and
on the 4th OF March next will have
completed tour years Of highly re-
spectacle service here. He would
have been renominated and reelected
unquestionably, II he had refused the
back pay, 40 he steadily voted against
that infamy. He graduated at Union
College, Schenectady, with Major
Woodward, Of Ottumwa, Congress-
man Bass, Of Buffalo, N. Y, and Col.
e. X. Peck, Of Keokuk.
As ! write, DR.. Coombs' church 10
burning down. It will be reccllected
that DIR. Coombs committed suicide
here recently. lie was tho Pastor of
Presbyterian church In this city for
many years of an eminently respecta-
Bile flock. He was On inherent and CON.
slitutional klcptomapiac. For years
he had been in the habit OF purlolninr
books from the tables OF dealers, and
the dealers had been In the hatit OF
keeping watch over his operations !;
quietly taking account Of the books
which he abstracted, and then after
givius him time to read them, sending
boy around to get them. This, the
Doctor came to regard, In his diseased
imagination, as an eminently proper
proceeding. But one unfortunate
Sunday morning an article was pub
| lIiss "a IN the Wsshingsos Sunday
4 i.