The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1876-03-25
WASHINGTON LETTERS.
Correspondence d lhe Democratic Advocate,


WAsuisoToN, PC March y, 1876
In commencingmy weekly letter, this morn
ing | am reminded OF an essay in one Of the
old school readers upon the /" Horrors Of
War; the first lines Of which read" The
common soldier never secs a battle This
week the march and clash Of events all along
the line are so confused and bewilderlng that
your correspondent is at loss to know what
first to write. There Is a momentary lull in
the Belknap affair, the committee is waiting
for evidence which is surely coming from the
west, through a score Of post traders, who
will furnish proof abundantly sufficient forth
impeachment of the Ex.Secretary, ana after.
wards for his conviction in the courts.
The success Of the Republicans in New
Hampshire was not unexpected here. There
are in Washington prominent Democrats
who have never had great faith in the etfeo-
tiveness ofthe exposure Of frauds as political
motor, and while they recognize il as their
duty to bring criminals to their punishment,
they are not so sanguino as to expect tho party
OF moral ideas" to turn its back upon those
Of its pals who have been so unfortunate as to
get caught. " Honor among thieves" you
know.
No matter how great may be the zeal of
the party out of power, or however great its
struggle for supremacy, it has been proved
rather monotonously, since the war that it
cannot cope with an army of $4,000 drilled
and desperate office holders. II would not
be leaeh-like or vampire.like for this salaried
host to let go, or to omit any effort to hold on
with their nails and sucker. 1t is natural
for man TO struggle for means of livelihood,
and large majority Of these oifiee-holders
can better afford to pay one.fourth of their
salary for the success Of the party, than to al
low the opposition to Dust them and force
them into legitimate work or the aims house.
Hence it is they "come down. so muni6.
Gently on elections, and hence it is that II
presidential contest is no longer conflict of
opposing political theory or sentiment, but n
struggle Of life and death between $4,000
picked office holding veterans and their mil
lion clients on one side, and the nation on the
other; and, in these struggles, it has been
proved, again and again, that in politics, as
in war, a few trained men with money, can
rout much larger force of enthusiastic civil
ians.
There is but one way to secure the disinte,
grafton Of the corrupt, venal, criminal, cant
ing, party of "moral ideas" Destroy the
cement that holds them together cut down
the appropriations until nothing is left for
their Presidents and Cabinet officers, their
Hodges, Shepards, Babcocks, (but why par
ticularize, say for short the entire party OF
moral ideas to steal. Have they not tri.
umphantly endorsed theft, and every species
of official malfeasance at the polls in New
Hampshire, and thus made themselves accom-.
plices after the fact Of Belknap, Babcock,
Shepard, ct id omne genUs9
! To cut down the appropriations is to strike
the very vitals Of the party; and in this sur
gerry is the hope of the country. The Office.
holders are making strenuous efforts to pre-.
| vent any reduction of their salaries, the daily
papers published here, are full of tables and
statistics to show that Government clerks can.
not subsist on less than they are now receiv.
ing the average yearly expenses are tabula.
ted, and | was amused to see in one of the
calculations for yearly necessary expenses
$25 for religious and political contributions!
1t would be well for these pampered worthless
to realize that there are tens of thousand,
throughout the country, quite as efficient as
themselves, who would consider it good for.
tune to take their places ut one.third less pay
Work has not yet been resumed in the Blu
reau Of Engraving aud Printing. The manu-
facture of fractional currency has been sus
pended now for nearly month, 400 opera
tives and money counters have been out Of
employment for that length Of time, and there
is of course much uneasiness and some dis
tress. 1t seems probable that work in this
Bureau will not be resumed since there is q
disposition to substitute silver for the small
paper currency now in use. This will o.
course necessitate an increase of expenditure
at the mints, but it is thought that the change
will be economical since it will enable the
Treasury Department TO dispense with tn,
Redemption Bureau which gives employment
to about four hundred counters. Work il
this Bureau has already fallen off very con
siderably since the Bureau of Engraving ant
Printing has been closed. The amount oil
mutilated currency returned for redemption
is smaller than at any previous time since the
establishment of the Bureau, and the EN-
ployees now work only till one o clock insteat
Of till four.
The prosperity of Washington city has il
the opinion of many reached its climac
teric. There are no manufactures here, thu
city must subsist mainly on disbursements tC
Government employees. There has SO fa
been no reduction of the pay of these, not
withstanding the financial distress which per
yades the country and is felt in every othe
town and village. But the present Congress
will, without Doubt, reduce salaries and ap
preparations until the local disbursements viii
be perhaps 3sl per cent less than they have
been for number of years. During tn,
Sheppard regime when money was plenty anC
it was thought Washington would be a grea
city, kind Athens for the wealthy and elite
throughout the land blocks of houses wen
up like earth.works in the presence of an en-
envy. These have on them now the simple
words ito let, and 81 for sale" they can b.
rented or sold, to-day, for smaller sum thai
was asked last month"; and they may be had
next month, for smaller sum than is asket
to-day.
There has been no Legislative work of grea
Importance during the past week, everything
seems to run into investigations. The Re
publican Senate with a desire tn emulate tn
Democratic House, have instituted an inyes
tigation into the small vermin "erasshoppers
chinch bugs, hessian fly, and /" SIGH Ike
that are injurious to agriculture.
The Senate has also passed bill to ADM
New Mexico as the thirty.ninth State, but
is not probable that this bill will meet wit
the concurrence Of the House. The Hous
committee on appropriations declines also L
concur in the West Point appropriation BIZ
as deliberately amended by the Senate, an
further expresses its defiance by declining /
refer the bill in question to committee &
, conference. This will perhaps teach the Sen
ate that the House means something NOR
than childs play in its reduction Of appropri
atoms, and it may act upon the Senate as
kind Of admonitory precedent, in its consider
} alton of the other appropriation bills whic
it may be disposed to tinker and amend.
Correspondence of the Democratic Advocate
II n