Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1876-05-13
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.
WASHINGTON, D. c., April IS, 1876


THE ATTACHMENT oP BELKSAP.
Contrary to general expectation Gen
eral William ". Belknap, late Secre
tary of War, appeared in person at the
bar of the Senate on Monday, the 18th
inst, to answer to the articles of i'm
parchment exhibited against him by
the House Of Representatives. 1t was
believed he would not respond to the
summons of the Senate IN proprio per-
soma; as. strictly speaking, he was not
required to do so. He could, had he
SO wished, have appeared by counsel,
which would have been entirely salts
factory to the Senate sitting as High
Court of Impeachment; but he was ad-
vised by his lawyers to put on bold
front, and, by his presence, endeayor
to impress the court with the fact that
he was not afraid to confront either it
or his accusers. 1t must be confessed
that he went through the ordeal re-
markably we'll. 1t is almost needless
to say that he was the cynOsure OF the
Senators who sat as the judges in his
case, of the members of the House who
occupied seats on the floor. of the
" Iynx-eyed' reporters, and of the
thousands who thronged the galleries;
and, that throughout the entire pro-
ceedings, he maintained a calm de-
meanor scarcely to be expected under
the circumstances A portly, fine look
ing fellow of forty-six or forty-seven, of
the pure Saxon type, with blue eyes
and long blonde beard, he sat between
jeremiah S. Black and Montgomery
Blair, two Of his counsel, holding in
one hand a pair of lemon colored kids
apparently as unconcerned as the Eth
opians who slumbered peacefully in
the gallery.
EX-SENATOR MATT. II. CARPENTER,
is the senior counsel in the case, and
will probably take a leading part in the
trial. Self-possessed and amiable il
manner, Carpenter with his conceded
ability has an ca sy, staggering all
about him which endears him to the
" b'hoys,' who are ready to shout, eli
Hi!' whenever witicism drops from
his lips. Somehow or another, the peo'
of Wisconsin saw fit to drop the Hon
orable Matt from their list of favorites
and he returns to his profession TO de
fend Treasury thieves like Gilman, safe
burglars like Harrington and Babcock
capet-ba9 Senators like Spencer, and
vendors ofpost traderships like Belknap
The Honorable Matt. has always siren
uously insisted that no United States
Senator can live on his salary. Posi-
bly, not, if Senators will keep pace witt
the ex-senator from Wisconsin in his
lavish expenditures. Said he, during
the Spencer inye3tigation-'' Gentlemen
Of the Committee, I object to that ques
ton. If General Spencer did borrow
money, it was no crime. You know
gentlemen, as well as I, that after q
man has been in the United States
Senate three or four years, he must
necessarily be poor; and, certainly,
none of you will say that poverty is 4
crime" Query: If serving in the
Senate is such an improverishing pro-
cess, why are there SO many aspirants
for seats in that body who are willing
to spend thousands of dollars to secure
the object of their ambition? \ prize
chrome, valued at twenty-five cents,
will be awarded to the person who will
solve that conundrum.
THE CHIEF IMPEACHMENT MANAGER.