The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1876-02-11
OUR VyAsuENGTON LETTER
The Confederate Democracy
Bogus Econ OnHy-The u. =.
Army-Presiien Cam
RaiER.

Army-Presiden Cam
PaiEn.
Regular Correspondence ofTHE NEWS
WASHINGTON, d. c., Feb. 5, '76
The cheerful anticipations arous-
I'd in the South, by the presence of
four score ex Confederates in the
House of Representatives are no,
10 butternut- clothed
seekers for Cfice, or unrepentant
civilian rebels WHO beseige Cong
ress and the Departments for green
backs in exchange for Germ aud cat
tie taken to feed Union soldiers. |
Here is letter received from Geor-
gia by claim agent of this city.
under date of January 80, 1873:
l am a disa bled
soldier. Lost an arm in the Con-
federate army in the late was. Wish
to know through you if l am enti-
tied in anywise to a pension or
bounty from the Government. If
so, let me hear how to make appli-
cation" sc.
This should be referred to Spea-
ker Kerr for consideration by the
men who made him Speaker. When
we look at it there is something in
in the fact that near
ly hundred ex-Confederate eff
GERS are drawing high salaries as
members of the House, and not one
of them has proposed to do any,
thing for the men who served under
him. This Georgia man must wait
until his party controls the House,
Senate and Executive.
An economical House insists so
far, upon two measures of economy
One takes away a suit of clothes
and daily ration of hard tack and
salt horse from each cadet at West
Point, and the other reduces the SAL
aries of some o. our foreign minis
tiers. The glazing improperly Of
this latter measure, in the face of an
invitation sent by our Government
to ali the nations of the earth to yis-
it US at our Centennial, needs no
comment. 1t is akin to sending a
begging letter and leaving the ex
pected donor to pay the postage.
That the regular army is, in ite
present condition, and always has
been unnecessarily expensive, near
ly every one believes. 1t has al
ways been wretchedly managed. No
man will enlist in it who has self
respect enough to steal corner gro.
Gerry, and the first and ever-recur-
ring impulse of the occasional
American citizen who gets drunk
and enlists in it is to desert and so
get back his good opinion of him
self. But the way to improve such
a body is not to degrade the ofhcers
to the level of the enlisted men, but
to make the position of the officer
that of a gentleman, and give the
man who enlists a chance-small,
perhaps, but always Open-to hope
for promotion if he deserves it.
1t is pretty evident that the "re-
forms" proposed by the dominant
party in the House do not look TO
the permanent good of the country
SO much as to an apparent reduction
of expenses TO tide over the presi-
dental election, leaving to the next
Congress by the passage of deficien-
cy bills to make up for what is lop-
ed off this year.
To the Senate is due the credit,
by its action of :he Sd, of stopping
the enormous expenditures for elm
provements" in this District. In
the last five years a mixed local and
national control here has run up 9
debt of $25,000,O0O, which, in the
nature of things, must be repudia-
ted, if not assumed, by the United
States, 1t was time an end was put
to this STATE of things.
The republican congressicna
committee organized on Thursday
evening by elscting Senator Gamer.
on chairman, and the old secretary,
the Hon. j. M. Edmunds. The ex.
ecutive committee consists of Sena-
tors Cameron, Cragin, Dorsey, Lo.
gan and West and Representatives
Plat. Rusk, Sinnickson and Hub
bel. This is working body, and
will render good account of its
stewardship in the coming cam
paign. Senator Cameron hrs an ex-
perience of more than twenty years
and is not committed to any candi-
date.
What the democrats think may be
gathered from the following extract
from q leading democratic paper:
We fear there is no chance to win
the presidential election. We hav {
sent a few brilliant, pop-eyed fools
like Ben Hill, of Georgia, and these
seem determined to kuock the ap-
pie off the head of the northern men
every time they see it there. Moth
ing was so much needed by the en-
envy as that eur southern men in
this democratic Congress should
quarrel with them. Nothing has
done them so much good as the re-
cent hot debate between Hill and
Blaine. Even Dan Tucker of Vir-
ginia had better keep his mouth
shut. The time is not yet for the
South TO resume the fiery leader
ship of 1850.
The plain meaning of this is, 'keeI
still boys until after the election, il
we succeed by fooling the northern
people into the belief that we are
really loyal to the Government, then
will be time enough 'to commence
again the fiery leadership of 1850.
Maxwell.