Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1876-12-27
Our Washington Letter,


cimeter and tufban, sts proudly on his throne,
the monarch Of all he surveys So sits he in
Washington at the present ttne and thus has he
sat without iutermission for ten days or more, to
the surprise Of aye oldest inhabitant" Another
such winter has not been known in Washington
for many year, and II is not yet finished. Al |
though the thermometer denies such an idea. yet |
II is asserted that this weather is fully up to the
standard Of the old-fashioned New England |
weather. Aud that's not the worst of IT, The |
comedy Of a slippery day" il enacted and re- |
enacted from day To day upon the streets and |
pedestrianism is as full Of danger as is the air Of
icy chills. The latter we escape from wraps. but
the former Is snare to the feet which il never
euded and always at hand
This ia the dullest of Christmas HOLIDAYS ever
known at the National Capital. aud is universally
acknowledged to be So The extreme dizziness is |
one Of the bad
ErrEcrs or rur ELECTION CONTEST,
which is still raging at the Capitol In fact every
III that flesh Is heir TO is attributed to that one
cause the doubt in the public mind as to who is |
to be President. Were this doubt dispollcd then
It is believed that business would grow brisk, and
every calling thrive There is now no hope that
this doubt will he set at rest until the real pres-
dent for the next fonr years appears on the east
ern portico Of the Capitol and receives the oath Of
Office. Then, and not ill then, will the public
be happy.
Another effect Of this election muddlc l.. a. we
have previously taken occasion to remark, to put
OF all legitimate business Of the country, which
this Congress should do until more convenient
season. And although Congress has decided not
70 adjonrn over the holiday week, as is usual,
there will be no more business done than II all
the members had retired to the bosoms Of their
respective families The hegra Of members from
the city on Thursday night left the House without
quorum yesterday, and legislative business was
confined to the relief Of the temporal wants Of
Ann Eliza Jones and others
The principal debate Of the week In the House
has been upon the bill to compel
THE SURRENDER or THE TELEGRAPH
over into the hands Of democratic committee
This is for the purpose OF securing something
which may directly bring about the Impeachment
Of President Grant and indirectly secure the in
auguation OF Tiden a. the next President It
has been reserved fora democratic House to affirm
the despotc doctrine that a telegmphic dispatch
from one person to another, on perhaps the most
than an oral communication, and that at the nod
Of a congressional committee Of investigation a
telegraph company may be compelled to produce
all the kilograms that are flashed over It's wires
The surrender Of particular dispatches which are
needed, and which may be definitely called for
will not satisfy these democratic consprntofs hut
they must have the whole batch that they may
know all that is going on in this world Of ours
and pry into the secret corners Of the hearts Of
It's inhabitants. strong and manly protest was
made against this indecent doctrine By Mr. Hand,
a democratic member from Ohio, aud also by Mr.
McCary Of Iowa, but the leadng-strngs Of Chair
man Hewitt were too potent TO be easily snapped
when such important interests 10 the Iilden party
were at stake and the measure was carried
Whether President Orton Of the telegraph com
pany and his New Orleans manager Mr. Barnes,
will accept the subpUnas which have been served
| upon them, remains TO be seen II they refuse,
then they, together with the rest Of the world,
will find that democratic House is always
subject for contempt" and they will be brought
to answer fortheir audacty in thinking otherwise.
CHAIRMAN HEWITT
has managed 10 secure some little notofiety. du-
ring the week, which hardly does him credit,
either as man or political manager. lie made
the charge in the House the other day, merely to
clinch argument upon another question that
his letters had been tempered with in the New
York post-ofiiee. Mr. Pratt, Of New York, at once
offered resolution calling for committee To in
vestigate these charges In the discussion that
| followed Mr. Hewitt demonstrated to the cOmprc-
hension OF every one that he knew that his charges
were groundless, and his party came to the rescue
| by defeating the resolution, Mr.. Hewitt pro-
Tossed, when he he was caught, 70 have the
greatest faith in the official integrity Of Postmaster
James, of New York city, but he still voted
against q special committee which would ascer-
tain the truth falsity Of the charge he had
made. The charge has gone out that the secrecy
Of Mr. Hewitts correspondence has been invaded,
and the democracy will take very good care that
the charge shall not be investigated
The crowning act of the Republicans during this
session was that OF yesterday, In the bonb-shell
which they threw into the democratic camp at the
hands Of General Hunter, Of Indiana. Ills reso-
| luton was a very simple one, merely 10 declare
| by an amendment TO the constitution, that no
! REBEL CLAIMS
should be paid by the United States Now, in
view Of the professions Of the democracy during
the last campaign, one would have supposed that
they would have been glad OF an opportunity Of
putting themselves squarely on the record But
the resolution created at once, the utmost de-
moTalizaton in the democratic ranks The North
ern democrats, especially, looked blank. A vote
was had, aud they were obliged to go back on
their Southern friends for once at least Seventy
four democrats came to the scratch, and with WY
faces voted for the resolution. A good number
lodged the question, while some sixty voted
against 1.-THE latter being mostly from the bor-
der states, including such leading democratic
lights as Charles J. Faulkner, Proctor Knott Ran
dolph Tucker, Ex-Governor Walker Of Virginia
and Eppa Hunton. This clearly proves that had
Mr. Tilden been elected the fears of the loyal
element of the country would have been realized
There is a growing opinion among men Of both
parties that a way out Of
THE POLITICAL COMPLICATION
Of the day can still be opened by decision Of the
Supreme Court. Senator Edmunds believes there
is no way Of bringing the question as to the right
Of Congress to reject the electoral vote OF certain
states before the court, while others assert that
it, opinion can be obtained by concurrent reso-
luton requesting it to be given to Congress. SOL