American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1876-10-14
Washington Letter.
Iron our Regular Correspondent ]
WAsuYNcToN OCr 10 1915.

WARRINGTON, Der. 10, 1876.
AS winter approaches the Nation
al Capital awakes from her summer
siesta, arranges her toilet, and as
>umes her society smile, in readi
ness for the political, diplomatic,
and fashionable throng that wor-
ships at her shrine. Every season
brings her new votaI les, and every
season knells the diplomatic or So
cial death of those on whom was
once bestowed her brassy approval.
Where now are the majestic Belk
nap, the glittering jew. II, the G
gon Williams, and their paragon
Spouses and families, upon whom
the sycophantish correspondents
lavished adulatory vOcabularies, AS
the quid pro quo for an occasional
) at at their tables. and standing
room at their entertainments They
have gone to met Colfax, Thebes
and Palmyra; and if the shadows OF
coming events are not misinteIpre:-
ed the entire gang that has fol
years wasted rare opportunities.
abused high trusts, and turned The
| temple OF a nation into u den cf
| thieves will soon swell the process
sion. Meanwhile is Washington i'll
m burning for her ruined f;lvulites !:
No, she will laugh and toy with
every new conner; not a tear more
for winter, Il smile less for summer
She has too long played the part If
Sphynx in political aud fashionab Z
i,amas to be rapiu. Ell or alarn.-
1t !. n THU 6 thai GIN lap zen. /
il is different with that Org;tn' Ia
<nown as the party. Tue possibn
ity, not to say the probability of {,
change in the administration, has
caused great perturbation in tn.
Republican dove co.-s, and the
change would, without doubt, ere
ate a great revolution ia the Official
| life of Washington. The strenuous
efforts made by The thousands #
government clerks here, their do
cIlity under illegal taxation, and
their patience in labor, not at their
legitimate work, but in the Kepub-
lican campaign organizations, all
show how painfully anxious they
are about the result. They are to
be pitied for many of them have
bought houses, and married wives
and have business and social rel :.
tons that depend upon films,
tenure of Office. Then, there ar.
contractors, who have waxed ia,
by furnishing the departments sta
tionery, furniture, wagons, ships
the thousand and one articles, from
a pin to steam engine that ii gov
eminent spending and wasting
hundreds of millions Annually wiii
buy. There are also a horde OF
landlords, headed by Boss Shepard,
who build cheap houses and rent
them to the departments for al
least double the rent that they
could secure from any other source
All these are purturbed, for the
contractor or landlord has his paid
agents as clel ks, chiefs of bui eau,
o., has been proved in more than
one instance, in the cabinet, and
change will be disastrous to item.
Heaven send us a Hercules t.
cleanse these stables No one can
know their stencil until he has lived
in Washington.
The n.eanest campaign tlickery
to which an administration ever
stopped is to retard business in the
government offices and attribute
he delay, in their printed official
to the reduction OF the
clerical force 10y the last Congress.
1t is a fact patent to any O.e who
will take the trouble to examine,
and known to thousands who are
with official life and
in Washington, that the
clerical force, Notwithstanding the
and inefficiency Of
the political bet ts aud lubbers of
which it is largely composed. is
still qnite sufficient to execute
promptly all Official business, and
has abundant time to spare for Re.
publican campaign work beside.
10 all the letters now sent from the
Patent Office, is print, d copspicu-
>usly in red ink, words to this eff
fect: lowing to the reduction in
The force ordered by Congress, at
rs last session, applications for pat
,nts cannot now be acted upon
With the usual promp'ness." Thus
8 nothing more nOr less than a
alsehood in statement, and a cam
,aign document in design, and it Is
quite as mean aud more insi,iiOus
han the effort of superservice
lble postmasters in stamping en-
'elOpes with the words: ssVoLe for
Hayes and Wheeler" The only :
livision of the Patent Office fore,
those reduction would Cause de-
avs in allowing patents, IS that OF
and not one of them has .
cen discharged, only a few mes
epgers and a number of female
opyists. G. S. A.