The daily gazette., 1877-12-12
Our Washington Letter.
THE FIGHT BETwEEN SENATOR
CoNKLING AND THE ADMINIS-
TRATION.

THE LOBBY AT WORK-BREAD FOR THE
BODY AND LIGHT FOR THE MIND-THE
BUSIEST MEMBER OF coNGREss-GEN.
BUTLER IN HIS PRIVATE oFFItE-THE
SAME OLD coNvxNrIoN-oHl WOMAN,
you SHALL BE HEARD--THE IRRE-
PREssIBLE BELvA.
[From our regular correspondent
WASHINGTON, Decem Der 10.
The few days remaining before the ad-
iournment that has been decided upon
from the 18th Of the present month TO the
10th of January-will not be crowded with
legislation of exciting interest The fight
between Senator Conkling and the Admin
istration, about which so much has been
written, was recommended early in the
morning Of the regular session, and will.
in all probability, attract more attention
than the Silver and anti-Resumption bills.
How the contest will be decided IT is diff
cult to predict; but that 1t Is to be stub
born fight without compromise on the part
of either of the high contending parties, or
arbitration by their mutual friends, seems
now inevitable. But, while there are no
exciting debates and no big jobs on the
surface of legislation, 1t must not be imag-
ined that the lobby has either gone to sleep
or Joined the church. With all its efforts
at concealment, a head of the Hydra may
occasionally be seen. For instance. there
is quiet effort being made at present by
parties pecuniarily interested TO have
bill passed charging book postage rates on
English and other foreign works reprinted
| in this country, and recently sold at MI
raculously low prices. The protested OBJ
ject Of the parties who are engineering the
bill Is to "ppevent encumbering the mails"
| The true inwardness of the bill is that the
Harper Brothers, and other colossal pub.
fishing monopolies have become alarm ed
i at the increasing popularity OF these cheap
publications, by which the reader IL sup
piled with book "Daniel Deronda" ol
"David Copperfield, " for instance for 10 ol
10 cents. Harpers and others have waxed
rich by selling the same DOCKS at from o.
cents to a dollar. These old firms now
have cubic yards of publications gathering
dust in their ware houses because they can
not compete with the younger and mor'
enterprising firms. have been making 9
careful study of the subject and will ven
ture to predict that the day Is not far dis
tant when a clean new copy OF any OF tn
foreign standard works of history, poetr.
or fiction, can be bought for less than one
ffth the price they are sold for by the oil
nnhlishing houses. 1t will be a fatal mis-
anything that can retard FOR d ahf1 frfef III
OF wide spread standard literature, whe
, the poor man and his family can have 70
as or SO such q library as cannot now
/ enjoyed by any but the rich. 1t Is q Ques
tton in which the educator and moralist
as we'll as every man, woman and child
is interested; for the Introduction of star
dard works at prices less tn an the cost {
7 the pernicious dime novels will, in time
drive out the latter through the law of Eh
survival Of the fittest, which holds no les
In literature than in matter. The man c
, | the firm that brings the best thoughts
the best minds within easy reach of a
. Is benefactor like him who cheaper
, bread, for "man does not live by brea
, alone;" and the menopolist who endeavol
l to control the food of mental life for h
own aggrandisement should no more
hunger of orphans and widows.