Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1877-04-03
.WAsaINGGeN LETTER.


Tie .Southern Gomnsission-A Head ISag-
gested for Reasons ichy The President
should 90 with the Conn,ission--A Quaker
Delegation Ga.feld for .Speaker--zAe
tro Governors, ETC., etc.
WASHINGTON, D. c., March 80, 1877
The Southern Commission is made up of
Hawley of Conn, Brown Of Tenn, Lawrence
of ILL.,, MoVeigh of Penn, and Haran Of
Kentucky. II will start South very soon,
and will NOT be restricted in time except that
the President insists upon report in season
to allow settlement Of the question before
Congress meets on. the 4th o.. j une.. The
President, without securing fair Commits
sion, has done better than was expected. =
He should himself go With the Commission.
N such course would at once attract atten-
ton from all the people, and inspire . conf
dence otherwise not to be hoped for in the
Commission, and in the results of its invests
CATION. There is now NO irst-cIass man on
the Commission. Mr., Hayes is such by
virtue of his Office, and has before him an OPP
portunity to immortalize himself by connect
ing his name with movement which will
probably be highly successful with his per.
sonal leadership, bus of NO account Withoutit.
Besides, every acs Of abe President, 20 far,
has aliensted members of his own party from
him. His Cabinet is distasteful to nine in
ten Republicans. His civil service reform is
offensive to most of them. His promises to
the South, however vague and unsatisfactory
to Southerners aud Conservatives generally,
are still more SO to the bulk of his own party.
He must do something to show himself mas
ter of the situation, something that no one
L.
forced upon him, or that he was driven to by
the dsgruntled leaders of his party. Ee
must appeal directly, and in q striking man
ner. in an important and national matter,
to the people of all parties. He has the OPP
portunity. t..fs,5-5
A large delegation of Quakers called on
the President yesterday in the interest of the
peace policy in dealing with the Indians
They were doubtless called here by current
reports that the policy of determination would
be tried upon the hostile tribes. They were
we'll received and evidently made good im>
preston on the President. a., ..r..,.s-
General Garfield announced himself can
didate for Speaker of the House of Repre-
sen tatives If he wishes he will be the party
candidate, but such . nomination precludes
the idea of Southern support. Perhaps Mr..
Hayes will send for him and ask him to with
draw, as at auch solicitation he withdrew from
the Ohio Senatorial contest. However, Gar
field can get the iul vote of his party as
Speaker, and don't believe, as things hang
now, any other Republican can get single
vote more. ..sts ..,.s F-,. .
The journey of Governor Hampton from
Columbia to this city was continued ovation
He is the object of many attentions here
He arrived this morning Chamberlain is
here, also, and the President will try to
secure such an agreement between them as
will make any official action on his part I'M
necessary, or rather, as will secure the con-
sent of all parties to the removal of the troops
from South Carolina. .
Before breaktasting this morning Governor
Hampton sent q note to the President asking
at what time he should call, and the Press
ident sent his private secretary with an invi-
tation for one O'Clock this afternoon. No
particulars of the interview have been made
public as yet. There are countless rumors
One is that the President takes offense at the
high ground taken by Hampton as to his abb
solute right to the Governorship.
This city has had several days Of winter
lately-an unusual thing for a Washington
March. There is to be determined effort
made to have the Washington monument
erected on higher ground, though an ezpen>
sive investigation has shown the present foun-
dation to be amply sufficient to support the
monument as originally designed.