St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1877-07-20
Washington Letter.


| " JOu AGCC6r.
| FrOm our Regular Correspondent
The advantages of another iron link con,
Meeting the Mississippi aoith the Paciti'
| -EncOuragement to home industries
the safe road to National prosperity
Southern Republicans gire up the fgh
because Of toant Of sympathy ana
support from the Capital-A lasting
ciUil-serUice reform cannot result from
extreme means used to effect it Varied
constructions giUen to the President,
order prohibiting the active participa-
ton of otice-hOlders in political con-
tests.
WASHINGTON, July I3, 1877.
ANOTHER RAILROAD TO THE PACIFIC.
There is great misapprehension, on
the part of the people as to the extent
of the aid heretofore contributed by
our government to the construction OF
railroads. Up to the present time, il
has amounted to three per cent of the
whole cost, and if the increased value
given to alternate sections of land he
taken into consideration, in has been
less than two per cent. This is only
the actual cost view of the subject, but
if we include the value of the immense
national advantage, in opening up to
settlement the vast territory which a
few years ago was a terra incOgnita,
and the bringing of the Atlantic and
Pacific into almost juxtaposition, the
gain reaches Il magnitude of astound-
ing proportions. Further investment
in this line will amply repay the people
of the United States.
THE ROAD TO PROSPERITY.
The manufacturers and commercial
firms of Germany have declared that
unless increased protection be given to
the industries of that country, manu-
featuring capital will seek investment
elsewhere. If this be the condition of
an old Nation how much greater appli-
cation has the requirement to the Uni
ted States, now in its comparative in
fancy.
All attempts, in the 45th Congress,
to reduce the duties upon imports
should be resisted. Monumentalism
and tariff merely for revenue are twin
sisters, and will be advocated by the
same class of political economists. I'm
der our present tariff, the importation
of dry goods has been $I9,000,00 less
in 1876 than in 1875. We have to an
unprecedented extent supplied home
consumption from our own mills. The
benefcent influence of our moderately
protective laws has enabled us to make
rapid strides towards an advanced pO-
sition as a manufacturing country, and
justify the hope that ere long we
will change places with great Britain
in the markets of the world. The de-
sideratum to put all our manufacturing
establishments into active operation,
and to secure an increase of our pro-
duction, is an increase of the volume of
our currency and the fostering care of
the government in the enactment of
laws for the protection of our home in
dustries.
| HOW IT WORKS IN MISSISSIPPI.
promised would follow republican
| bllc idlc g,
was protection to republicans in the
Southern states, in the exercise of their
political rights. Such was the gist of
the letter of acceptance, and the inaug-
ural address of the republican candidate
for the Presidency. 1t was the promi-
nent theme of all the republican cam
paign speeches, as it was the great
object for which the party contended.
How have these pledges been fulfilled ?
In quick succession, after having
yielded the state governments of South
Carolina and Louisiana to the control
of the Bourbon minority, we have the
news that the republican majority of
10000 in Mississippi have been forced
to lay down their arms, and abandon
their party organization. They allege
that this submission is the ''inevitable''
result of the policy which forces the
active partisans who hold Office, into
the position of nen-combatants and of
that other policy which disafms their
republican brethren in South Carolina
and Louisiana. All this is by no means
encouraging to republicans either in the
North or South.
PUBLIC OPINION AND CIvIL-sERvICE RE-
FORM.
Nc intelligent republican ever ven
tured an expression in opposition to a
proper and healthy reform Of our civil
service. All have been anxious to see
official dishonesty ferreted out and
punished to witness the election from
place, of inefficient incumbents, and the
appointment, in their stead, of men
"capable, honest, and faithful to the
Constitution !" and to encourage the
President and his Ministers in every
legitimate effort to improve the person
mel of the public service. But there are
indications that the rules and regula-
tions adopted, with the view of securing
reform, will defeat their own purpose,
in consequence of their extreme charac-
ter. The hopes of philanthropists have,
in the past, been thwarted by the ex-