The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1877-09-07
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.

WIN nun as OIlSludily COuleiH pIdIeus
Our Indian troubles were not of such
serious nature as to demand the pres
ence here of the Secretary of War. Mr..
Sherman is preparing in Ohio for a
swing around the political circle there,
aud cannot of course leave for the pres
ent. Mr.. Schurz is busted with his In
dian investigations, hence Mr.. Key, our
big rebel, McCrsry and Evarts will do
the principal honors with the President.
1t is a good idea to take Judge Key
around and exhibit him as the tanned
lion, for we are assured when the people
look upon his quiet, smiling, good-na-
tured face, surmouuted with its close
cropped, bristling hair, strongly tinged
with gray, they will feel. he can be as
much trusted as any other honest man,
and that, although he felt impelled at
one time to take up arms against the
Union, his heart is now in the right
place. Recently one of his constituents
from East Tennessee, one of the rip
roaring, half-hOrse, half-alligatOr stripe,
whose chief article of subsistence was
juice of the corn, came up here seeking
an Office at his hands. The East Ten
nessean gave the Judge a grand dinner,
kindly permitting your correspondent
to share it, and then insisted that a GER
tain "in" should be ousted, because he,
the "Out," wanted the place just "to
spite the fellow" Judge Key, 1 am
sorry to say, was proof against this
strong argument, the soothing infiu-
ences of a nice dinner and a proffered
bottle of pure corn juice, and most un-
kindly sent the poor fellow back home
with civil service reform lecture for
all his pains and expense. By-the-way,
this civil service reform affords COM
plete dodge for the Cabinet officers to
rid themselves of undesirable office
seekers, and on this ground we of course
accept it. But in all other respects, a
live rebel, with all his kith and kin,
would seem preferable as office-holders,
and with a Jacksonian sweep, change
every four years to that system which
would give an incumbent a lifelong
lease. We served four years after the
war in the South, and learned to like
an honorable fighting rebel, and be-
lieve him universally as worthy of trust
as we know Judge Key is. But We
can't go civil service reform yet.
THE DIVORCE MARKET
Is now very brisk, and our court dock
cts indicate that hard times do not bar
the discOntented, who are seeking other
partners, from feeling lawyers and from
getting relief from the disability which
interferes with the proposed new mar
riage. In all instances we believe an ap-
| plication for a divorce has another mar
riage in the back ground, at least such
| is our experience here and that of Chi
cago. Recently the wife of "Gotham," )"
one J. Q. Thompson, a Western CORE
spondent of the New York Her aid, ap-
piled for divorce at Indianapolis, but
her prayers were denied on the ground
that she was citizen of the District oi
! Columbia, she being clerk in one OF
! the departments. She Immediately ap-
piled here and obtained decree at once
She celebrated her release from her for
mer ties by remarrying, and that with
out waiting until the end of the term OF
the court which granted the divorce.
Husband No. then filed a bill praying
that the decree be set aside, alleging all
kinds of immortality against her, and
her with numerous persons, among
whom he names one Nathaniel P
Banks, who, however, has since per
emptorily denied the allegation. The
Judge set aside the decree under the
power given him by law to reverse {
decision at any time prior to the ad
journment, hence we have here a lady
with two husbands, and of course al
abundance of connubiaI felicity aftel
her twelve hours of single blessednes
which followed the divorce. If the sec
Ond husband proves as worthless as th,
first, we opine that Mrs. Thompson will
realize fully what it means jumping
from the frying-pan into the fire, un
less she seeks relief again through tht
courts. While Washington canno
equal Chicago in facilities for speedy
divorce yet, we can offer the discon
tented fright good chance" for free
dom. To our surprise, one of our spiel
est correspondents, R. w. G. Mitchell
Private Secretary, of Mr.. Schurz, ant
who writes for the Danbury Ne1OS unde
, the name of Bob Creighton, has ais
applied for a divorce on the alleget
ground of infidelity. He cites marriag
at Catholic Church in Albany, New
York, the birth of three children ant
subsequent immortality. His bill is
fearful arraignment of a wife ant
mother, and leaves us at loss to deter
mine whether he in retaining her in th
position of wife has been destitute o
that sense of right and wrong which en-
aoles every husband to protect the homo
, of himself and family by resort to Law
or a bullet, or whether he has permitte
open defiant outrage 10 hopes that tim
, would bring separation in some form
/ withOut exnOsinO his wrongs to tb