The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1877-04-07
Our Washington Letter.
Louisiana Commission --- M IA
nipnlating the House ROLL.
Civil Service Reform. Etc.

Civil Service Reform. Etc.
WASHINGTON, D. C., March %, 1877.
EDITOR CHIEF:
The storm of abuse and vitupera-
ton which is almost certain to over
take every participant in the proposed
Commission to Louisiana, evidently
operates to deter many of the gentle
men invited from accepting. 1t is
understood that its members will go
there with the purpose of ascertaining
10y personal observation and every
other means, the real equities of the
disputed succession, and when that
shall have been accomplished, they
are tacitly empowered TO negotiate
a compromise based upon their find
iugs, which the President in turn will
approve. 1t is delicate mission, and
the delay in starting the Commission
is explained by the general unwilling
ness manifested, ia undertake it. -es-.
Many Indignant remonstranees are
heard hers against the arbitrary and
wholly indefenstble course that Mr..
Adams, Clerk of the House, is said to
contemplate, in so manipulating the
rolls as to show Democratic maiori-
ty of from Is TO 20 whea the House
convenes in extra session: and agree
ably to the programme, he is accused
of having enrolled Patterson as mem
Der from Colorado. In compliance
with the enrolling act, the people of
that Territory adopted Constitution
last July, aud it was subsequently,
declared State of the American
Union by Presidential Proclamation.
In October an election was held for a
member of Congress, both for the
short and long term, the latter begin
ming with the Forty-ffth Congress.
This was strictly in accordance with
the provision of a recently enacted
State law. Judge Belford was elected
for both terms, over his Democratic
competitor, Patterson, by nearly 1000
majority, and holds Governor Rants
certificate as the lawfully elected Rep
resentative for both terms. In No
vember the Democrats voted again
for Patterson for the long term, the
Republicans refusing to vote, holding
that there Was no vacancy to be filled.
Adams now claims that this failure
was fatal and that Patterson is the
legal Representative. Those familiar
with the treatment accorded Judge
Belford by the Democratic House last
winter are not surprised by this con-
sistent trick of it's clerk. Adams is
also charged with having placed on
the roll the names of all Democratic
competitors of successful Republicans
who held United States Offices at the
time of their election.
The speedy adoption of the new
code of rules which are now in course
of preparation by Secretaries Evarts
and Schurz, and which are designed to
govern future appointments, promo
tions and discharges to and from the
civil service, has had the effect to
revive many old scandals and devel-
ope new ones relative to the immoral
character of many of the Department
al employees in this city, and touch
ing the nepotism and favoritism that
allowed from two to seven members
of the same family places under the
Government. To old residents, the
charges that favorite females of infu-
ential politicians were crowded in the
departments to the exclusion of de-
serving ladies, many of them destitute