The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1878-07-13
Our Washington Letter.
WASHINGTON. d. C., July 4, !s'

WASHINGTON, ID. T., July 4, aS'o.
EDITOR CHER:
Just now Mrs. jerks ef Louisiana Is
the centre of attraction. She is fig
uring before the Potter Committee
and is proving more than a matcL for
that astute body. She is as witty as
Cox himself and smart enough to
,eyade all Ben ButIer's cross questions.
She is determined TO tell nothing that
the Committee wants to know and
does not hesitate to say with the
shrug and sauciness of naughty
child " | won't tell you," or " that's
none of ysur business" She is good
looking, well dressed, well educated,
well. informed, perfectly seif-posses'
sed. and very worldly wise. She is
upward of 80 and although she has II
decidedly French manner accent she
she is at Scotch Irish extraction aud
was born in the north of Ireland. Her
fathers name was Murdoch and he
was drowDed near New Orleans dur
eng the war, while serving i'll the
Confederate Army. Gen. Butler is
evidently trying to fasten the crime
of forgery upor this woman, by means
of her own testimony in the Sherman
letter ease. She sees his game and
will probably checkmate him i'll her
own time and way; for that she is
smart is undesirable. She is also un-
principleds
After alb that has been said about
the 45th Congress, it has II fair rex
ord of good works. True, in its com
position there are individual evil
denees of that degeneracy which per-
meates ard grows upon our entire po-
litical system, yet, as whole, it has
been tolerably efficient, honest and
economical body. 1t has remonetized
silver, provided for settlement be-
tween Uncle Sam and the Pacific
railroads, and repealed the bankrupt
law. 1t has prohibited the use of the
army 10 posse comitafas over the free
people of free State, provided for
the settlement of Southern claims by
q judicial court, instead of corrupt
and imbecie commission, and ordered
the completion of the Washington
monument, standing disgrace, in
its unfinished condition, for many
years. It has given the District of
Columbia the first equitable and per-
manent form of the government it
ever had, and, after making liberal
provisions for public works aud i'm
provemepts, which must give employ
! ment to hundreds of thousands of la
q boring men, ii has still cut off ten to
twenty millions from the annual ex-
penditures OF the government.
This last named achievement is,
perhaps, under all the circumstances,
the greatest of all. It is an ungra-
cious and aB ungrateful task to try to
economists the public money, at best,
and particularly SO just now when
there are SO many demands, and while
there is such need of extending aid to
the unemployed. Prominent members
of the House have heard themselves
denounced on all hands for service
which they know to be liard-for I'M
remitting vigilance and determined
opposition to wasteftl expenditures.
10 S(htStt1 du CCOiloHiiLCt "a
chem all that has not friends whom he
has to oppose, and every attempt to
save money or to kill even trans
parent job is detouneed as another
nnpatriotie bLnder. All the subsidy
men have of course only the good OF
the country in view, and every jobbei
and lobbyist is quite certain that il
it were not gor this miserlbly eco.
nOnical House he could, with his
little game, restore the prosperity d
the country.
Citizens of Washington feel sort
gratitude to CongIess for what it has
done fcr them, not only in the cree
ton of an improved form of Govern
mcnt of the District, hut in making
liberal provisions for the completion
of public works here, aud the conse
quent employment of the city,
mechanics and workingmea, among
whom there has been so much dis
tress the past winter. The followin,
are some of the appropriations Fo
continuing the work on the new
State, War, and Navy Department
buildings, S675, 900; for new buildin,
for Bureau of ENGRAVING aud Print
ing, 1897 900; for repairs on th
Patent Office, 1896, 900; for terracinj
the Capitol grounds, 100000; fo
the Washington Monument, $50, 900
for clearing the property around th
Naval Monument $4,000; for til
Improvement of the harbor, $4,000
These make total of over 81 900,
600 TO be expended in Washington
during the next fiscal year. In add
ton the government, under the nes
Dill, is to furnish u sum equal to tina
received from the taxation of prop
erty mt the rate of Il per cent, max
Ing IN all a total of more than 81, 900,
600 available here for public pur
poses. Large sums will be used Oh
the streets, public grounds and build
ings, aud the Improvement of I'll
Capital will be of marked ckaTaeteI
The appropriation for river aud har