Middletown transcript., 1878-03-09
washington Letter.
WASHINGTON, D. O., March s, 1878.

WASHINGTON, D. O., March s, 1878.
The worst enemy Of Mr.. Hayes might
almost be satisfied with the disappoint-
ments which he has had in the year
lust closed First and greatest, the
new party was child which did not
rise to the activity Of a still birth.
Matthews, made Senator by undigni-
fed intrigue, gave no strength to his
inventor, and goes out Of office BY the
unanimous wish Of the people Of Ohio,
backed by the warm assent Of citizens
generally. Garfield, who was to be
Speaker Of the House, also by Presi-
dental intrigue, was miserably defeat
ed for that position, and can be return
ed to Congress only BY miraculous
change in the people Of his district It
is fair to suppose that Hayes, if he re-
ally ever had conviction Of any kind,
believed that the civil service Of the
country ought to be reformed, and
hoped to reform; yet by his own acts
it has become demoralized to an extent
that would make Grant shudder; it Is.
to use a common phrase, "demonetized,
and nothing but an act Of Congress can
restore. it to what it was year ago
The only possibility Of mischief that
the Administration has escaped has
been in our affairs with Mexico, and !
do not believe that Hayes or his Sec
retary Of State should receive credit
for keeping Us ont Of war with that
distracted country. | think that but
for the efforts made by the press be-
fore, and at, and after the meeting 81
Congress in October, the Administra-
ton would have had to answer for that
crowning infamy Of all intamies an
unjust war against weaker sister Re
public
Upon the whole, if we omit The re-
moyal Of troops from the South, which
every day shows more and more clear
" to have been a condition precedent
to his inauguration, we find that Mr..
Hayes is entitled to little credit for ser
vices in the office he holds. Time alone
can tell whether this comes from the
weakness Of the man, the peculiar con
dition Of eur. politics at this time, Or
from the fact that goods improperly
acquired never bring prosperity to the
holder.
There i a good deal Of amusement
found ID the fact that certain Senators
we're tipsy On the night the silver bill
passed. It was an all night session.
The Pest ofyc*terday, published what
it called its iist ot Senators who were
not the worse for liquor. The fun ot
this list il found III the fact it puts
close together the names Of Senators
who never drink 1T all, and Of Sena-
tors who are never sober 1t il under
stood that correct list Of the inebria-
ted ones would not take in any who
come from east Of the Penebscot river.
Of west Of the Pacific Ocean.
The attention Of Congress was called
last Fall, in this correspondence, to the
fact that Government was occupying
many private buildings here at an en-
ormous annual expense, and that most
Of the buildings were fire traps, inval-
liable records stored within them being
more exposed to destruction than 4 bu.
siness man would allow his property to
be. An investigation Of the subject i
to be had, under resolution yester-
day introduced in the House. There
can be but one result. Favoritism and
fraud will be found, if the inyestiga-
ton il thorough, in connection with the
renting Of nearly every building. Il
man has an unstable and unrenta.
BE shanty. he can generally make
the Government a tenant if he will pay
some middle man a per centage.
| The 1872 Pension bill passed the
House yesterday, having previously
passed the Senate. It gives S8 pei
month to all those who served fourteen
DAYS, or were engaged in a battle dur
ing the war of 1912, instead of sixty
days Is heretofore, and to widows d
all those who have died. It restores
to the Pension rolls those who were
dropped in 1861 for disloyalty. In
every section Of the country there are
persons who will receive benefits from
this act. Gilmore & Co., Of Washing
ton, D. G., will furnish blanks for any
desiring to apply.
The Moffett punch, which a Con
gressional committee is investigating
with a view to its use in this District
i the simplest and least Objectionable
tax gatherer ever known. BY its means
tax paying becomes an easy and joy
Gus thing. Every time that citizen
spends fifteen cents upon biz own sell