Litchfield enquirer., 1878-12-12

grade Tat last, withsher eyes put out, she s Sampson-like, shall come, stumbling blindl 0 in the dark, to grind, hopeless and helpless, il Il the prison-house of her enemies. W. s. COUPON. D Warren Conn.,
 Massachusetts people are complaining of tn
 evil effect the free pass system has upons tn legislators of that State. Sessions are greatl,
 heightened by the wasting of time going t, and returning from their homes, each week Much the same thing happens in Connecticut The nominal days of legislative week ar,
 from Tuesday to Friday but, practically there is seldom full house till Wednesday and then it thIns down to bare quorum, ol less than quorum, on Friday. The entire system of railroad free passes is based on cor ruption. Influential classes and persons ac cept favors in that way which they would not receive in any other. This is particularly the case with the press. Any observant person
 must have remarked the absence of criticism
 on railroads from the local journals of their
 vicinity. The editors free pass, liable to revo-
 cation in case of 'bumptiousness," ensures the
 railroad corporation an immunity from news paper complaints that no other corporation enjoys. The entire system ought to be abel ished; at least, the companies should be compelled to keep full records of the free passes they issue, for publication in the Railroad Commissioners annual report.
 An able article on Bible-reading in the com mon school, appears in another column. The question has never been of practical impor- tance in this part of the state, but may in the near future become so. We cannot assent to the principle laid down by Mr. Colton. Compulsory religious instruction was abolish ed here by our present Constitution which de- clares, in effect, that no majority in Connect lcut, however large, shall hereafter have the opportunity of forcing its religion upon any minority, however small. The New Haven movement, triumphant as it certainly was at the polls, has always seemed to us mistake | It~was combination of Catholics and Protest | ants to make the common school a vehicle of religious instruction. Protestantism was to have the preference in certain cases Catholi- | cism, in certain other cases. When the curi. ous Cathollco-Protestant liturgy prepared by the New Haven clergy was published, the ab- surd impracticability of the scheme was at once manifest. We have never doubted the good intentions of the persons preparing it. Their mistake lay in forgetting that, in Con- necticut, schooling is by law compulsory, while religion is by law voluntary. Whatever might have been lawful under the Charter, under the Constitution the two methods can no longer be mixed.
 The report that Whitelaw Reid is going to marry Anna Dickinson is on it's rounds acain- ana "a friend of one of the editors intimate friends says he would not be surprised to hear of the event at an early day."-Ee.
 We hope the story is true. Both are now out of place. She does not suit the stage nor he, the Tribune. She ought to lecture, he could see to the tickets, and everything would be fitting and lovely.
 A Farmers Convention is held at Norwslk on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of this week. The exercises of the last two days are as follows
 Ihursddy:-Lectures on Seeds, morning and afternoon evening, lecture on the forma, ton or stones etc., in animals.
 frtdGy Lecture on the vitality of seeds | in the morning afternoon, paper on Out Door | Nurseries evening Report on Field Experi- | ments with Fertilizers.
 The storm which began on Monday with snow, and turned into a flood of rain, Tuesday, | hnn ways and railroads in this vicinity, besides in- terrupting travel. There are several wash-outs on the Naugatuck railroad, and reports of l very serious damage on the Connecticut Vest ern. Some damage has also been done te the Shepaug.
 There is some truth, no doubt, in the South. ern claims that black Democrats are greatly persecuted by black Republicans, Two cases are reported from South Carolina. In one instance, Baptist deacon was deposed for voting the Democratic ticket; in another a minister who refused to vote the Republican ticket was ordered out of the pulpit by his Republican colored bretheren,
 It is asserted in the Georgia papers that the Republicans of that state would have been more successful but for decomposition of feder- al officials who sold out, in effect, to the De mocracy. Let the civil service reform order be enfcrcedi
 Judge Speir, of New York, recently held a lawyer responsible for allowing funds entrust ed to him by lady for investment to be loan ed on worthless second mortgage. The fact that the loss resulted from carelessness rather than from actual fraud was no defence
 Nordoff, Herald correspondent, reports that Southern Congressmen propose to pursue election frauds in earnest, and refuse South Carolina Congressmen their seats against whom fraud is proved.
 We are glad to see that Col Hardenburgh has become proprietor of the Conn., Wes tern News. If we are net very much mistaken he will make good square" journalist.
 The trial of the Charter Oak wreckers at Hartford seems likely to result in failure. The statute of limitations will probably be held to | be bar of the nest serious charges.
 The Springfield Republican asserts that the | charge that Democratic operatives are bull dozed in Massachusetts is one of Buffers im- pudent lies
 Jack Logan seems likely to be chosen U. S. l Senator from Illinois agaln
 NEWS OF THE WEEK.
 FOREIGN,
 GreGt Britain. The issue of patent to Mr. Edison for electrict light is opposed in Enn and kl kl.,-. T