Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1878-04-19
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.
Correspondence of tho Bulletin.

WASHINGTON. D. c., Apr. II, '78.
A new door-keeper presides over the
destinies of the House. Col. Polk. the
former incumbent, was unceremonious-
y laid on. the shelf on Monday last, and
ten. Field is the wearer Of the official
honors Of the position. We have seen
nothing more entertaining this session
than the fight over Folks successor.
Ben Butler moved to elect Gen. Shields
OF illinois, and then argued in his pecu-
liar manner, that the gallant war record
OF Shields gave him precedence under
the law, and by right, we Field, who
had perjured himself by going with the
~Confederacy after a West Point educa-
ton, and subsequently expatriating him
self until two years ago. This on
slaught on Field Of course invoked the
bltterest personal discussion, in which
there was as much eloquence, sarcasm,
wit and retOrt as we have ever heard in
the Hall in one afternoon. Butler. of
course, had to bear the brunt. But his
mastery OF taunt and satire renders him
a match for any one in the House in
ability to give a Roland for an Oliver,
and we were gratified with the spectacle
of a battle of the intellects. These con
tests are GASES in the desert of legisla-
ton, Tor they are the only means Of re-
lief given to the dull monOtony of Ordi-
nary legislation. MI. Polk is of course
exceedingly sore over his misfortune,
and he has gone into our papers with
some crisp, cutting letters, in which he
deals quite freely with such Of his po-
lltlcal brethren as are responsible for
his humiliating downfall. But he is an
out" and that sufices In Washington
to bury a politician as effectually as six
feet of earth.
Improvements and establishment of
the grounds and buildings are constant
ly made at the Soldiers Home. These,
united with the natural beauty of the
place render it the most beautiful of all
our resorts. 1t, of course, attracts little
public notice, because it does not call
upon Congress for its support, being
sustained wholly by the assessments
made upon the pay of all regular army
soldiers or l22 cents per month. Yet,
were our economical legislators asked
to appropriate a few thousands annual
ly for its repair OF improvement, the
howl Of protest would be alarming, and
it would become at once the subject of
constant investigation. AS it is, a Pres
ident can leave the miasmatic White
House. and reside at the Home, as
quietly yet as grandly, as Queen Victor
ia at Winsdor Castle, Mrs. Hayes is
having the cottage that she occupied
last season out at Soldiers Home, reft-
ted and frightened up in very pretty
style, for another summers residence;
and will, as soon as Lent is clearly over
and our warm May sunshine has put
the grounds and gardens into their
brightest trim, remove there with all
her family. Of course she will take
Mr.. Hayes with her, for she undoubted-
ly thinks he is, like the ancient 'wo-
mans mana good thing in the family,
even if his political brethren are some,
what inclined towards excluding him
from their fold. The Soldiers Home is
a grand place for a Presidential resi-
dence, and it is fitting indeed that Mr..
Hayes makes it his home, during our
summer heats, rather than some ocean
resort, with it's accpmulations of evils,
which curse all so called fashionable re-
sorts.
Our school authorities have been
greatly excited wei the strong pros
pect before them of having to close all
our public schools at the end of April,
and have been busy devising ways and
means for their continuance. Congress
has drawn a check on the disbursement
of moneys by our commissioners, that
acts somewhat similar to that law which
bars Chicago authorities from oxpend-
ing beyond a stated amount, and the
consequence is, no provision is made for
%exigncies. Owing to the general de-
linquincy in payment of taxes our treas
ury has become depleted and our school
board find themselves necessarily short.
We have one peculiar feature here
which does not obtain elsewhere. One
half the pupils of our public schools
are children of non-residents, who are
in government employ, and few of these
pay any taxes. The burden of their
support falls, necessarily, on the one
half of our community, and yet, the
most lntenee grambler oyer any failure
to build costly school houses, furnish
constant teachers, etc, is he who is
here temporarily, and who boasts that
he votes and owns property elsewhere
The Senate Judiciary Committees
Funding Bill was passed by the Senate
on Tuesday evening, after a prolonged
and able discussion, and by a decisive
vote of 40 to 10. Some II Senators
gere absent, but had each one been
present and voted no, the result would
have been the same, inasmuch as the 40
voters were masters of the situation.
The lobby gave up their fight after a
test Ote on MIR. Blaine's proposed
amendment, though it had prepared a
dozen others all looking to the same
end-the protection of the Union Pa
cific interests rather than those of the
government. The bill is now before
the House, which we predict will make
short work of it, as there is undouhted-
ly a strong feeling among the members
adverse to the Union Pacific schemes
and its prince of lobbyists, Jay Gould.
Party lines were ignored in this impor-
tant debate and vote. Blaine and his
old opponent in the House, Hill, Of
Georgia, fought side by side against
Messrs. Edmunds and Thurman, and
the ayes and noes throughout display
the same singular sandwiching of Re-
publicans and Democrats. The coun-
try will, through this anomaly, be COM
PEELED to saddle whatever responsibility
is involved upon the Senators individu-
ally, and We should moi be SURPRISED if
there would not be to some Of the par
Elephants in this debate a calling to ac-
count in the future, pretty much as with
the credit mobilier matters. Our past
letters have shown our sympathies to be
wholly with Messrs. Edmunds and
Thurman, and the final arguments have
only served to strengthen our %convic-
tons.
The House is moving along as serene
ly as a summers calm, after it's storm
about the new door-keeper, Field. Both
parties tried hard to make political cap
ital out of it, and from their standpoints
seem to have succeeded; at least, each
is crying victory over the other by the
matching Of Ben Buffers strategy in
compelling the Democrats to ignore
Gen. Shields, with the adroit flank
movement of Mr.. Bragg, by which all
parties voted to put Gen. Shields on the
retired list. Considerable mud was
thrown during the debate, and it was a
difficult matter to determine who got
the worst of the war of words. Mr..
d. lI..~ ,o:l k1o4 A. o-1- No,eoIo.