Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1879-05-21
washington Letter,
Washington, D, O., May 10, 1870
IYIom ouI IsEulaI sonespOndenl

tlht nome weight h'Bht po httachcu
TO his expressed purpose to sign the
bill but the sequel shows how COM
pletely no Is now IN the hands OF the
stalwart and visions class Of Republl'
cans, and furnishes additional evidence
Of tho yasoillating and utterly unreli'
able character Of the weakest fraud
that ever sat so high, The motion
to pass the bill over the veto had Q
majority Of 80 votes 10 the House
not the required two'thlrds, but
enough 10 demonstrate that the Green
hackers and all elements not under
the whip Of Chandler 81 CO.. dlsap-
prove the eoarse OF Mr. Hayes, aud
oppose the use Of bayonets at the
polls, These elements represent a
majority Of more than one million
among the people Of tho nation
II 10 all chaos here at present, 80 far
as dIvinlng the results Of the session
~ concerned, l do not think any
army bill will be passed, There Is
not much talk among the Democrats
about what they win Or will not do,
hut their course1s marked by quiet
determination which indicates q pur-
pose to discharge their whole duty
and rest the responsibility where II
belongs for whatever Is amiss, The
speech OF Senator Thurman, on Thurs
day, had tho ring oftrac metal 10 II,
and you can In no way give your
readers a more comprehensive view of
tho issues than BY printing 1t in full,
My opinion Of the final outcome is
that the test oath will DO repealed IN
separate bill, which will be signed.
The Legislative and judicial appropria-
ton bill will then DO passed, with a
provlso to each clause that not one dol
lar Of the money appropriated shall
be used to pay election supervisors
and marshais. That plan, while no,
repeating the supervisors law, will
compel the Radicals to pay them, il
appointed, out Of their own campaign
tupd. All tho other needs OF the
civil department Of the Government
would be provided for Then If Con.
gress adjourns at once Mr.. Hayes will
not dare veto the bill. No further &C
ton on the army bill would be taken.
Very few people in this country care
much about the army anyway. The
bill has already failed three or four
times in our history without the de-
struston Of the government or mate
rial inconvenience, and the bulk of the
army appropriation goes to the pay Of
officers who are considered by large
portion Of the people Of this countr.
as n lot Of ornamental supernumeraries,
that could be as we'll abolished as not
I do not say that this will be the pre-
else result, but it looks about like it,
and is the mildest programme the
democrats would be justified in adopt
ing.
The Presidents family remove to
the Old Soldiers Home within few
days. There are few more delightful
parks in the country than this, which
belongs to the old soldiers, and is kept
up by monthly contributions by the
soldiers of the regular army. There
are nearly thousand acres in the
park, and the buildings and drives are
very handsome. There are ten miles
of drive, and about dozen buildings.
The Home was started by General
Scott with 100000 pllage money
levied by him on the City OF Mexico.
1t is question of economy that takes
Mr. Hayes to this delightful park.
He has all the advantages Of prince
ly country residence, without expense.
The grounds are kept in order by the
old soldiers, and the house was built
and furnished by the monthly tax of
twelve cents month on the soldiers
in the army, and this fund keeps it
in repair, and furnishes also stabhng
for the Presidents no, ses, and vege-
tables for his table. The President
receives only $4,000 year the
private soldier receives $13 month.
understand that the Secretary Of
War and his family will Kindly occu- ,
py one of the handsome stone cot
lagos, owned by the soldiers, this
The old soldiers who sur
render their pensions when they enter
his home, and get their tobacco and ,
postage stamps by selling canes and /
working as they may on the place,
must feel an honest conceit in enter. l
laining the President and the Secre- !
tary of the War gratuitously during