Morning journal and courier., 1880-11-15
THE NATIONAL CAPITAL.
Donn Piatt's Open Letter to President
 elect Garfield.

l WASHINGTON, Nov. 14.-Donn Piatt in to-
 days Capito5 publishes an open letter ad- l dressed to Hon. James A. Garfield which, | owing to friendly relations known to exist
 between these two gentlemen, has produced
 Q decided sensation and has been the theme
 of conversation in the hotel Hobbies to-day.
 The letter ia quite lengthy and the following
 are brief extracts therefrom
 My Dear General-Now that this senseless l political TOW is over and you are the Presi- l dent-elect, venture, before you are burisd l in that mansion through the thick walls and plate glass of which no word of truth ever reaches the incumbent, to write you a few words in the same intimate and friendly spir- l 1t that marked our intercourse when both oc- cupied cheap boarding house and when carried my fortunes on the slender ribs of pen as newspaper correspondent and you sought to support yourself and family on the
 meagre pay of Congressmen. I go back
 to the time when you gladly accepted my aid and sympathy in your troubles and my heart
 felt congratulations in your triumph and yours. I feel more anxiety about you, my
 friend, now that you are fortunate, than in
 the darkest hour of your life, when life itself
 seemed so horrible that escape from it was a
 temptation. You have passed from the hands
 of friends to the keeping of enemies, to play
 the part of chief executive for four years. i"
 He tells General Garfield that he is not only
 no politician but is hated by the politician,
 and that history never has and probably
 never will put to record such an infamy as
 that upon which he was elected. 'sWe have
 among us certain persons who are bent on
 changing the form of our self government
 they seek to make the presidency life ten
 ure, and under the name of a stronger gov
 ernment escape the return of power to the
 people You know the man who is to serve
 their purpose in the reasonable scheme.
 They bank upon his military record and
 supposed popularity" MT. Piatt warns
 MT. Garfield against the politicians who are
 determined, as he has indicated, to change the form of government and hopes that he will have nothing to do with them except looking to breaking their power he uses. The following language has attracted more attention than any other part of the letter
 Ut was your committee that investigated that national sham called Black Friday wherein Fisk, Gould and Grant sought through use of the national treasury to en- rich themselves at the expense of thousands Of honest men. It is not my purpose to re- call the details of that infamy. The chief criminal was tracked to the threshold of the executive mansion, and your committee passed resolution calling upon the President to appear before the committee and defend ! himself from the dannning proof that made him the chief conspirator. The night of the l day that the resolution was passed you called with it upon the President It was after mid | night before you left the White House, amazed and sick at heart, and at your sug- gestion that very day the resolution was re- ! voked. I need not say that you and know | why that resolution was so suddenly aban- 1 doned, the fact under the circum- ! stances which it was revoked tells | the whole story. The very Democrats l of the committee shrunk from the threat | ened exposure The letter closes as fol | TSjIty nnf read ln your library of heroic achievements | your soul swells over the poetic expression ! you are full of thought and impulse and all ! ends ill @ support of men you despise and | party with which you have nothing in com ! mon." A Collision Off Winter Quarter Shoals
 Between q Government Vessel and a Il
 Coaster.
 WASHINGTON, Nov. 1.-The signal corps | station at Delaware Breakwater telephoned l the chart signal officer at p. m. November 1 4th as follows The three masted schooner W. B. Chester, four hundred and ninety eight tons register, from Kennebec, Me-, bound to Washington, D. O., with cargo of | hay and ice, collided with the United States man of war Vannalia at 62O last evening off l Winter Quarter shoals. The steamer was bound to New York from Hampton Roads, l and arrived at the Breakwater at 1 p. m. with the wrecked vessel in tow The Ches- ter was totally dismasted and the Vannalia lost fore and main top mast and the sails were carried away, The hulls of both yes gels received slight damages. The Chester received the most damage. The Vannalia was struck on the port bow by the Chester while the latter was running under a brisk southwest wind and going about nine znots The Vannalia was steaming at about seven and half knots speed in the opposite direction, with her topgallant mast down. No lives were lost. The steamer is now in he harbor. A crew from the Vannalia are slso on board fixing the rigging.