Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-05-05
rrron Our REGULAR cOrrespOndenll
Washington Letter.
WASHINGTON, d. c.. May l. 1880.


WASHINGTON, d. C., May l. 1880.
The District of Columbia appropriation
bill without any material amendments
was passed by the House on Tuesday in
the shape reported by the appropriation
committee. The passage of this bill puts
the House ahead of its appropriation
committee il the dispatch of business
The latter committee has not now ready
any appropriation bill to report. nor will
it have any this week. Next week it is
expected that the legislative, executive
and judicial bill will be completed and
reported, 10 be followed with the postal
bill. There are but four appropriation
bills yet 10 be reported, viz, the legisla-
tive, executive and judicial, the postal,
the river and harbor, and the general
deficiency. None of these bills will contain
any riders. Should the president sign
the army bill and the immediate deficiency
bill, there is well grounded belief that
congress will adjourn sine die by July 1st.
If. however. he vetoes these bills, and the
democrats again lock horns with the
president, of course the final adjournment
will be delayed There are conflicting
rumors as to what the president will do.
A good many republicans say that he will
veto both bills, but no one who makes the
statements has other than mere belief to
base it upon. The friends of Gen. Grant
hope that vetoes will be forthcoming, for
they indulge 10 the belief that such a
course Oh the part of the president will
stir up the democrats. provoke a sectional
debate, and the net result will be to
strengthen the "Strong mans" canvass.
The democrats generally believe that the
president will sign both bills because he
signed last years army bill with the
identical amendment which is in this
years, and that he will sign the deficiency
bill because the marshal's amendment
was originally offered by Gen. Garfield,
and is really republican compromise.
The present House of Representatives
has been made the victim of deliberate
imposition on the part of its own mem
brrs, 50 that the existence of mania
may fairly be suspected. Mr.. Acklen, of
Louisiana, first showed symptoms of it in
February, when he presented and got
printed II report purporting to come from
The committee on foreign afftirs, but in
reality an unauthorized connection of hie
own; and that he has not recovered
is proved by his introduction last week
Of bill having no relation to the re-.
port which was supposed to accompany
and justify it, and which on investigation
turned out to be IA plagiarism from Chief
Justice Marshall in famous case to b,
found in the law books. The contagion
reached the delegate from Wyoming Ter
ritory, Mr.. Stephen w. Downey, who
introduced Il bill providing for certain
paintings on the walls of the national
capitol namely, to commemorate "thr
birth, life, death and resurrection OF
Christ, us told in the four gospels, and, on
the following day, was accorded permis.
sion to print his argument - in favor of
the bill. A week ago this argument ap-
peared, covering the first fifteen pages of
the Congressional Record, and copyrighted
by the author. 1t consisted of poem
entitled The Immortals," in Wyoming
blank verse, intersp6rsed with metrical
quotations from Dante, Tennyson, THE
Rock Of Ages etc, and adorned with
pictorial emblem.