Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1880-02-21
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.
Alex. siephens-He Talks sOme-The
Georgia Administr8tt0n-AT Tonnes
see COngrs IS man Implicated fa
the Senatorial scandal-MOrs
About Ackien &c.

w ASKING TON, ID u, EeO. ~.
A limb of the CHRONICLE while in
search Of the information which ID
occasionally transmitted from the
capital, accidentally encountered Hon
A. III, Stephens, late vice president Of
the defunet confederacy. He was
seated In bis rolling chair, and APP
peared as undismayed at GordOn's re-
cent belIigerent attitude toward him
as might be expected from one in q
more vigorous condition. III anything,
Mr.. Stephens looks younger than he
did eight years since, when l first saw
him. His eyes are unusually bright,
and his complexion clear and healthy
looking, He was attended by his fa
vorite body servant Aleck," who
seems to take especial pride in antici'
pstipg the every want of Mare.
Aleck.' When | met him he was
busily engaged in preparing a reply,
for the press, to one OF Gordon's
epistolary illusions. The next day 1t
appeared in the Star and Republican,
and was crusher to the vain
pretensions OF Gordon, as 1t showed
the soldier senator to be equally as un-
familiar with the spelling book as ia
census supervisor Simmons. In are
cent letter to the president, Simmons
spelled ''excelleney" with only one
a." In the very letter in which Cor
don was complaining of Summons
bad spelling. he spelled marshal"
with two rs" thereby utilizing the
"in which Summons dropped ia lex
cellency." Gordon, in the same letter,
spelled consistency thus, consist.
ensey." IL il needless to say that he
has made himself the laughing stock
of the capital, and the + wspaper have
dubbed him ''MaIshalP Gordon, the
same as they have bigger Man Fitz.
hugh" Mr.. Stephens was particular
to impress upon me the fact that he
never quailed W hen Gordon was brand.
ishing bis caue over his head and
threatening TO hold him responsible
for charging that he had sup-
ported corrupt democratic ripgs
on the stump In North Georgia
in the fall of 1878. Said he, II told
Mr.. Gordon that q committee room
was no place to handy words, and II
he felt himself sggrieved. would meet
him elsew here aud accord him satls>
factiou.n Well may Gordon and the
democratic hot-spurs of Georgia at
tempt to impair the influence OF
Stephens, for they will find 10 him a
foeman worthy of their steel this fall
~ r. n. a4s k,a ataf
Iu the interest Of the independents.
the fact is the democratic party Of
Georgia is nothing but Q shell, filled
with mass of political corruption,
and under the thrusts Of men like
Stephens, FELTON, and Ben Hal, will
crumble into nothlngness next
November. Hill says he conceives 1t
to be his bounden duty to rescue his
native state from the dishonest hands
into which she has fallen, aud that he
will not rest until be has remanded
Coiqaitt, and the other corrupt state
off GERS TO the shades OF private life.
Bob Toombs aud Stephens are still
fast friends. and the former will aid III
breaking up the corrupt democratic
rings in Georgia. Whenever Toomos
meets Stephens he always tells him
that he never saw him In better
health, and that he has named him Is
his executor In his will Stephens re-
plies to these sallies by telling Toombs
TO stop his romancing." l see by the
Philadelphia Bulletin that Its cor
respondent in this city has
been maligning Stephens by charging
that he has always been noted for
stirring up strife and then avoiding
difficulty by pleading that he was an
invalid and unable to fight. / happen
TO know that Stephens has always
been ready to accord satisfaction TO
those who took umbrsge ut his re-
marks. His memorable difficulty with
Judge Cone, of Georgia, who held
bowie knife at his throat and unsuc-
cessfully demanded retraction, and
several other difficulties In which he
has been engaged, show that he pos
sesses courage OF the highest order.
The correspondent above referred to
is tool Of Gordon's, and is obeying
his masters behests by attempting to
traduce the Georgia commoner. The
charges above referred to have been
laid before Mr.. Stephens, and it Is not
inn probable that he will "set down
on't that frail knight of the quill In
as summary manner as he did upon
Gordon.
I see by the Philadelphia Evening
Telegraph. of last Saturday, that u
Tennessee congressman Is implicated
in the same congressional scandal
about which l wrote you last week.
The victim was the daughter OF poor
but respectable parents, who are bowed
down bv grief in their old age at this
terrible calamity which has beiallen
them. l would suggest that you OBJ.
tain a copy OF the paper referred to,
and publish the accusation In full, to
the end that the people OF Tennessee
may see how one OF their congressman
Is deporting himself here. The name
of the guilty member Is not given,
but he is described as gray-headed,
aud a democrat. 1 hope within
the next ten days to get at
the '.bottom facts" when will for.
ward you sffidavits, upon which you
NAV take the responsibility of publish.
ing the names Of the guilty scoun-
drels who have been bringing disgrace
upon more than one Washington
family. Since the 4th OF March, 1875,
dozens of Washington families have
been made to regret the ruin OF their
daughters Nor Is this lanentsblej
state OF affairs confined to low fami
lies, but TO those who were deemed res
spectable. whose daughters found 1t
impossible to resist the importupities
Of their . Influence - who secured
them employment. yr1fs ~ ~
Those who are familiar with the
material which makes up the present