Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1880-10-13
Prom our regular correspondent
WASHINGTON LETTER.
WAsHIEaIos, .. @. OCT Q,

them 10 obtain some knowledge OF
tho extent 10 which they are being
used in The interest Of the Republican
party, There are hundreds Of vacant
desks and the absent occnpihis are IN
Ohio, Indiana aud other states labor
lng for The radical cause but their
salaries 90 on just the same, while the
services for which tho people employ
them remain anperformed, There are
some departments 10 which business
OF public eoneelHls seriously delayed
and injured by this state OF things
The Bureau OF Statistics, for instance,
IL looked TO by the commercial Inter
ests Of the country for certain inior'
nation important nj this season OF tho
year. but legitimate work Ia that bu'
reau has been almost entrely suspend
cd Tor some weeks while tho slaliclans
and clerks are engaged Ia campaign
wo,k for the party which 80 loudly
claims 10 represent SHE business In
tercsls Of the country" ! am 40
qaainied with couple Of laxative
young lrislmcn N the War Depart
ment who have been Six weeks out IN
Indiana, or nj least supposed 10 10
there, talking for radcalism' among
their fellow counlrymcn. II Is doubt
rll whether lhcir work goes for much,
! think, for they are not very hearty
Republicans aud 20 chiefly because
they are ordered, The entire Cabiact
has also been out Oh the stump. Two
sections Of /, are now here but they
are likely to take the road again At
any moment, Mr., Hayes aud his AL
ylscrs are said to be hunting for some
relic OF the late lamcnted civil service
reform Order No, /,
Among the campaign lies circulated
by the Radical press about the South,
there is one charging that the census
lust taken IN South Carolina and other
states is grossly fraudulent; that II
had been made so TO secure increased
representation in Congress and in
creased political influence. BY gar
Lled comparisons and statements the
percentage OF increase in population
was shown to DO very great. but a ro'
ccuut by special agents sent by Gen.
Walker, the superintendent, proves
the work to have been honestly aud
correctly done in the first instance 1t
is the census of 1870, taken by ne
groes, that was grossly inaccurate.
Thus disappears one more Republican
sensation.
The alleged interviews with Gen.
Grant, in which he is represented to
have spoken disparagingly of General
Hancock, have been extensively dis
cussed in political circles here, and but
one opinion prevails among all classes
viz: that Grant has made II great mis-.
take. Republicans and Democrats
Join in the sentiment. Disappolnt-
ment seems to have transformed the
"silent soldier" into a loguacious poll
tician. at looks too much like jeal-
ousy," said a prominent Republican
official, "and I regret that he has been
guilty of such an indescretion." The
time was when his speeches and let
tiers were models of brevity. 1t is
now apparent that his economy OF
words arose from poverty OF ideas ;
and 1t is not without a certain sense
of humiliation that his friends see
man who might have otherwise gone
down the vale of life wrapped in the
mantle eff a self-charitable silence, de-
liberately going back on his own
record and talking himself 10 death.
His conversation with the Rev. DIR.
Fowler, whether it be true in whole
or part, whether it be as first reported
or as subsequently modified, whether
it be Ulysses drunk or Ulysses sober
who speaks, is the growing 70 lily of a
tongue that the friends of the EXPRESS
ident by all considerations of family
respect and party expediency should
have kept securely tied. He cannot
hurt General Hancock he has hurt
himself.
Here is cat story from the seat OF
An adventurous and
patriotic feline assembled the Washing
ton Monument few nights ago by
the stairs within the shaft. Next
morning, when the men went up to
work, she took fright, and, springing
to the edge, took "Ayer" of 100 feet.