The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1880-07-10
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENCE.
FROM OUR REGULAR CORRESPONDENT
WASHINGTON, July 3, 1880.

WASHINGTON, July 3, 1880.
The weakest of all the political campaign
stuff so far launched upon the public this year
is the effort made in some quarters to bring
odium upon General Hancock on account OF
his connection as Il military officer with the
execution of Mrs. Surratt. While there will
probably always exist differences of opinion
as to the proprety of hanging Mrs Surratt,
there cannot be in the mind Of any intelligent
and honestly disposed person the slightest
doubt as to the propriety Of Gen. Hancock's
course in the premises. Whatever his feel
ings on the subject may have been, he had
nothing te do with the case but to obey the
orders of his superior officers, and see that
the same were Obeyed by others unde him
That was his sole duty, and that he perform.
ed, as an officer always should perform his
duty, neither brutally nor in a spirit of maw-
ksh sentimentality calculated to reflect upon
the judgment or motives Of his official superb
ors. or the guilt or innocence of the unfOrtu-
nate woman he knew nothing, and with that
question he had nothing to do. Neither was
he in any wise responsible for her fate. The
effort to injure General Hancock by such
means cannot be successful, and they may us
well be abandoned at the outset Of the cam
paign.
Evidences of general Generalization in the
Republication party are daily coming to the
surface. One of the most significant of these
is the great difficulty experienced in finding a
member Of the campaign committee who is
willing TO take the office Of chairman If the
committee we're looking chcerlully forward to
an expected victory, the chairmanshlp would
not 90 G-begging. The prominence that the
place would give to the incumbent I'm the in
coming administration would render it very
desirable. The fact that shrewd politicians
/ hasten to decline it, without thanks, is con-
elusive proof that they don't anticipate Gen.
| Garheld's election. Don Cameron was begged
to take the post, but he said he must be ex-
cused. Again he was entreated, and again he
/ replied, with more emphasis, that he must be
let ont. William L. Chandler, the leader OF
the Blaine wing, was next asked to take con.
troll, but he said he would not touch II with a
ten-foot pole. MIR. Conkling's man, Platt, de-
clined IL with greater force Of vocalzation
| than elegance of dicton Mr.. Jewell, of Con.
necticut, is now sleeping on the proposition tC
take held of the thrice-rej task.
There has been considerable talk here for
the past few days about another congressional
scandal that is in the embryo, The member
now charged by woman of being the father
of her child, is Representative Berry, Dem
ocrat, in the California delegation. The wo
man has employed counsel and swears tina,
she must have money to support the child
The charge made against him came to Mr.
Berry's ears before he left for California. He
promptly branded It us false, and said that
the woman was q black-mailer; that he did
not even know her. The woman now says
that If she cannot succeed any other way, she
will take the child to Mrs. Berry.
The department officials are less inclined tC
comply with the demand for "yoluntary con
tributions" oftwo per cent, than they have ir
years past. The general conviction that al
the money expended on Garfield and Arthur
will be thrown away, does not encourage lib
erality. Many of the more influential clerks
frankly assert that they will not contribute
dollar so long as the civil service order stands
unreyoked. They argue that the adminIstra
tion will not dare to create disafiectlon in the
party ty sweeping removals during the cam
paign, and that they will stand quite as wei
with the Hancock administration, If they car
show that they gave no aid TO the RepubliceI
canyass. The boosted discipline Of the Re
publican organization is not showing up wei
this season. AUGUST.