Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1881-10-26
Prom our regular correspondent
WASHINGTON LETTER.
Washington, Oct. Is, 1851,

'N'""ff'"f ''"f'-'" w 'NfN'"''T ~
the late war, which is making prepar.
alions 10 stir Mp some Of the nests IN
the Government Departments with q
very sharp stick, A COMMITTEES Of this
organization has been 1t work for some
months gathering tho data upon which
10 base their action, aud when the
developments come there viii be u scat.
lcring all along the line, During the
Presidency Of Gen, Grant We heard u
great deal on the subject Of ncpotiSm.
The provision which the Administration
made for IL own aud Is wile'S relation
was tho subject Of much discussion IN
the newspapers aud undoubtedly had
is effect, II was the origin In this
country Of what Webster calls ian
undue iondncsS for ncphcwS and Other
relations" among those In authority,
certainly the disease has spread with
exceeding rapidly, There Is so much
Of II in every Department Of the Gov.
crnmcnt at this time that II has come
to be u crying evil, And that is what
these veterans are going for.
II has been understood that cy-
soldiers, qualifications and other things
being equal, were TO have the prefer
encc in appointment to minor positions
under the Government, but they do
not get ii. Such large proportion Of
places arc filed by the relatives Of
Department officials, iavortcs Of Sem
ators and mistrcsscs Of Congressman,
that the soldier gets pretty unanimously
left. This is not mere idle talk: it is
n solid fact, based upon actual invcsii-
CATION. have seen the lists now in
course of completion after careful
aud thorugh canvass of every Depart
men and feel constrained TO say that
there will be some music when Con-
gress assemblies this winter. There
arc over seven hundred cases where
from two to fourteen members of
tavoritc families are on the Govern
ment pay-rolls, drawing salaries rang
ing from 5000 to $4,000 per year.
Assistant Secretary French of the
Treasury has VI members Obj family
snugly slowed away, seven Of them,
consisting of sons nephews and nieces,
are attached to the Treasury and its
various bureaus. Chief Brooks, of the
Secret Service division of the Treasury
Department, is happily provided with
salaries agregating something over
81, 900 in his immediate family.
These are mere samples. To 90 on
through the list would require too
much space, though it might be what
Horace Greeley used to term ''mighty
interestin' reading"
Sometimes Secretary or bureau
chief after providing for u goodly num-
Der of his relations in his own depart
ment, to save appearances, uses his
influence to get the rest of them in some
where else.
saw Judge Davis this morning and
could but notice that the smiles which
wrcathed his countenance the day he
was elected President of the Senate
had all disappeared. In fact the old
gentleman is just q little worried.
That this is true is evidenced in his
anxiety for some days to find out
what people thought of his election.
Besides he knows that the Republicans
will most likely elect some one else to
the position one of these days. The
Judge now perhaps, realizes that he
made a mistake in accepting the posi-
ton. But it was the first and only
chance he has ever had to make one
step toward the Presidency. Hc has
had the Presidential bee in his bonnet
for years. Your correspondent attend
cd the Cincinnati convention in 1872
and saw car loads of delegates come in
from Illinois whose expenses had been
paid out of Davis plethoric purse.
But for the obstinate and expensive
fight made for him in that convention
his State would have voted Trumbull,
instead of dividing its vote, and the
result not only of the convention but of
the campaign that followed would,
probably, have been different. Pre-
vious to this the Judge had just accept
ed nomination from some harum
scarum convention in New Jersey.
But ambition is to much for many q
public man. Perhaps the two most
notable instances in our recent history
are Horace Greeley and Salmon P.
Chase. II charge thee, Horatio, fling
away ambition.
~ The friends of Judge Gray Of
Massachusetts are confident that he
will be appointed justice of the supreme
court. Gray's appointment would