The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1881-11-02
WHOLE NO. 1852
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER
From our special correspondent.
III .o,,<,-.. n q n. ~ 40

FrVin our spceiai correspondent.
WASHINGTON, D. c., Oct. %, 1881.
The President, Senate, Cabinet
foreign guests, army and naval Off
GERS, have been off on a patriotic
pleasure excursion to Yorktown the
greater part of the week. They took
their accommodations with them
lived on the steamers and U. S. waI
vessels that took them down, and
have, consequently, returned compd'
bomporis. The military companies
and host of observation-disclosures
who left Washington for Yorktown
but did not take their hotels with
them, and neglected to take suili.
cient money to buy a hotel, have
also returned, weary, bedraggled
sick and disgusted.
/ think it possible that you viii
know with certainty the compost
ton of the new Cabinet before thi;
reaches you, so viii not fiji my let
ter with the many clever guesse:
that are made on this interesting
subject. But one thing IS certain
the many statements that have beer
made are nothing more than guess
es, and, while the sequel may show
that some Of the guesses were pro
phetic, it cannot prove that the Pres
ident did not keep his own counsel
Nor has any progress been made il
discovering what Presidents Ar
thurs policy is to be. He has prac
ticed a reticence which is, to say the
least, indicative of prudence, no In
consequential executive attribute
So far, he has made no abrupt de-
parture from the policy of his pre-
decessor. All the nominations pre-
pared by President Garfield, previ-
Gus to his death, have been sent in
and, and, so far as can be judged
his own appointments are of good
men.
1t is expected that the new Cabi-
net nominations VIII be confirmed
and that the extra session Of the
Senate viii have adjourned by tho
29th inst. After an interim Of one
month, the regular session viii as
semble. Various candidates for tho
speakership are canyassed in politi'
cal circles here, prominent among
whom are ex-Secretary Of the Navy
Robson, ex-Minister to Austria
Kasson, Mr.. Dunnell, a. Minnesota,
Mr.. kiefer, of Ohio, and Mr. His
cock. of New York. Mr. Robson Is
the favorite in this city. from the
fact that he has long lived here, has
a large house, is very wealthy, and
gives large, though sele,' entertain
ments.
It has been remarked that there
are fewer oiiice-seekers IN Wishing
ton than is usual. Dc"btle the
fact that the President wi g in q
private house, and is mC.e difficult
of access than if he were in the
White House has something to dc
with keeping this class away. They
however, viii be here in force before
the first Monday in December. The
prizes of the patronage Of the tive
houses of Congress, TO say nothing
of the new Cabinet, viii be an irge,
sistable attraction to this rapacitsI:
crowd.
No doubt, there VIII be some very
important official changes. and, con-
sequently, a number Of minor inn
poItance. When a high official
like Assistant Postmaster General
Tyner, goes down, many parisitical
little crafts are swallowed in the vor-
tex. Many who hold offices now
must make way for the friends Of
the new Cabinet officers. Moreover,
the Congress that win assemble on
the first Monday of next month
viii be more largely composed of
new men than any that has assem-
bled for years. This means thai
many old members and Senators
have lost their influence in Washing
ton. The technical meaning, in
Washington, of influence" is power
to appoint friends or clients, male OF
female, to clerkships. II is said a
new head will be placed over the
public printing office. This immense
establishment alone employs 1896
persons.