Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-10-11

WASHINGTON October S.-The church of the
President Of the United States, which always
attracts the public attention and the eye of the
manor woman, for that matter-who would
like to be as near the ruler as possible, again
changes with the new President. 1t now goes
back to the antique but aristocratic church of
st. Johns, situated in what is known as West
End, Iand the high-toned part of the city.
There President Arthur viii pay his de-
votions under the Episcopal juris-
diction, and the keeper of the Presiden-
tial conscience will again be an Episcopalian
clergyman. st. Johns Church is small, but
prides itself on its ancientness- can slip
in a word coined for the emergency-and its
patrician exclusiveneSs. Only the oldest fam
lilies and the biggest government officials wor
ship there. The walls are covered with ivy
that is very old, and the general appearance
of the edifice is one of seclusion from the COM
mon rabble There is an air of exclusiveness,
both inside and outside. That President Ar
thur should elect to do his devotiors there once
more, returns the light OF Presidential reig-
ious faith upon the Episcopal Church.
Before Lincoln st. Johns Church was known
as the church of Presidents. and the Episcopal
religion or the Presidential form of belief
Lincoln went to the New York Avenue Church.
thus breaking the tradition as to Presidential
episcopacy. Grant, who followed Lincoln,
went to the Metropolitan NJ E. Church. which
also boasted of its ParSon Newman and its
chimes. and the Presidential religion, or form
of it, made Methodism popular in shallow
Washington. Hayes following, was an al
legged Methodist, but transferred the scene to
the Foundry NJ. E. Church. The deeply
lamented Garfield, as we all know, pulled the
Campbelites from obscuriCy, and by his
membership thereof made it the leading edi-
fee of worship in the city. President Arthur
going TO the st. Johns Church will take with
him the crow i. The minister OF that church
will no longer preach to semi-empty benches
He will gather unto himself as great congrega-
tions as the church will seat. 1t 8 a fact wor-
thy OF noticing that since President Garfield
died there is not ne ar as much interest mani
tested in erecting in this city suitable edihce
for the Campbellites to worship in. The sub
scriptions thereto have fallen off most alarm
ingly. Subscriptions could be easily kept up
if it should only be announced
that the money was to go to
the erection of a bigger church for the wor-
shippers at St Johns, the sanctuary chosen by
the new head of the nation.
PENSION FRAUDS.
The latest scandal which we are now called
upon to notice is located in the Pension Office.
There have been many scandals in the Pension
Office, in common with every other department
of the government, but this one is of peculiarly
gigantic proportions The late Commissioner of
Pensions, Mr.. Bentley, in repeated reports to
Congress. stated that OF the large number OF
pensions allowed there were thousands OF fraud
ulent ones and that perhaps millions OF dollars
was being paid out without any warrant or
with legality. Colonel ley, who succeeded
the thoroughly honest Bentley. seems to have
been told Of this in definite language by his
predecessor. At any rate he has pretty well
dropped upon the scheme which has been
worked upon the public treasury The way
they did it was rather simple. The ring of peo-
pie inside the Pension Office knew the name of
ms
were dead-entitled to a pension. They gave the
names of these men to claim agents outside, who
cooked up pension papers and worked them
through by false swearing and doctored evil
dence. Many thousands Of such bogus claims
have been allowed through the fact that ex-
Commissioner Bentley had not the means or
the authority to make investigations. He
suspected the fraud just before he went out,
and informed Dudley of it. The latter has
been on the trail, and is now closing in around
the ring. To place the amount of money that
has been thus fraudulently obtained from the
government on account of pensions at
millions of dollars would not be underestimate
ing the steal. To this fraud is to be attributed
to a great extent the pillng up OF the amount
Of monies which Is annually Iaie out 0n &C.
count of pensions.
THE CABINET.
There seems to be no reason to believe that
President Arthur has changed il the deterlni-
nation which he announced to A member Of
Congress some time ago, and " hicl was tele
graphed you by the undersgnei to retain
James as Postmaster General and Hunt as
Secretary OF the Navy. James = too good s.
Postmaster General to be thrown overheard,
and Hunt, if the President should be Of the
same mind when he nominates his Cabinet as
now, will be retained, not for any fitness OF the
place-God save the mark but out Of per
sonal considerations. President Arthur has
long been on terms Of familiarity with the
Hunt family The position Of Secretary Of
the Treasury has been rendered to ex Secretary
Boutwell, of Massachusetts. BoutWels friends
~ wi nTOhQhlU depliO1 q
ent business pays him much more than Cabi-
net position would, and his work is not so hard
as it would be in the Cabinet. The best infor
nation at this date is that the positio1 of At
torney General will go to the Hon. Dan Brew
ster, of Pennsylv one OF the leading coun-
sci retained by the government in the prosecu-
ton of the star route thieves. Outside OF this
chronicling there is nothing Of Cabinet gossip
that bears the slightest earmarks OF proba-
biity.
THE SAME OLD MAN.
Senator Edmunds, Of Vermont, comes to the
fore as the same old partisan, and the same
genial and honest man. He is really one of the
best natured men in the world, or he would
never have been the chosen chum Of such a
man as ex-senator Thurman, OF Ohio. But in
politics he is the bitterest Republican that ever
drew the breath. In the Senate cloak room
to-day he talked that the determination OF the
Democrats to elect President pro tempore in
the person OF Senator Bayard was but the
effort to reap political Office through the red
hand of the assassin Ths Democrats, he said,
were only gathering to their bosoms the fruits
of assassination Much more did he
say in the same strain The brilliant and hon
est Senator from Vermont has not in the least
been tempered by the national calamity. 1t
has not softened bis political animosities. He
is the same bitter partisan as of old. He can
never be anything else in politics.
THE SOLID SOUTH.
There is one thing noticeable by its absence
In all the political talk which is now becoming
the staple Of conversation at an alarming in
creasing ratio. There is nothing said about
the ''solid South" There is no scheme nor
any talk Of one on the part Of President Ar
thur to break the solid South" When the
late Mr. Hayes started out on his
feeble executive career he was to
break the solid South 1t was
the food for long time for political gossip.
In perhaps a greater measure President Gar
feds administration brought on a good deal
of talk OF the same character. The were
many schemes for infringing upon Southern
Democratic solidity, which politicians wise
and otherwise advocated. There is nothing
of the kind with Arthur. There may be
two reasons for this condition of things. One,
and probably the correct one, is that events
since President Garfield was shot have shown
that the Solid South" so harped upon by
blOody-shirt men, is a bug-bear, and that it
can no longer be a rallying cry to arouse
Northern hostility to one section Of the coun-
try. The other reason may be that President
Arthur from full knowledge Of history and
the character of events, does not see why the
professional place hunters who form the Re
publican party in the South should be extended
any useless aid i'll order TO enable them to