Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1881-12-14
from our regular correspondent
WASHINGTON LETTER,
W.shingion, Des. 10, 1851

Inc Hfsl Weeh ~ NphHipss hns wv"
quiet aud uninieresling, l do not re-
member an opening more SO IN the
course Of my six years observation at
the Capitol, In the Senate the OPP
porlunlty for q little excitement over
an attempt to change lhe officers OF that
body was carly shut of by the declar'
alton Of Judge Davis that he should
vote to continue the Republicans In
possession Of tho Committees and the
Democrats IN tho enjoyment Of the
other offices, The House has done
nothing but organize, II Is not very
remarkable body intellectually, espeel'
ally on the Republican side, The pro-
gress Of that party IN the lower branch
of Congress has been gradually toward
medlOTacy for some years In the
iith Congress, elected IN the year that
tho Democratic landslide displaced
Ben Butler aud many other prominent
Republicans, the party still had left for
leaders such men ~ Blaine, Garfield,
Kasson, Ilawlcy, Hale aud Frye, Of
all these Kasson l. the only one lcil,
aud he has been oul Of tho country 20
long that he has apparently lost his
grip rs a leader, Even the Michigan
"screcch owl" Congcr, who usurpcd
the functions of leadership in the last
House, is no longer present, aud the
rotund Robertson Of New Jersey, alone
comes forward to I'LL the gap.
A slender majority thus led, aud
made up of some llali.brccdS, u few
stalwaris, several Grccnbackcrs and
two RcpudiOiionists, will find itself
opposed by Il solid minority possessing
such leaders US Randall, Hewitt, Car
Isle, Blackburn and dozen others, all
head and shoulders above the strongest
men on the other side. This, taken
together with selection Of u Speaker
who is not experimentation, nor even
II ready, clcar-hcadcd man, presents an
unpromising outlook for the majority.
The only dramatic scene thus far, oc-
cured on the opening day when Mr..
Moore, the fresh young Republican
from the Memphis district Of Tennessee,
bounded up the aisle from his seat,
waving his arms widely in the mir, and
objected to swearing in Mr.. Chalmers,
of Mississippi, in a stream of lurgid
rhetoric poured forth in stcntorian
tones. His language and behaviour
were so utterly ridiculous that the
whole house broke ont in dcrisivc
laughter. When Mr.. Moorc's name
was called, Gen. Bragg, Of Wisconsin.
rose, and mimicking the melodramatic
style of that gentleman, objected to his
being sworn in. in almost precisely his
language when Directing to the admis-
sion of Mr.. Chalmers, This brought
down the House in rounds of applause,
but it had no effect on Mr.. Moore,
who will require more time and sad
experience to discover that new mcm-
bers, unless of transccndcnt ability.
must be little ditlident or they will be
very severely "sat down" upon.
After President Arthur gets his Cabi-
net disposed of it is understood that he
will take up the Public Printer contest
and select Il successor for Defrees.
The old public functionary has certainly
been in long enough, and his admins
tration has been scarcely less objection
able and corrupt than that Of his prede-
ccssor, Clapp. Defrees wrote in 1873:
"This is the most eXtravagant and
corrupt Government that ever existed
in this country. Grand himself is so
full of whisky that he is stupid and
bloated, and the men who manage him
are of the same Sort But the whole
rookery of unclean birds that infest the
White House will be driven out next
March and an honest man take their
place" Though this was 'the frozen
truth" when written it don't help the
old gentleman a particle with the adj
ministration, snd he will have to 60.
The office is very important one and
ought to be filled by competent man.
There is a strong probability that s. p.
Rounds, of Chicago, will capture the
prize. PHoNo.