Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1882-12-16
WASHINGTON LETTER.
lFrom our Regular correspondent.l

gress were in session throughout
the day. The memory of the oldest
chronicler runs not to the contrary
that Congress has always adjourned
over the first Saturday of the first
week of the session. The fact that
neither house took the accustomed
saturday holiday is understood to
mean that the house 'tmeans bust
ness" Indeed, the activity of Con-
gress during the first week of the
session is a matter of general com.
ment. The Indian appropriation
bill and the Consular and Diplomat
ic bills have been passed. The Post
Office and Pension bills it is thought
will be passed this week, and that
the Army and Naval bills may be
pushed through before Christmas.
Several other appropriation bills are
ready to be reported. Civil Service
Reform measures, involving the
most radical changes, are urged by
Republicans who, until yesterday,
were ready to declare, with Senator
Morton, that we had "the best civil
service on the planet" Bills re-
ducing taxation and revising the
tariff and reducing postage on seal
ed letters to two cents, have been
introduced, or are in preparation,
and altogether it looks as though
this Congress that has wasted its
youth and lusty manhood, will now
devote its eleventh hour remnant
to work. OF course every one
knows the cause of this galvanic
activity as well as he knows that
death bed repentance is not vicari-
Gus for wicked wasteful life, at
least not in politics.
A busy week in the Senate was
closed by a rattling debate Oh Sena-
tor Beck's resolution to enquire into
the assessments of Jay Hubbell.
Senator VOORHEES, opened the en-
gagement by vigorous attack on
the traditional policy of the Repub-
lican party, as shown in the meth
DDS of ex-senator Dorsey and Hub
bell. Senator Hale, of Maine, the
son-in-law and heir of Zachariah
Chandler, replied, stating that the
Democrats had raised an immense
election fund from saloon keepers
under the threat that their licences
would be revoked unless they paid.
He said that the Democratic cam
paign committee was not so impe-
cunious as the Senator from Indiana
had been led to believe. Mr.. Beck
said that if the Senator desired an
investigation of the action of the
liquor dealers, or the national
banks, or the Bessemer steel ma
kers, or any other great interest in
connection with either party, he
would vote for it as separate prop
osition, but he did not wish to see
that question used to avoid the in
vestigatiOn he proposed. If that
should be ordered he
would make the proof so strong of
the outrages inflicted upon govern
ment employees that the system of
political assessments would be made
odious even to the other side. 1t
could be shown that men and wo-
men had been ousted from their
places in the Departments whose
failure to contribute was due to
absolute inability, and that in
some instances Democratic friends
had given them money to pay these
assessments, so that they might be
saved from starvation. Mr.. Hale's
charges makes the saloon-keepers a
more timid and simple sort of folks
than they have heretofore been sup
posed to be. And, to give his "you-
are-anOther" argument any point,
he would have to show that the sa-
loon-keepers held their saloons by
favor of the Democratic Campaign
and could be assessed
and discharged like a government
clerk. 1t is known that hundreds of
thousands-it may be Millions of
dollars were raised by the Republi-
cans in 1880, from the corporations
that have fattened on the legislative
favors of the Republican party 1t
is known that $4OO, 900 was used by
Dorsey, of the Star Route infamy,
to buy single State for Garfield.
Mr.. Hale might be informed that
the present President, by his after
dinner reference to Dorsey and
"soap," admitted more than Mr..
Hale denies.
President Arthur is to all appear
ances the least discounted man in
the party, he is the picture of
" boundless self-cOntent. " The
in November did not
excite him in the least. Last Tues
day he gave a dinner to Governor
elect Butler, of Massachusetts. Mr..
Arthur has always had a fOndness
for General Butler, and the little
dinner party was pleasant one.
Later in the evening the President,
in faultless dress suit with white
tie and lilac gloves, accompanied
by his son and daughter, was in
box at the National Theatre watch
ing Madame Modjeska in tights as
Rosalind. The President seemed
to be anxious that his little daugh-
ter should understand the play, and
she appeared to make brave effort
to do so, but was evidently much
by Rosalind's assumed
character and masculine garb.
Washington, Dec. II, 1882.
THE Jacksonian, published at
Jackson, Tenn, after suspending
for a week or two, has again made