The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1882-03-23
WASHINGTON LETTER.

WASHINGTON LETTER.
From our Regular Correspondent.
WASHINGTON, D. C., 4
~ March, 20, 1882.
With the passage of the anti. Chi
nese bill and the anti polygamy bill
two very important and exceedingly
troublesome questions take tliemsel,
yes out of the way, for a time at least,
SO far as Congress is concerned. The
Chinese bill was really a Democratic
measure, and had the support ofnear-
ly every Democratic Senator and
Representative, though one of the
most effective speeches in its favor
was made by a Republican Senator,
Jones, of Nevada. Difficult as the
question is to deal with, there is no
doubt that the present measure is ap-
proved by a vast majority of the
American people, and that it con
tains no real infraction of the spirit
of our institutions. 1t is certainly
hard to reconcile the position of
those ultra protection SITS who insist
upon a high tariff to "proteet Amer
lean labor and still vote to admit to
cur shores swarms of Chinese who
are tile most skilful and cunning of
all laborers. But as Mr.. Jones put
it. at is not the American laborer
but the lerdly manufacturing cepi-
talistH who is be protected as against
the European capitalist, and who is
to sell everything he has to sell in
an American market where other
capitalists are driven out from com
Epetitien with him, while he buys that
which he has to buy-the labor of
men-inflthe open market, and de-
mands for himself the broadcast free
trader Thelaborer, however, is com
PEELED to buy from his capitalist EN-
ployer in asprotective market"
On the auti-polygamy bill the Dem
ocrats were placed in q somewhat
false positions, for while they appear
ed to be fighting the bill they were
almostjto aeman heartily opposedtc
Mormonism, but fighting for certain
underlying principles which the bill
as it stood; seemed to violate. There
Twas no question on either side of the
House about the propriety ola bill
for crushing out polygamy. The on
lily Question was whether the bill as
5passed by the Senate, would accom-
plish that object, and whethercertair
provisions of this bill did not pro
vide n remedy which which wa!
worse then the disease. Many Dem
ocrats thought that the precedent 0
interfering with the right of suffrage
at the polls, when the voter had no
been tried and convicted of anycrime
was so dangerous that they could no
4hring Ith'
nIea.ure. Among these Democrat
were Belmont and Hewitt, of New
York, and a number of others equal
ly prominent. Bit they all stool
ready TO vote for any measure which
would effect the fundamental rights
Of citizens in olher parts of the coun
try. The majority of them did final
ly- vote for this one rather than b
misrcpresented on the question.
The Garfield Chase letter is still
discussed here, and there has BEEF
considerable difference, of opinion a.
; to the motive underlying its publiea
ton at this time. 1t wasia 1t first sal,
ito be brought out in the interest @
Sen. Fitz John Porter, and then tina
the purpose was to damage Gen
| Rosecrdns chances for the Ct airman
E ship Of the Democratic Compression
al Committee, but these theories wer
i too far fetched, and lacked the frs
. element of probability. Further cor
sidcration led to a more general cor
3 clusion that some other and deepe
, object must have been at the bottor
of the matter. The letter was mark
ed confidential, was Of the most pr
vate and per, onal character, andmus
t have been among the papers Of tn
Chief Justice Chase, which came ir
to the. possession of his eldest dsugl
, ter, Mrs. Sprague. When this ide
got started everybody said, SO
+ Mrs. Sprague must have given tn
letter to Conkling" And the publ
e cation vas unquestionaby for tn
purpose of throwing odium on til
memory of its dead writer, for who:
character ex Senator Roscoe ente
tains what he believes to be a loft
g contempt. He wants to pursue vel
s gence beyond the grave, partly ft
l. self-vindication and partly in tt
, hope of inficting some injury On Ga
fields political friends and exec
tors" This theory is not much di
= turbed by the admission of Mr.. Jact
IS Schuckers thai be gave out the lie
II ter. He WAS once a friend of Jud:
:. Chase, a clerk in the Treasury hei
>, and is reported to be identified wi
Conkling's friends in New York
IS But whatever the truth of this N:
II be, if the motive which led to &
20 publication was to blot the memo
of Garfield and to advantage his pr
. Eitical enemies, the indications a
that the shot will fall far short
Of the mark. Garfield's course as Pre-
IS ident and the pathetic manner of
10 death endeared him to the people
=, this country and cast a mantle ov
any frailties be may have possesse
The mind Of the country is settl
about him, and attempts to chan
i'll it by any such neal as this will
i'd act upon their authors, whoever tn
% are.
!, Every observer at the Capitol C
not fail to notice that there is SON
thing touching and almost awe-i
he spring in the sudden hush that ia
+ on the otherwise disorderly House
" Representatives when the venerat
p Alexander H. Stevens makes one