The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1882-12-15
oUR PHILApELPHIA LETTER.

THE FIRST blizzard OF WINTER, WITH
WINTER REFLECTIONS, AND A BRIEF
NOTICE OF CHEFS NEssAGE-THE
IORDLY BOB ToNfBs AND HIS TRAITS
OF CHARACTER-DEAD OFFICIALS,
AND THE USE THEY SHOULD BE PUT
TO, ETC, ETC.
PHILADELPHIA, DEC. II, 1882.
DEAR MCPIKE-A regular blizzard
bounced down upon US on Tuesday night
last and has kept bliZzarding us ever
since. Well, let it blizzard, but while
it keeps bljzzarding let us not forget the
poor. BLESSED is he that considereth
the poor Winter is at hand, and to
many it is bleak and bitter one. But
the bleaker and bitterer it is the better
opportunities it affords those who have
the grace to bear it the privilege Of con-
sidering the poor. The cares of to-mor-
row be lightened by the cares of to-day.
Let all remember the heatitude, "Bless-
ed is he who considereth the poor. y
There are many who need to be consid-
cred within the sound Of every church
bell, and there are many who could not
do better than to so act as to claim the
beatitude as their own.
1t is an exceedingly sad reflection that
the babes of Beecher's s flock will have to
take their chances of salvation through
tized fourteen infants in Plymouth
church, making one job of it, and then
announced that it would be the last lot
he would baptize until the return of
warm weather in May or June next
Let us hope that none OF the babes of
Beecher's flock will die in the mean
time
AS every correspondent has something
to say about the President S message, I
will perform my duty in that work by
briefly saying: There is no subsidy
schemes running between its liues, and
no public or private jobs lurking behind
its paragraphs. From beginning to end
there is not line upon which dishonest
hopes could be built. The whole mes
sage is in the interest of honest and
economical government. Bully for
"Chet.'' ..
.ew GENERAL ROBERT TOOMBs.
see that General Robert Toombs mas
been in Washington, and fell into the
hands o. interviewers. BY one he is
quoted as saying, "The mission of the
Democratic party is to work for the
good of the nation to work for the ma
ti0nal welfare, and let special. interests
take care of themselves. - There is a
world of meaning in that simple SEN
tionalize itself, and Southern Democrats
must learn that the country has grown
little since 1860, and consequently re-
quires broader craftsmanship to run it.
Bob. ToOmbs is man after my own
| heart. While he despises an enemy he
cherishes a friend. General Toombs is
brave, nagnanimous and generous to a
fault, and, unlike almost every other
politician, he has never had the least
ambition for money or prominence in
political life. He is perhaps the only
American in the Union without a coun-
| try. While all other SOutherners re-
newed their allegiance to the Union,
/ Toombs remained implicable and def
ant I; yet he is to-day one of its most de-
/ voted, earnest, honest friends.
When General Toombs refused an i'm
poTtant position in the Confederate SER
/ vice and was told that there were few
men had chance to take such a posi-
/ tiOn, his reply was Eyes, and ID
sight fewer who would refuse" 4" Gen.
/ TOombs is very remarkable man. He
| is III many respects the most remarkable
man the South ever produced. He is
! kingly in all mis- ways. His whole pri-
/ vate and political life is unequalled foI
! nobleness and brilliancy.
DEAD OFFICIALS.
! Some steps should at once be taken tC
/ modify the formaities over dead Off
cials. With the increasing number OF
! Senators aud Representatives with the
! fast and furious life at the Federal Cap.
tai, and with the spreading malaria
/ which makes its atmosphere unwhole
some, some philosophical method should
be applied to the obituary necessities of
/ Congress. Let the philosOphic sugges-
tion of old Ben. Franklin be introduced
in Congress in the disposal of its mortu.
/ aTy business. Ben. suggested the pro.
pTiety of saying grace over a whole bar.
rel of pork once for all, instead of say.
ing it over every fry. Let Congress fix
a day near the close of the session foI
the especial purpose of paying funeral
respects to dead members Like saying
grace over a whole barrel of pork, they
can at the same time pay funeral respect
to all their dead fellow officials. If Seu
ators and Congressman die iE ofIicewith
out reference to ii me or to the urgency
| of public business, new rule of Con
gress should be adopted for the prompt
disposal of its mortuaTy business. There
has already been several deaths of mem
bers elect of the next Congress, anC
there doubtless will be others before tht
erd of its first session. so let it prepar,
for saying grace over all of them at ont
and the same time.
Official funeral ostentation has degen
Grated into junketing frolic and, in ex
pensivenesS, to the entombment of
grandee. IL the study of anatomy is
necessity, 1 suggest to have the subject
for dissection limited to officials dying
in office. In that way they can b
made useful after death, and their cor
ruption woald not be greater than il
life The knife of the surgeon is pre-
ferable TO the rot of the grave. An
decent member of Congress viii prefe
the dissecting table TO that horIibl
Congressional burying ground.
SMALL FAvoRs THANKFULLY RE
CEIVED.
Small favors are to be thankfully re
ceived, and the Tariff Commission re
port. recommending a general reductio
of 20 per cent. in the tariff, is a sma
favor which is very thankfully received
1t does seem now as if it were not posi-
BILE to stop tariff reform. This propose
= reduction by the Commission, howeve
, gratefully received, is a surprise to th
country, for the reason that the peopl
know that the Commission was not o.
: ganized to make such report, aid tina
; its verdict is due to the late elections.
OUR COMING LEGISLATURE.
Democratic papers are already stupir
: " trying to raise a sectional issue in tf
, 1 Democratic ranks over the Speakershl
! of the next House of Representative
5 Let us hope the House will not be O
= ganized this winter as it was in 1877
~ ~ 81 I~sv 1a.