The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1882-04-21

from our Regular Correspondent
Washington, D. c., April 4.
There was great jam to-day at
the court room to witness the legal
encounter over the Star route indict-
ments. The prosecution was repre-
sen,ed by Attorney General Brews-
ter, George Bliss, Hon. r. T. Mer-
rick and Mr.. Ker, of Philadelphia,
who drew the indictments. Colonel
Bob Ingersoll appeared as counsel for
ex-senator Dorsey, and Judge Shella-
barger and jeff Chandler appeared
for Mr.. Brady. The points TO be
argued and decided were numerous.
Colonel ngersoll enumerated twenty
four, to him, "good and sufficient
reasons" why the Indictment against
Dorsey should lie qna~hed. In Gen.
Brady's case the number was slightly
less. The motion to quash was in
the form uf a demurrer to the indict-
ments, among the reasons given be-
ing the followIng: First, that n"
crime is stated; second, that the
courts cannot supervise a purely ex-
ecutive act, or inquire into the regu-
larity or propriety of the acts done
by the executive department of the
government; third, that tie law re-
auires the Postmaster-General to re-
port all the reasons which controlled
him in increasing the service on the
involved rautes to Congress, which
he did-his action being approved by
Congress. which appropriated the
money required to sustain IL; fourth,
tha, the Postmaster-General himself,
and not his first or second assistant or
anybody else, performed the acts
complained of. 1t Is held by the op-
ponents of the Colonel's theory that
those who are in Jail are better off
there, and should remain without in
qu,ring as to the manner Of their ell
trance.
The week ip Congress has been re-
markabie for some real deoating on
the tariff question, and the end is not
yet. Up to the present time the mos,
notable speeches on the subject have
been made by Kasson, Carlisle, Dun
nell and Hewett. Other speeches
will be made, ana the thoroughness
with which some members are pre-
pairing themselves for debate indi-
Gates belief ON their part that the
tariff que stion is no dead Issue.
We have an enormous revenue,
and the public treasury lis actually
stopping over. There is dispcsi-
tion to spend this money, and every
member and Senator is trying to
defect the golden overflow into his
district or State. Bills have been
introduced appropriating over seven
teen million dollars for the purpose
of erecting buildings, custom houses.
and post Offices in ,ins'gnitican,
towns. A town in Florida wants
the United States to build a postoffic.
woeth quarter of a million dollars
The entire State OF Nevada has no'
a population equal to that of Wash
ington city, but it has a town de-
manding, through two Senators and
representative, postoffice wort:
a hundred thousand dollars. Othe
little cities and towns in forty state
aad territories are making the mos
exhorbitant requests for grants from
the public treasury. The interest
of this great country are continual,
demanding the appropriation 0
large sulns of money for improve
ments for the benefit of the countr,
at large, and it is OF the utmost I'M
portance that the pnblic treasur
should not be squandered to graft,
the vanity or the greed of small con
munities.