The Aberdeen weekly. [volume] (Aberdeen, Miss.) 1878-1933, 1882-05-12
FROM C. A. s.
WASHINGTON LETTER.

WASHINGTON, May Gas the summer ap-
proaches, the prospect of an early adjourn
ment of Congress appears to be very remote
and the opinion among those best advised
is that there will be no adjournment before
the middle of July. Politics first, business
last, and never do to-day what you can do
to morrow have been the theory and practice
of Congress for years. There is no effort
to pass appropriation bills just now, not
even an effort to hasten their passage. If
these bills should be passed, the country
would want to know why Congress should
net adjourn.
The bill referring the tariff question to
an outside committee of experts will prob
ably be passed to-day, then will come sew
eral contested election cases, the admission
of Dakota as State and the Geneva award.
After these bills have been disposed, there
will remain the appropriation bills, the Ma
val, Legislative, Deficiency and Sundry;
and these cannot be passed without much
debate and conference in joint committees
Of the Senate and the House.
Early this week, the House passed bills
for the erection of eight public buildings,
most of them post offices in different cities
of the United States. 1t will require two
millions of dollars to start these buildings,
but no man knows how much it will take
to complete them. The log rolling combi-
nation which has been made up contem-
plates the erection Of thirty-two additional
buildings, and it is thought that bills for
their erection will be passed before the end
of the present Congress. The thing to be
deplored is that these buildings will cost
the government about twice as much as
they would cost private person, but not
withstanding this, the Government will
probably not lose anything by holding the
fee simple to the offices in which govern
ment business has been transacted. An
| immense number of buildings all over the
country owned by private individuals are
now rented to the government at exhorbi-
tant rates. There is not business man in
the country who would pay rent for his
business place in excess of what would he
the interest on the money required for the
erection of building like the one so erect
ed. Yet this is the prevailing policy of the
| government. If statement were to be
called for by Congress of all the public off
ces and other buildings rented for the use
of the United States, accompanied by a
clearly proven statement of the value of the
property so leased, it would probably be
found that the money paid in rent is double
the amount that the interest would be or
the cost of construction of buildings to take
the place Of the leased property. Here in
Washington, the owners of private.property
are reaping great benefits from this unbusi.
ncss-like policy.
The Senate will soon have an investiga
ton going as well as the House. Yesterday
Senator VOORHEES, asked for committee tC
investigate charges that he had been cor
ruptly influenced to favor the House bill tc
extend the bonded period tor whskey, bu
the Senate thought his personal denial wa
quite sufficient. Senator Window, howev
er, declared that he had received informa
ton that large sums ofmoney had been cor
ruptly used to lobby the bill through Con
gress. He will to-day move an investiga
ton, which the Senate, under the circum
| stances cannot hut orflnr