The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1882-07-28
WASHINGTON LETTER.
From Our Regular Correspondent

The "irrepressible conflict of th'
present time is the contest between
merit and patronage in the civil ser
vice. The question bobs up serenely
every now and then in some form, ir
Congress and out of Congress, and il
is bound to cause good deal of dis
cussion and make good deal o1
trouble, to the party in power at least.
for some years to come. But it does
not need microscope, nor even a
common pair OF spectacles, to discov-
er that the present Congress will not
lie awake nights to promote civil ser
vice reform. A proposition to incor-
porate a small appropriation in the
sundry civil bill to defray the expen-
ses of the civil service commission
created by the revised statutes was
recently beaten out of sight. Men of
the George William Curtis stamp may
continue to vociferate and agitate,
but the contributions will continue to
flow in to Mr.. Hubbell's committee
Just the same, and we shall have ex-
ceedingly cold weather in August be-
fore any very pronounced reforms are
accomplished. Speaking of Jay Hub
bell reminds me of the fact that he
wants to succeed Ferry as Senator
from Michigan, and is directing his
energies to some extent in that direc-
ton. A new soldiers paper has been
established under the auspices of the
committee, indirectly, and is to be
sent gratuitously all over the West
especially to Michigan. 1t bristles
with attacks upon Ferry of a rather
mild character.
A new lot of Cabinet speculations
have broken out, and the gossips in
the hotel lobbies insist that there is
really going to be change. This
time it is the Secretary of State that
rumor says must go. The Chill Peru
business has no doubt been the sub
ject of talk in several Cabinet meet
ings, but it is not thought there has
been any such an amount or charac-
ter of discussion given it as the gos-
sips state. According TO the story,
the President has been goaded into
thinking of a change by the comments
of the Blaine Journals, who think Mr..
Frelinghuysen's policy has not been
aggressive enough. 1t is thought
that had Blaine been at the helm of
diplomatic affairs the insulting letter
recently sent our Government by
Martinez, the head of one of the little
and weak South American Republics,
would never have been written, or
that if it had, he would have received
such an answer as would have stop
ped him from offending again in that
direction. Those who are handing
about the projected Cabinet change
declare that it is the Presidents in
tention to Make Gen. Grant his pre-
mier, and that his past career is
guarantee that he will be aggressive
enough to suit even the most warlike
of the admirers of the Blaine manage
ment of foreign affairs.
One of the recreations of Washing
ton life in the summer is strolling
about the White House grounds on
Saturday afternoons during the Ma
rine band concerts. These concerts
are really very delightful, and the
grounds are very beautiful, the COM
bination sufficing to attract large
concourse nearly every Saturday. 1t
is good place to meet people and
get Whit of the cool breeze sweep
ing up from the lazy old Potomac.
When the President is at home he
usually appears with party of friends
on the rear porch, to take in the scene
and the music at distance from the
miscellaneous and Democratic throng
upon the lawn. Congressman and
Senators and prominent visitors to
the city often mingle with the listen
ers and the scene is frequently one of
great brilliancy. On recent occas-
ion group of New York men were
chatting in the shadow of grove,
just below the White House, when ex-