The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1884-07-10
WASHINGTON LETTER.
From Our Regular Correspondence
WASHINGTON, d. c.,
July Z. 1884.

July Z, 1884,
The power of Nj. Randall as a
leader was again tested in the House
on Tuesday when the Republicans
with no small number of Democrats
attempted to substitute the minority
for the majority report on the appro-
priations for Notifications and de-
fences. The report of tie minority
was an amepdpept providing for the
expenditure of some S 100000 in a
continuance fthe miserable jobbery
we have already had in the war YES
sells turned out by John Roach-a
work that has cost us 100000 OF
more, and fer which there was never
a more neutrality-suspicious. ofthe
peoples money. Mr.. Randall boldly
took this bull by the horns, showing
up the completely of Chandler and
others in the gigantic scheme to rob
the Government, and demonstrating
the folly of going on and repeating
the failures that had already cost US
so much. The House, by a vote of
LAT TO 80, took Mr.. Randall's views
of the business and rejected Mr.. Bill
Chsndler's overtures.
As / predicted some weeks ago, the
President did not dare to sign the
bill to restore Fitz John Porter to the
army. He waited until the last day
at which the bill would become q law
without his signature, and then We
toed it. While he had the Senate
and House and q good part of the
Cabinet to sustain him in signing
the bill, there was the more potent
political influences of which the Re
publican party stands in most dread,
the Grand Army cabal, thousands of
whom have sent in remonstrances CT
the most exasperating character
against the Presidents approval of
the Porter bill. Therefore the end of
the Fitz John Porter business is not
yet in sight. While the House may
possibly pass the bill yer the Presi-
dents veto, it is not likely that the
Senate can, the vote standing in that
body 81 to 26, with Logan the candi-
date of the party rs its presiding
officer for the next Presidential term.
The American people seem to take
it for granted that for the summer
months at least, the President is
Justified in %abdicating his power and
leaving the Government to take care
of itself. OF all the line of Presi-
dents, from Washington down to the
nineteenth, Grant was the first chief
magistrate WHO had ever taken q
summer ~junketing. Mr.. Lincoln in
the last summer of his life slept oc-
casionally out at the Soldiers Home,
but in his four years. administration,
he never left Washington. Nor was
it particularly because cf the exist
ence of war and the supervision OF
military affairs that detained him,
because these duties could as well
have been performed from any othel
headquarters, but Mr.. Lincoln could
not establish the precedent of leav.
ing the Capital and the duties of his
high position, simply because of the
climate and its malarious accompa-
niments. Yet the Washington of to-
day is infinitely more healthful than
it was then, and the neurology ofthe
White House shows but two Presi
Dental demises-that of Harrison
who "a killed, not by malaria blu;
by the office-huntcrs, andLthat ot
tFnyfor who ate too heartily Of ice
cream that was favored with the
same villainous vanilla that after
wards poisoned Mr.. Buchanan and
Others at the National Hotel, and is
now Strengthening the youth and
beauty of our land.
From this standpoint it looks to
day as if Governor Cleveland was
about to carry everything before him
in the Convention at Chicago, while
to morrow the sentiment will shift
all at once over to somebody else
Barring the prominent leaders of the
party here who scout the idea, there
is an expression quite prevalent
among Democrats that Ben Butler is
going to make trouble in the Con.
vention for Cleveland and everybody
else. There are a plenty of voters,
in and out of the party, who would
like to see Butter in the executive
chair just to see what the old fellow
would do, but the experiment might
be q very hazardous one, unless his
Cabinet could be selected by him
and his patronage dispensed by
somebody else. So far as shaping
the affairs of state is concerned, Tan
inclined to think that Butler woalt
be as good as the best of our states
men, and in other things he is moi
half as bad as he is painted.
PuoNo.