Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1884-07-31
WASHINGTON JOTTINGS.
Random Statements Of Democrat Leaders-Cost
OF Maintaining Soldiers Homes Commits
sioner Of Statistics-Memhers OF
tho Cabinet.
From our Regular correspondept.

From our Regular Correspondent
WASHINGTON, ID. c., July &c. 1884,
When Mr.. Speaker Carlisle declares his
firm conviction that Mr.. Cleveland will
carry New York, New Jersey, Connect
lieut., Indiana, Massachusetts,, Iowa, and
Wisconsin, together with all the South
ern States, and when Mr.. Holman is equ-
ally assured that Mr.. Cleveland will
walk off with Ohio and numerous other
States that have hitherto figured in the
Republican column, one naturally in
quires if there is anything at all left for
Mr.. Blainep There are those now liv-
ing who remember like predictions from
the oracular statesman of thirty years
ago, when Gen. Scott was supposed to
have been the Wing candidate for the
Presidency against Gen. Pierce. Web
ster and Clay and Fessenden and the
other great men of the Wing party of
that day, who had fought its battles and
won its victories, were in the same con-
dition of justifiable disgruntlement at
Scott's nomination, that we find Mr.
Thurman and Mr.. Hoadly and Mr.. Nc
Donald in over the nomination of Cleve-
land. Webster and Clay both died be-
fore the election, but they left their in
huence upon the voting masses to an
hot laft Int f.,.
Scott, and Boston gave Webster 5000
of her votes after he had been dead q
fortnight! Yet Scott had infinitely more
of the elements of popularity than
Cleveland, as Pierce had infinitely less
than Blaine. Scott was the hero of
Lundy's Lane and the conquerer of
Mexico, while Pierce was charged with
cowardlcc and with falling from his
horse in sheer fright at Vera Cruz. 1t
looks as if the election experiences of
1852 were to be repeated in 1884 and
that Cleveland will be about as effectu-
ally showed under because OF his great
pretensions. as Scott was because of his
intense egotism.
From report recently submitted to
the Secretary of War, it seems that the
cost to the government for the mainte-
nance of disabled and decrepit soldiers
at the different homes in the country is
1888 per annum per capita, or $50 per
month for each man! But with this ex-
travagant figure as the cost of mainte-
nance, there remains to be included the
cost of clothing and other necessaries,
which aggregate at least another 800
per year, and which brings the expense
up to an amount that would warrant
the government in distributing these
military wards of the nation among the
first-class hotels of the country in the
winter, and give the advantages of the
best summer resorts in the sultry sea-
son. 1t is too palpably evident that our
Soldiers Homes are run upon the sys-
TEN that makes our army so efficient,
to-wit: n regiment OF officers for a com
pany of privates.
The position of Commissioner of the
new Bureau of Statistics vet remains
unfulfilled, though there is manifestly
no lack of candidates. The President
had at one time made up his mind to
appoint Mr.. John Jarrett to the place,
but just as he was on the point of sign
ing his commission, some meddlesome
fellow remembered that Jarrett had
made scurrilous attack upon Mr., Ar
thur in public speech at Plttsburg,
and now Jarrett mOurns and kicks him
self for senseless and useless slip of
the tongue that is costing him $1,000
year.
Secretary Lincoln is the only Cabinet
member in Washington, the President
intending to-day to sail in the Dispatch
for visit to Newport and general
cruise along the eastern coast to last
four or five days, after which he will 90
to the Catskill Mountains to break bread
with General Sharpe. Secretary Chan
dler is also on the salt sea wave in the
Tallapoosa, having his family on board
for an eastern trip. Secretary Teller is
in Colorado at his home, where he can
get more genuine recuperation from Of
fetal vicissitudes than from lifetime
of seashore frivolity. Secretary FIRE.
linghuysen has forsaken the country
and gone to New Jersey, which state
will come back into the Union with
tremendous Republican majority next
fall. Postmaster General Gresham is
in Indiana, and Brewster, Attorney
General is at Long Branch
JUNIUS