Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1884-01-24
WASHINGTON LETTER.
Cabinet Day and Its Social Usages--work Of Con-
gress-Mr. Belford's Ire Aroused BY the Re-
port on the Hennepin Canal Improve.
ment,-Legisative Jottings.
From our Special Correspondent.

Among the Social "reminiscences With
which Washington vet regales itself is
cabinet Day." day upon which all
the fuss and feathers of the Capital s
best society are admitted to the resi-
dences of the heads OF departments.
and pay formal devoirs to the wives and
families of those whose influence is a
necessity in the general dispensation of
public patronage. Whether the p. p.
had anything to do with the Inaugural
ton of Cabinet day during the second
administration of Washington, is mat
ter OF conjecture, but it is known that
MIR. Hamilton, as Secretary of the
Treasury, always entertained tender
regard for his friends, and on Cabinet
day the friends who blocked his hall
way unable to gain admission to his
entertainments, were seldom denied adj
mission to his good offices in the be-
stowal of the limited patronage then at
the Secretary's disposal. The first of
these socially official, and officially So
cial, gatherings of the season took
place on Wednesday last, aud despite
the inclemency of the weather, the seal
skin sacque brigade was on in as for
midable numbers as ever. Mrs. FIRE.
linghuysen, whose repute for lavish en-
tertainments is as wide as the spheres,
surpassed all previous attempts in this
direction; for be it known she is obliged
to cater successfully on this particular
occasion to the representatives of all
the crowned heads and effete mon
arches of both Christendom and
Heathendom. Mrs. Secretary Lincoln,
aided by Miss Cullum, daughter of the
Senator, also held grand reception;
and so did Mrs. Chandler, and Mrs.
Brewster and Mrs. Teller, and the social
squad were unhappy even when the
midnight hour babe them to depart.
Congress has not got down to any
hardpan business as yet, but in the
House last Wednesday there were
strong symptoms of animation caused
by an excoriating speech from Mr.. Bel
ford, of Colorado, in which he seized
the Committee of Ways and Means by
the throat and boxed its ears fearfully.
He charged that the entire list of COM
mittees had been made subservient to
that and the Appropriations Commit
tee, so that no bill could be reported
from any other committee without the
consent of one of those committees, or
that of Mr.. Dana's Presidential candi-
date, Mr.. Holman. The origin of Mr..
Belford's ire is traced to the report of
the Mississippi River Commission upon
the Hennepin Canal improvement,
which will call for round million to
start upon and any number of millions
afterwards, though possibly there is not
in the whole appropriation levy a work
SO important to the commercial interests
of the Northwest Mr.. Bedford carried
his point in having the matter referred
to the River and Harbor Committee.
Beside the bills already introduced
looking to the pensioning of everybody
who has ever done any fighting for his
country from the Revolution down, we
have here Mr. Voorhees, in the Senate
with a bill that will make increased
havoc with our Treasury surplus. 1t is
a bill to equalize the bounties of soldiers
who served in the Union army in the late
war. 1t is the identical bill that was
passed by the Forty-Third Congress,
and Mr. Grant, exercising his talents as
a mathematician, discovered that the
equalization business would result in the
effectual demo ralization of the Treasury,
and so he put the Executive veto upon it.
OF course every possible motive but pat
riotism can be charged up against a
Democrat for introducing bill of this
character, but | am inclined to think
that Mr.. Voorhees, is sincere in his be-
lief that the country ought to pay her
honest debts now that she has got The
money on hand to do it with The only
serious difficulty to be encountered in
the executing of this equaliz alton law is
the utter impossibility to guard against
the frauds which will as surely result
from this attempt to do justice by the
soldier as they resulted form the arrears
bill, which has filled the public archives
with perjured affidavits that may be
measured by the cord.
The Senate already largely made up
of millionaires gains another when Mr.
Payne takes the seat of Gentleman
George who retires on account of civil
service reform. 1t is a good place to
say that the bulk of the Democracy in
Congress or out don't care a sumarkee
whether it is voted up or down, out or
in, while the Republicans have control
of the steering apparatus of this Govern
ment. But when they once get hold of
the helm it is safe to predict that the life
of any civil service reform measure that
stands in the way of rotating the Repub-
licans out and the Democrats in will
not be worth groat. Meantime, the
Civil Service Commission have about
completed the report of the laws work
inrs since it went into last July, but it
must be so meagre in its record of so
short an experience that it will hardly
be of much value, except for the recon-
mendations it contains for amending the
law, and to these the present Congress
may or may not pay any attention.
JUNIUs.
Lengthen;ng Short Women.
The London World tells of a new
continuance for making ladies taller.
The woman who is to undergo this pro-
cess is encased in very tight corset,
and her feet are placed in shoes weight
ed with fifty pounds of lead each. She
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