The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1884-04-19
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.

From our Regular correspondent.
WASHINGTON. D. c., April Is, 1884.
The passage of the Blair educa-
tional bill by theSenate, and its pos.
sible adoption by the House without
amendment, secures to those States
that are entitled to its benefits one of
the greatest boons that our national
lawmakers have ever conferred
through the instrumentality of the
public Treasury. Themeasure is one
that will add immense strength to
the Republican party in the South,
while at the same time it has COM
PEELED support from that class of
Southern Democrats VINO see in it a
beneficeht measure in which the
whole of the benefcence is practically
bestowed upon their own constitu.
ency. 1t transpires, however, that
under that provision of the bill which
prohibits the payment of any money
to "any State or Territory that shall
not have provided by law a system
of free common schools for all Of its
children of school age, without dis
tinction of race or color either in the
raising or distributing of school reve-
nue. or in the school facilities afford
ed" quite a number of the States,
notably Georgia, Maryland, Alaba-
ma, Mississippi, Tennessee and Ar
kansas, will be deprived of any share
of the general fund, unless they i'm
mediately go about the work of
changing the statutes which have put
the negro under practical educational
ostracism in making race distinctions.
The debate in the Senate on the
naval appropriation bill has unearth-
ed some things touching the contracts
given out to John Roach for the con-
struction of the four new steel cruis-
ers, that the Democrats will not be
slow to take advantage of. The charge
that has been made that these vessels
are not built in accordance with the
contracts entered into by Roach, and
the further charge that under strict
examination by the Naval COnstruc.
tor the vessels are nothing but abso
lutte failures for the purpose for which
they were designed have not been
met, nor has attempt been made to
refute them. The Republican party
is strong organization, and it has
carried, as it doubtless will be yet
able to carry. a vast amount of politi-
cal incuoi that might as we'll he shift
ed to some other quarter. What the
relations of John Roach and Secre.
tary Chandler have been, and doubt
less still are, have been long and we'll
known to reading people, and the
efforts of Senators Frye and Hale to
sustain the propriety of these rela.
tons by praising Mr.. Chandler and
eulogizing John Roach. had better
take some other direction. The avid.
ity with which these two Senators
fly to the breach at any mention of
the name of John Roach coupled with
that of Mr.. Chandler, has a decided
tendency to create suspicion that all
is not right with the Navy Depart
ment, The Republican party has
some things that 1t must unload, and
this John Roach and Chandler BUSH
ness is one of them.
A proposition to appropriate mon
ey to build one of the many public
buildings called for by the appro-
priation bill, gave Mr.. Randall an
opportunity to tell the House the
other day about the consistent record
of the Democratic party upon this
matter of appropriations, as upon all
other national questions. Well, let
US just see in what this consistency
consists. In 1882, when Jackson was
a'Presidential candidate for the Sec
ond term, the Democratic party de-
clared for internal Improvements UNI
der the constitutional power of the