St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1884-03-08
WASHINGTON LETTER.
From Our Regular Correspondent.
FEBRUARY 26th, 1884.

3,heTe VIII De nOtaDIo assem- Oldge ID
the White House Shrove Tuesday even
ing. The President will hold the las
of his official receptions for the season
and Senators, Representatives, Cabine
officers, Supreme Court Justices, Army
and Navy officers have been invited tt
meet the members of the Diplomatic
corps. Heretofore the foreign lega
tiOns, in full court dress, have been tht
.cynosure of all eyes on such occasions
but recently the Navy officers appeared
in their stunning new uniform, anG
those gaily caparisoned sojourners were
,effectually eclipsed, and, it is supposed
got some new ideas about clothes. Not
withstanding the fact that the Ameri.
can Navy is without ships, as has just
been humiliatingly emphasized by the
purchase of one and gift of another
from England. for the Greely relief
Arctic expedition, this same Navy on
land is unrivaIled outside the circus
ring as thing of beauty, and realizing
this to be so. Secretary Chandler has or
,dered the officers of the Navy to present
themselves in Especial full dress" at the
Executive reception Tuesday evening.
Though Lent has begun, list of gay
-entert ailments have been arranged mp
TO Ash Wednesday eve, the brilliant so-
-cial season intending to die royalty,
crowned with flowers and full of punch.
No one who has not spent season in
Washington can have an adequate con-
ception of the garrish, excessive extrav-
agance that pervades official and social
life, and the season just closing has
never been surpassed in brilliancy, lev
fty, and dissipation. 1t is to be hoped
that our too festive statesmen and jur-
lists viii now devote more time to their
legitimate duties. Social pleasures take
up entirely too much of the time of
Congressman, Cabinet officers, Judges
of the Supreme court, and others in pub
tic and official life, whom one would
suppose TO be lifted by age and dignity
above such vanities. When members
of the Cabinet are seen drinking punch
and champagne at two o'clock in the
morning, it is not surprising that the
work in the Departments is so far in
arrears, and that those having business
with the government offices have to
wait until they grow old before they
can have their cases attended to. The
example set by those high in authority
is followed by the entire clerical force
of the government. Such saturnalia
of dancing and feasting is, to say the
least, inimical to work because it is
ruinous to health. Worn out bodies
with pale faces are seen at every turn
IA this dissipated Capital, and it is high
time public opinion should do some-
thing to stop the rout that SO seriously
interferes with public business.
The Senate continues to discuss the
financial problem, having devoted more
than a week to debate on the McPher-
son bill, involving the relation of the
funded debt to the National banking
system. Its thought favorable vote
will be reached on Tuesday, and being
a Democratic measure that it will also
pass the House. The last bill passed by
the lower House of Congress, was the
Military Academy appropriation, after
q long and entertaining, but unimpor-
&ant discussion on the good and evil
features of West Point as an education
al institution, in which quite a number
of Representatives participated. Mr.. Ell
lis favored paying the professors Of |
West Point handsome salaries because,
he said, it was the great institution of
the American people, more important
than others, and mentioned a list of |
men educated there, who, he claimed
had wreathed our flag with victories,
and far more than repaid for the money
expended on the institution. Mr.. Hol-
man, who is not addicted to unneces-
sary speech making, was melted to
make some remarks at this point. He
asked If Mr.. Ellis could not mention
multitude of names equally illustrious
ia the employments of peace-thought
the grand purpose of this Republic was
10 secure the blessings of peace and that
5iie judgment of the people would be
that Harvard, Brown, and Princeton
we're no less important than West
Point. He thought the Military Acade-
ny was at best but a precautionary Il
ale2SuFe--a point around which the ma
lion might rally in its hours of adversi- Il
" while other institutions, colleges,
md universities, and above all the