Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1884-03-06

WASHINGTON MATTERS.
Mexican War Pensioners-Copiah Oatrages-
L. N. neutrality-suspicious. Democrats.

/ L.
Mexican War Pensioners-Copiah Oatrases-Hon.
L. N. MISREPRESENTATION Democrats.
WASHINGTON, ID. G.. March l, 1884 -
The House has at last got down to some
of the old-time excitment and an all
night sitting, with the Sergeant at
Arms securing the city for absentees,
who struggled in one after another until
six o'clock In the morning. Divers and
suHdry were the excuses of the recall
citrant members, who were arraigned
like SO many truant school boys in front
OF the Speakers desk on Monday night
and Tuesday morning, and as they were
one after another excused on motion oil
some merciful member, they SUNK away
to their seats with apparently a deep
seated determination to come up with
somebody tor hauling them cut of com
Portable bed upon such an uncomfort-
able night. The special occasion of all
this turmoil was the resolution to fix 8
date to consider the bill for pensioning
the veterans of the Mexican war, to
which the committee had added the
Creek, Seminole, and numerous other
petty disturbances that were not at all
relevant to the business in hand. The
Republicans were determined to fight
against this unwarranted attachment
to the bill, and so with but handful OF
members under his lead, Mr.. Hiscock
kept the friends and promoters of the
obnoxious measure at bay for a whole
night. By sheer force of numbers the
Democrats passed the resolution on
Tuesday morning, which indicates the
passage of the bill so far as the House is
concerned. Whether it will successfully
run the gauntlet of the Senate and Ex-
cutive is further along.
''Dey whipped me almost to death, and
tux to de woods and laid dar for two
weeks. because | dasn' go home," was
the evidence of Handy Father before
the Senate Investigating Committee
upon the Copiah outrages. And Mr.
Salisbury was there to hear this and
much more of the same sort Of testi4
mony, developing the political way oil
doing thingsin Mississippi. Here were
witnesses after witnesses. notwith-
standing that they were being terrorized
over by the instigators of these outrages
coming forward and givingtheir unshsak.
en- testimony as to tire fact of these muir
ders whippings, burnings, and other at
rocities committed in the name of Demo
cracy. George Hamilton the Democratic
clerk of the election, repeated to Senator
Salisbury the story of the murder of
Mathews, who, while casting his vote,
was fired upon and instantly killed by
one Wheeler, who fired two chages OF
buckshot into him at a range of eighteen
feet. This deliberate murder, com.
mitted in the presence of n dozen PEG.
pie, who never enquired into, because
nobody dared to enter upon such in.
quiry. and Wheeler was never even ar.
rested for his crime. Verify the South
ern outrage business as portrayed by
these witnesses, is a picture that has
never been overdrawn, nor has the hall
of its history ever been told.
Hon. f. M. Marble, cx-Commissioner
OF Patents, who recently resigned to
enter upon the practice Of his profes.
sion here, has found plenty to do, and
is looking more hale and hearty thar
when presiding over that vexatious de.
partment, the Patent Office. He thinks
with many others that the Government
fees for letters patent might well be re-
duced, and that instead of earning q
large surplus from the tax upon indus
try and genius, the office should sim
ply be self sustaining. There are other
reforms which Mr.. Marble would have
been glad to inaugurate had he re-
manned in the office. One of these, the
compiling of complete descriptive di
gest of all the patents issued from the
founding of the office, he did have
begun, by the consent of Congress; and
a very valuable and convenient work il
would have been, to the public and the
department. but so much opposition
was made by parties interested in keep
ing the Office in its present state, that
Congress was induced to withhold the
necessary appropriation for carrying on
the work. In n few years at most, the
department will advance to Mr. Marble s
views on all these points. Meanwhile,
his long connection with it, both as law
officer and Commissioner of Patents,
enables him to render valuable service
to those who consult him. 1t is wonder
full how rapidly the business of the office
increases and what complications grow
out of il. just now there is among
many other contests n hot battle over
the different telephone patents. The
Bell Company have had practically a
monopoly so far, but it is question
whether other claimants will not be able
to show priority.
There were several reasons why Gin
cinnati was not chosen rs the place for
| holding the Democratic National Con-
vention, but perhaps no one of them
was stronger than an unwillingness to
come under the influence of the En-
quirer. All decent Democrats have a
wholesome contempt for that sheet and
the methods of its proprietors, and
many of them remember to their sor-
row its course while the last convention
was in session there. Some of the
delegations here from cities desiring to
secure the convention were really repre-
sentative Democrats. For instance.
there was the notorious Mike Mcdonald
and his gang. from Chicago. Respect
able Democrats must take great pride
in rejecting that, while John Kelly con-
trolls the party in New York, McDonsld
and lot of gamblers from Chicago
represent the Western end before the
National Committee. There is nothing
ike tone. JUNIUs.