Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1884-05-16
WASHINGTON LETTER.
Irrom onr Recnlltc rtcenondcnl.l


trrcm Our Reculrr rfcepondcntl
WAsHINGToa. May 10, 1884. !.
II tie Swain court Of inquiry now III
session here should conclude TO dig down
10 the true inwardncss OF some matters
tvuching the conduct vi "Gutfcld's bosom
friend" as Swain calls himself, there
would be some rich developments. II
would show tlat The Judge Advocate Gen.
eral Of the United States Army got his
posilion through the grossest aud most
-humeiul disregard Of both army regnla.
lions aud common decency. II would
show tlmt through iavorilsm he got
squeezed into M admission to the bar
without the usual examination, as he had
never studied law aud could not tell the
difference between bill in chancery and
bond Of indemnity. TO carry out III s
favoritis,n SWAIN was promoted over the
heads oil several who were in line OF pro.
motion and who were infinitely superior
to him IN every military and civic qnalif-
cation. He has been a pet with sort oil
military coieiie here who are under obli--
cations TO him for small pecuniary FIVE
per. cent. a. month favors, and these are the
friends who are TO stand by him in his
contest with the War Department, and ]
a,n willing TO wager good deal Of wealth
that lie will come out of court as com
pletely covered with whitewnsh, rs any
other of the tried but unpunished knoves.
IA wrote the prediction last week that
the Kellogg trial would be farce, write
the fulfllment of the prediction now, on y
to say that the inrce il great deal broader
one than had any light to predict. That
there was preconcerted arrangement 10
let Kellogg go scot free, is amply demon
strateJ by the fact that Kerr who drew the
indictment purposely left breaches in it
large enough o drive through aconcl, and
four. With the drafts before him ihao
had been paid to Kellogg for his official
influence, he charged IN each OF the sever
al counts that Kellogg had been paid and
had received "lawful money of the United
States" Of course the testimony did not
bear out the allegation, and Of course an
ncquittal followed. Having thus been
thoroughly vindicaied by technicaliiies in
the legal proceedings, deeply concerned
public will be anxious to know what sort
of n viediculion is awaiting Kellogg at the
hands Of the Springer committee.
Thus FAR but 6ily-eight set speeches
have been msde upon the Morrison tariff
bill, but the most of them nre so enter ain.
ing that they will doubtless b. repeated
in this Congress, as they already have
been repeated in Congresses of the past.
The finger marks of Clay and Webster, OF
Calhoun and Benton, OF Stephens and
DAVIS and the lesser lights of the past, are
plainly discernible in these later evening
uraioricn efforts. Each speech is made to
bristle with statistical tables that have as
much adapability to the speech as the
speech usually has to the question under
Discussion. To show The congruity Of
things as they transpire IN the House, we
may illustrate the instance of Mr.. Cox, OF
New York, who got the f"or for speech
on the Naval Appropriation bill, but "a d
never a word about the navy in tw"
hours talk about the tariff. The reason
the omission OF any allusion TO the navy
was probably because we had no navy
worth talking about. This week will
doubtless bring about the fate OF the Nor
rison bill, whether it shall be voted up or
voted down or rsmodelIed entirely.
The Reporter, journal devoted 10 the
interests OF settlers on the public lands,
goes for the land-grabbers out West in the
following strain, which, in view of the
magnitude of the evils of which 1t COM
plains, ought TO be reproduced:
"When the constituted authorities of n
Government of ffty-ive millions of people
openly confess their inability to restrain n
gang Of squatters and cowboys from fenc-
ing in the public lands, what wonder is it
that England aud other nations abroad are
encouraged to send their adventurers here
TO occupy whole counties OF our domain at
will? And what could be more absurd
than the attempt to get these land thieves
dI-possessed by bill in equity? Is this
the remedy invoked by private person
when his lands are trespassed upon with.
out color Of right? and would il be the
remedy that u private individual would
naturally seek against the depredations OF
burglar or sneak thief? And why is the
position OF the Government in such cases
different from that OF the citizens? But to
add TO the many humilialions that the
Government suffers fr I'm these depreda
tors, we have official information that the
mails are Gbstructed and the carriers COM
PEELED to 90 many miles out of their way
because these thieves will not permit them
to cross The lands belonging to the public
Is il possible that nation whose obiiga-
| tions to the settler have taken the form OF
solemn Congressional enactment, is power.
less to keep it's public lands from falling
into the hands of an organized gang o
wealthy spoliators whose hired minioni
stand in armed defiance Of the law 2"
DON PEDRO.