New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1885-12-16

WASHINGTON LETTER.

WAsHINGT0NLETTER
Washington, Dec. 10th, 1885,
The city is full of people. and the
long session of the Forty Ninth Con.
gress has begun. Probably no Con
.gress ever opened more quietly and
with less excitement than this. As usu.
al there were crowds of people at the
Capitol to see Congress meet. As usu.
al at the beginning of new session
there were many new faces on the fool
of the house, and the old time hustle,
confusion and noise. Old members
greeted each other familiarly, new mem
bers were introduced, and there was
an interchange of congratulations dur.
ing the hour preceding noon. The old
House officers were reelected. except
the Chaplain, Rev. Mr.. Lindsay. This
place was given to Mr.. Milburn, the
blind preacher of Chicago. Represen-
tative Reed, of Maine, was honored
with the complimentary vote Of the Re.
publicans for Speaker. This makes
MIR. Reed virtually the leader of the
minority. He is considered the ablest
man in the House on quick retort. He
is very strong also in attacking and an
swering the opposite party in debate.
And indeed most of the debating abili-
ty in the House is on the Republican
side.
The Forty-Ninth is the first Demo-
cratic Congress to meet under q Demo.
cratic Administration since the days Of
ex.President Buchanan. The country
will be watchful to see how much the
party has learned since treason shout
ed in the Capitol and plotted in the
Cabinet.
Twenty six years have passed away,
thirteen Congresses have come and
twelve have gone since, on the first
Monday in December, 1859, James
Buchanan, the last Democratic prede-
cessor of President Cleveland. sent his
annual message to Congress.
Some of the Senators and representa-.
tives who are assembled at the Capitol
to-day were there on the first Monday
in December, 1859. If they will cast
their eyes over this beautiful city, re-
calling what it was then and noting
what it is now, they will have gauge
by which to measure the change
wrought in the nation during those
twenty-six years.
Every measure of public policy
which has contributed to the magnii.
cent advancement of the country in all
these years has been a Republican
measure, and has been carried against
the united and unrelenting opposition
of the Democracy.
There is much preparation for the
financial battle to be fought this win
ter. Hon. Manton Marble is still cor
responding with members of Congress
and cndeavoring in every way to
put before them facts and figures, upon
which arguments on the silver question
hinge. It is claimed that the basis Of
financial legislation will be more clear
" defined, understood, and discussed
than ever before.
The Hoar succession bill, or some.
thing closely resembling it, is likely c
be brought forward early, and there
are no indications that the Republicans
will offer any opposition to it. During
the last session the Senate secured the
adoption of the plan to make Cabinet
officers the successors of the President
and Vice President in case Of the death,
removal, or disability Of both. The
bill failed in the House by the obstruc.
tive management of a Democrat from
Connecticut, Mr.. Eaton.
The annual sale of packages which
have accumulated in the Dead Letter
Office, commenced this week. Former.
ly the sales were held every two years,
but of late the business of the office has
increased to such an extent that it has
been found necessary to hold them an.
nualy. The records of the Office show
that the number of letters received
during the past year was 4,843,099, OF
an average of 1858 for each working
day. OF this number 2,719,380 were
sent to the Office because they were I'm.
called for at the office to which they
were directed. 1858 were returned
by hotel keepers. because departed
guests to whom they were directed had
failed to leave their address. 1873, $50
were held for insufficient postage.
1897 because they contained unmail
able articles. 314,719 because of their
being illegibly addressed, while IA, 134
bore no superscription whatever. The
number Of parcels of books, merchan.
disc, clothing, needlework, &C., which
will be sold to the highest bidders
during the coming sale, will be abou
10000. A very large proportion O.
the most valuable parcels are address
ed to foreign countries, and have beer
detained because they contain dutiable
goods, or exceed the limit of size ane
weight. The proceeds of the sales ar,
deposited in the U. S. Treasury.
Another prominent Democratic ligh
has gone out. Hon. B. Gratz Brown