The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1885-11-13
WASHINGTON LETTER.
(FRoM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
WASHINGTON. Oct. 26. 1855.

vice reform has been thrown away
The victim, i'll this instance, is Assis-
tant-Secretary Coon. He has been
recognized as the active, working chief
Of the Treasury department under sew
eral heads, and no man has ever held
the position who has evlnced more fl
deity in the discharge of his duties.
When the change of administration
occurred, Mr.. Coon went to Secretary
Manning frankly, and proposed to re-
sign his place, saying that he had al
ways been IA Republican and always
expected to be one. Theinexperienced
Mr.. Manning especially requested Mr..
Coon to remain, assuring him that he
would be of the greatest service, and
that his remaining would be considered
in the light OF ii favor.
Mr. Coon's re5ention in office has
been one great source of the confidence
the Civil Service Reforrners continue to
profess in the sincerity Of the Cleveland
administration. They pointed to his
case as resembling that of the Under
Secretaries in the English Government
who remain chrough ali changes os Cab
met heads.
Thus the party abandons it's Civil
Service hypocrisy. Mr.. Coon goes,
not from any dissatisfaction with any
official act, but because Mr.. Cleveland
wants Democrats around him, and be-
cause Mr.. Coon's services are not quite
as Indispensable now us they were to
the raw men who took charge of the
government eight months ago.
The ideal Democratic President is d
dispenser of public p!unle as the PEI
sonaI perqniaites OF politicians. 1t
would be i'm possible to eircate the
average Democrat mp to tina. lef, rm
i. theory which the Democratic party
prOfessed last year in order to get the
Jew hundred boltin9 Republican votes,
which saved it from defeat. They
hunger for the flesh pots, and have pro
found contempt for any theory of re
form that does not hinge on spoiIs.
General Rosecrans, the registrar OF
the Treasury, has uccee~led in getting
his Office into a miserable tangle. Work
can scarcely so on there by reason OF
the removal of efficient Repah!icau
subordinates, and the appointment Of
incompetent Democrats to their places.
Again, history repeats itself. AS d
military commander in Tennessee, it
will he remembered, Gen. Rosecrans
got his army into similar fix, and had
to be displaced
Senator Sherman stopped in Wash
ington on his way to Virginia, where
he is going to add a few last touches to
the campaign. He was serenaded at
the Ebb:tt House by some of his many
friends in Washington.
Tle Postmaster-Ge has gone to
Wisconsin to attend the funeral Of his
sister. secretary Whitney has gone to
New York to register. Secretary Bay
ard has been acting host to DR. Curry
during the week, and the latteris max
ing arrangements to sail for Spain on
his recently appointed mission. Secre
tary Manning is studying hard in or
der that lie may, when Congress meets,
be able to answer some of the questions
which will be propounded by the astute
financial students, who compose tile
Senate Finance Committee. The way
he carries himself before the committee
will have much to do with his future
standing. The duties of the Secretary
of the Treasury are probably more ex-
acting than those of any other Cabinet
position, and the interest to see how
Mr.. Manning will deport himself this
winter is not surprising.
The Capitol is already being put in
readiness for Congress, which meets In
six weeks. The comfort of those who
serve their country in both ends of the
building is to be more closely attended
to at the next session than heretofore.
| Both the Senate and the House will
have new carpets. The cloak rooms,
those indispensable accessories to legis-
lation, where Congressman gather,
smoke, joke, and otherwise entertain
each other, are being newly frescoed
and furnished. An additional softness
and sans souci touch, as it were, is be-
ing given to the lounges that lurk in