The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1886-04-15
Washington Letter.
WASHINGTON, April 9, Is

n
are now engaged in preparing the
Congressional seed supply, in the an
mex of the Agricultural Department.
AS there are four hundred and nine
Senators and Representatives. the seed
division of this institution is busy
place at certain seasons of the year.
Each legislator is to have six thousand
paper packages of vegetable seed, five
hundred of flower seeds, three hundred
of tobacco, twenty quarts of sorghum,
twenty of corn, fifty of grass, twenty
eight quarts of sugar beet and thirty
two quarts of cotton seed. If put up
in one order each members allowance
would fill eight large mail sacks. The
seed distributed by members Of Con-
gress comprise about two thirds Of the
whole amount disposed of by the Ag-
ricultural Department.. The remain
ing third goes to persons in various
parts of the country, who act a. agents
of the department, but receive no com.
pensation. The force of the seed di.
vision is required to receive, assort,
pack, label and prepare the packages
for the mail sacks, in which they are
hauled from the department. The pa
per bags or pockets are cut and made
in one end of the large room where
the seeds are packed. The printing
upon them is executed Is the printing
office of the department.. The labor is
divided and subdivided, SO as to facil-
itate the work as much as possible.
One lady who has pan of seeds be.
fore her, and tiny measure, fills the
bag or pocket; her neighbor pastes
down the flap of the bag. At another
table the department frank is put on,
and so on until the package is finally
placed in the mail sack. All of this
work is carried on in q most system
attic manner, with little noise and no
confusion.
The country expects from the pres
ent administration not only pure dem-
ocracy, but pure and good seed. Ag-
ricultural department seeds have been
in the past sort of by.word among
jokers. The complaints received at
the department., to some extent justi-
fed these jokers. The department has
always been large purchaser of seeds
for distribution, and it is believed, has
sometimes had imposed upon 1t sup
plies which the seedmen would not
sell to private customer. After the
seeds have been distributed by the de-
partment, the seed man knows il the
seeds prove worthless it is not likely
ever to be traced back to his establish.
ment. The seed division now makes
it rule to send out no seed that it
cannot vouch for. When an Ameri-
can citizen receives seed hereafter it
will come to him guaranteed by the
administration to germinate under
proper conditions. OF course every
seed of the millions which each Con-
gresham is entitled to is not separate
ly tested and vouched for, but samples
are taken from every lot of seed re-
ceived, and if they do not show good
percentage, the lot is rejected.
The defeat by the Senate Of the Lo-
gan scheme to increase the Army, and
the passage of half dozen bills by the
House, among them one to pension
the Mexican veterans, and another for
the erection of a Congressional library
mark the present week in Congress as
one of the most industrious of the ses-
sion. Nor should the Washington
monument sensation be omitted from
the weeks record. A stain on the sur.
face of the pure white marble was
supposed to be crack in the masonry
from the settling of the ground, and it
was feared the imposing structure was
going to topple over. People in differ
ent parts of the city were scrutinizing
these supposed cracks with their opera
glasses, They proved to be emily streaks
of dust washed down from the joints
by recent rains. The joints are som e.
what open and dust easily accumulates
in them.
The bill for pensioning the soldiers
and sailors of the Mexican war is said
to be entirely satisfactory to the sur
vivors of that conflict, and the rejec-
ton by the Senate of his plea for more
soldiers was severe blow to Senator
Logan. 1t was his pet measure, and
he stood up for it so sggressively as to
provoke unpleasant personal contro-
versy. Every Democratic Senator op-
posed it. Senator VanWyok gave it a
stab by charging that an increased
Army would be used by Capital against
Labor, and Senator Conger took occa-
sion during the debate to make vio-
lent and malicious wave of the bloody
shiry. This was expected, however,
when the narrOw-mindsd, partisan
Senator from Michigan obtained the
floor. He INDUCES in irrelevant shirt
talk whenever an opportunity offers,
regardless of time or place.