The Washington critic., 1886-09-02
OIiAI,LEsrON.

Although the full extent Of the dam.
age sustained by the city of Charleston
in consequence OF the disastrous con-
vulsion Of Tuesday night, may not be
known for several days, it is already
apparent that the losses in property
alone viii ruu into hundreds Of thou
sands, If not millions, many buildings
being entirely destroyed and many
more so wrecked anl strained as TO
require rec1ustru ton.
These Immediate losses, however,
are not thc worst features OF the
catastrophe 70 will require some
Gme for tnc city TO regain
the euu-e'i" uu-ia',, impetus which
for the last lyN years has given her
ach increasing commercial promi-
nenco, attracting both capital and i'm.
migration. and foreclslng n great fu-
Are FOR South Carolina metropolis.
a sense Of insecurity. owing to the
possible recurrence of destructive phys.
icol vislmuons hitherto almost r1-
known in the uiuI States when once
Legottcu IS extremely difficult to re.
move. To bc suddenly tunsposed, as
il were, from the conditions of tenn
perate latitude to those Of the tropics,
is a calamity indeed; and though
Charleston may never again be subject
I'd to n repetition OF this weeks terri.
he experience, 1t will naturally be
long time before confidence is fully re.
stored and trade, enterprise and prog
rcss resume their accustomed channels.
But slow as the period Of recovery
may be, it will only be question Of
time. The anxiety and suspense will
wear out at last The depression can
not last always. In volcanic countries
people become habiuated even to
earthquakes, and, in spite of repeated
eruptions involving frightlul havoc,
the slopes Of Ncsuvius and Etna con.
tinue to be inhabited. Thus the
peace Of mind Of Charleston will grad
. llally be reinstated, and the onward and
upward tendency Of her citizens be
again accelerated. such at least is the
probability; and certainly such are the
prayer and wish Of the millions upon
millions, in the United States and
abroad, who sympathizc so profoundly
with the unfortunate cijy in the hour of
her desolation.
THE VIRGINIA DlsSENTEas.
The FrodciicksJmc T,sf Lqace, in
response TO an article which recently
appeared In THE Carrie crticisiug
the action, or rather non action Of the
LyuchburS Congressional Convention
in tablipg "a resolution indorsing the
Administration, says that surely rHs
CMITC would not have body of repu-
table gentlemen stuliry themselves ny
publicly indorsing an Aimiuistrati a
which they privately djsapproye, g. d.
pE because o number OF thcir tric Is
have been honored with the condd ace
Of that Administration.
Certainly, THE Carrie would l)t.
The last thing in the world we want
anybody to do is TO sluitify himself,
and, judging 10y the vote on the reso-
luton referred to, nearly one.hllf of
the delegates to the convention at
Lynchburg did not consider it an act
OF SELF. qualification to give Mr. Cleye.
land an approving vote. Why ma
iority of them did not SO vote is what
We thought peculiar.
Our Fredericksburg contemporary
well knows that the satisfaction or
dissatisfaction Of party in power
with the Administration Of its choice
depends more upon the satisfactory oi
unsatisfactory manner in which the
executive patronage is distributed thar
upon all other considerations com
bned. There is. always something
soothing in the spoils Of Office, and a'
there was at the outset considerable
complaint in Virginia, rs in other
States, at what 1t was feared would
lrove rather niggardly policy on the
part Of the President toward the Demo-
Gratis Of the Old Dominion, we could
not clearly understand how any great
number Of them could fail to become
reconcied TO Mr., Cleveland, Ciyil Ser
vice Reform and all, whenever their
apprehonsions had been alDa,ei an
their causes of complaint removed.
But now we are told tlal the on re
bestowed upon \rgjniaus by Mr.
Cleveland had been wei earned by tn
fealty Of the State 10 the party tha
made him President. tuIerore, TIA
the account is all squa.el up, the part
owes him nothing tor the patronag
chat was righllully its own, and Dem
Ocrats are at full liberty tp abuse hin
for the views he cu,yrGlHs upon tn
subject Of Ciyil Service Reform, how
ever literally he discounted them I
order to please his Virginia friend'
We do not believe that our dissentin
Virginia friends are logical or reason.
bic in such an attitude They n
doubt objected TO the reappoinlment O
Mr.. Matthews, but not upon the ra
tional business grounds on which tn
citizens Of the District Of Columbi
objected TO IT, Some Of them felt tina
the President should have needed IN
solicitations Of the friends of the lat
Solicitor General and reappolnted Alr
Goode. But we doubt If Mr.. Good
expected or wanted that sort ola yir
dication against the Senate.
At any rate, the course Of the Lyucl
burg convention seems little odd, /
view of the general policy Of the Al
ministratlon. The gentlemen VIII