St. Landry democrat., 1886-02-13
WASHINGTON LETTER.
from our Regular Correspondent
~ AsIfINGTON, Feb. /, 1sS.

J wv AslilNt i to. it'l'''
/ The proceedings Of the week in Con
sress have been partly ovtr>hadoWcti
/ in interest by the fight which the Re
/ publicans of the Senate have forced
with the Administration. bnr law
makers have not been idle, however,
j although there hns been but little
! legislation to speak for their industry.
Both ends OF the Capitol gave one day
to obituary eloquence. 1t was given 10y
/ the Senate in memory of Vice Presi-
dent Hendricks, by the House, III menu
.ory of the late Representative Ellwood
of Illinois.
! Then Dakota has CONSUMED ii large
share of the Senate's time, and debate
on this question promises to he long.
| Interest in Dakota's affairs and de
n,ands has been enhanced during the
discussion by the presence on the floor
of the Senate of her two asprautS for
Senatorial honors, McSsrs. Moody and
| .Edgerton, They are similar Pn appear
auce, both being large, po,tly men
with short grey boards. They listen to
! every word that is said about their
lterritory, and occasionally furnish a
! speaker with some data or some cNpla-
nation that is needed.
! The Republicans of tue Senate do
Dot rest easy with majority OF eight.
They are trying to get additional
Istrergtl in Dakota, and are planning
to capture Washington and Montana
Territories in the near future with
idaho in the distance. They have not
forgotten that but for Colorado coming
in in 1876, the Hayes fraud w"uld never
have been cons,lmmated.
During the week the House OF Repre-
scntatiyes has talked Il great deal on
nninlportant subjects, has qutrrclle,l q
good deal to no purpose, and has
passed fifty little pension bills. | have
alluded before to the many new pen
sion schemes that have been introduced
into the present Congress-, besides all
of the old oues ot the last Congress,
that have come up fresh again.
Congpessnen seem to vie with each
other in proposing absurd plans for in
cieasiDg pensions. IT they were all
carried into effect they would bauk
rupt the Treasury Of the United States.
And the worst feature OF every new
pension proposal is the dcmagogic
spirit it inevitably awakcns in both
parties in Congress. Many Of them are
not even seriously intended, their real
Object being to ensnare and capture
what 10 known as the soldier vote.
The Presidents refusal of the Sepate's
latest demand for papers has been the
topic Of discussion here for the past
three days. The papers called for were
those bearing upon the official charac-
ter OF Il District Attorney of Southern
Alabama. They were in the custody
of the Law Department. and referred
exclusively to the suspension OF the
late incumbent. The Senate, in secret
session, was notified by Attorney Gene
raj Garland that it was not considered
promotive of public interests to comply
with its request for the transmission OF
the documents mentioned
Some Of the Republican Senators
who do not believe in trying to extort
reasons from the President, and who
have been forced into this attitude by
the caucus. are disposed To be recalci-
trant. Rumur has ii thai there arc
three who are So mach opposed to the
stand taken by their brethren that the
majority are extremely anxious ;,bont !
them. Mr.. Edmunds has been accused
by these disaffected Senators of waeing
hostilities against the Administration |
n the Aope Of improving his chances |
sor reelection to the Senate. If the |
President had been beaten he would
rave obtained the credit of having
made {, good party fight.
The Democratic Senators caueused
gain and were all in favor of support
ng the President, believing him to be
light in maintaining his constitutional
rerogatiye. Senators of both parties
Gem to think the iasue is pretty we'll
aade up now, and that for some time. !
t least, there will be no action upon