The Press., 1886-11-25
WAsHINGT0N LETTER.

Washington, D.sC., Nov. 19, 1886.
 Nothing startling has occurred in Wash inQton during the week, unless the devel- opments of conspiracy in the police scan- dal. the presidents back down in the Ben ton case, and the unfounded rumor that he had corrected his blunder of standing by Attorney General Garland, may be classed as such. It seems the friends of ex-Sena- tor and Congressman-elec Buckelew got together and appointed him themselves to succeed MT. Garland, and it was so conf dently believed to be the work of the president that 8 refutation from the white house of the rumor was more of surprise than the announcement of the Buckalew appointment AS nearly as can be learned the scheme was intended as feeler.
 The police scandal is much talked of by members of congress who are in the city, and they generally denounce the chief of police. think he has attempted an infamous blackmail, and say if his resignation is not demanded at once the matter may come up in congress for investigation. Major Walkers friends want to acqnit him of the depraVity which attaches to the conduct with which he was charged. But nine- tenths of the people of Washington who followed the trial of Lieutenant Arnold Che is the man accused of letting the "cat la intended the very thing which he suggest ed,-the placing of members of congress under espionage, in order to acquire over them such illegitimate power as would compel them to vote as he bid them.
 It would be very dangerous to trust Major Walker with the votes of such con gressmen as occasionally indulge in the flowing bowl or stray into certain crooked paths south of Pennsylvania avenue. They are very bad custodians of the power en- trusted to them, but that is the fault of the people who send such men here, and on the whole they are probably quite az virtuous as the new democratic chief of police and the members of his force. The whole procedure is dirty scandal, and the question is not only how the district commissioners can save MT. Walker, but how they can save themselves.
 In the case of District Attorney Benton, whose suspension the president rescinded, : Senator Vest triumphed. The friends of Mir. Cleveland have g good deal to say about the rare courage he has displayed in correcting a mistake before the gaze of the world. In truth the president was anxious to avoid an issue over the Benton case, and he was given to understand that no successor to Mr. Benton would be con- firmed by the senate. He found sufficient ground to satisfy himself that it was the part of prudence to restore this federal of- fcial, although his removal had so delight ed the mugwnmps of the country. The presidents decision gives an American cit izen the right of free speech, provided he also restores the republican district attorn- ey at Pittsburg, who was suspended at the same time and for the same reason.
 The democrats will be at great disad- vantage in the fiftieth congress. It is true they have maintained reduced ma iority, but they will have large propor- ton of members inexperienced in national legislation. The republican side, with but few exceptions, will consist of men more or less trained in legislation. Nearly one half of the democrats will be new to the work on hand, and the embarrassment of the party, in the event of partisan con- test, will be increased by the loss, among it's defeated members, of some of its ablest parliamentarians and debaters. The re- publicans lose some good men, too, but their list of casualties is very small as compared with that of the democrats.
 It is an undisputed fact that experience is as essential to good service in congress as ability. It passes almost as an axiom among men of legislative experience that member cannot learn the rules and meth ods of legislation in less than one term, which. is two years. The supremacy of the south, so long maintained in ante-b bel lum days, is attributed by writers of po- litical history largely to the custom then prevalent in that section of continuing their congressman from term to term. It is continued service that fits men for real work in congress, and the democrats will have just eighty -one raw, untrained men to blunder and thwart their plans next year.