The National tribune., 1886-03-18
WASHINGTON GOSSIP.
The Weeks DOings at the Ma
tiOnal Capital
SATURDAY DIVERSIONS IN CONGRESS.

NS-NN'fAN'N"
Usually Congress takes a holiday on Satur-
day. The House is using that day as a sort of
safetv-valvc bv giving Members who are suffer-
ing 10 make speeches q chance TO do SO. These
sessions are announced to be for general de-
bate" without any bill, or report, or resolution
being before the House. i Member gets Inc
floor and fires Off speech on any subject he
chooses In many cases he does this, first, TO
hear himself talk-for he has very few inter
ested listeners second to make himself
solid with his constituents. Most people meas
ure COnCveSsIaan's usefulness by the length
and frequency of his speeches. One who does
not talk few pages Of the Record every week
or two is considered to be oil very little account
But he does not get fair chance IN the daily
routine OF business. These Saturday matinceS
help out by ahording an opportunity TO work
of the surpuSage Of the week. The AMBITIOUS
Member makes his speech. As matter OF fact,
he generally reads ii from manuscript ON these
occasions Then it appears IN the Record, IN
all its length and breadth and hight and depth,
delivered on such day by Hon. John Smith,
of Alaska. Then he lays in a supply Of cam
paign fodder. He orders few thousand copies
from the Government Printing Office. AS the
matter is already in type, he gets them for the
mere cost OF paper and presS-w0rk. Under ms
frank ho loads the mails with them, and
feeds them 10 his constituents. The document
has an impressive appearance. The bucoiIc
patriot thinks he made no mistake when he
voted 30 send Nir. Smith TO Congress He inno-
Gently imarines that this speech was delivered
III a blaze OF OTatorcal glory, while the assem-
blage of rapt and eager statesmen hung upon
Mr.. Smiths words and the crowded galleries
applaudcd his well-rounded periods He thinks
that speech Will go laundering down the ages
and possibly MIR. Smith has the same opinion.
The truth is that he read his speech on Satur-
day to about 250 empty chairs. The 20 others
might as well have been vacant, as their occu-
pants We're reading newspapers or writing let
tiers. Perhaps not 10 members, if put upon
their oath, could tell what Mr. Smith was
talking about. You may count on yonr fingers
and toes all among the 325 Members of the
House who except upon rare occasions, as IN
the heat of a political debate can command
the eyes and cars Of those around them when
they arise TO speak.
A DEMOCRATIC EBULLITIoN.
The appointment of the colored lawyer, Mat
thews of Albany. to the position Of Recorder OF
Deeds for the District of Columbia SO loug held
by Fred. Douglass drove the iron deep into the
souls of the local Democracy. Nothing since
the change OF Administration has thrown
them into such high state of inflammation.
They feel there is among them an abundance of
unemployed talent, and certainly the dlsposi-
ton is not lacking, to fill at least the purely
local offices. Such an one is the Recorder of
Deeds which has to do solely with property
owners in the District. 1t is in no sense a
political Office. The residents of Washington
are little else but cphers in the politics OF the
country. They are governed directly by Con-
gress, in which body they do not even have
representative. They have ne elections, not
even for a constable. There is, perhaps, some
compensation for being deprived of the excit-
ing and fascinating political diversions that
periodically engross the attention of the average
patriot elsewhere. Here the citizen pursues
the even tenor of his way, unvexed by the
perennial candidate who, having yielded 10 the
wishes Of his friends, has consented to run for
Office, and is around scraping up votes and in
huenCe. Under the present arrangement the
peculiar relations of Washington residents TO
the body polite are such that they have very
little to say even IN regard to their local gov
ernment. 1t is only now and then that they
have chance to get a finger iii the pie at all.
They may, therefore, be pardoned for feeling
that their hair has been rubbed the wrong way
when a finger reaches from hundreds of miles
away and plucks out plum that they think OF
right belongs to them. A large majority of the
L0aa-f fae white residents of Washington are
Democrats, and there seemed 10 them 10 be
plenty OF cOgcnt reasons why the President
should have selected a Washington man, and
of the Caucasian race. The Democratic news
papers here are unanimous in their condemna-
tion of the Presidents action in this matter,
nor do they " make any bones of speaking
right out in expressing their opinions. They
publish whole columns of interviews with
citizens, which, almost without exception, are
of the same purport. determined effort viii
be made TO prevent the confirmation of Mr.
Matthews by the Senate. Many Democratic
Members of Congress are mixing i'll, and the affair
begins TO loom up as national issue Many of
MIR. Cieveland's best friends do not hesitate to
express the opinion that in this case he made a
mistake. Matthews is q very light muiatto, a
man of unquestioned ability, and his personal
e. as,, I.t,l.t a1
ever. is not the question before the hoase. The
citizens Of the District seem TO have gone into
committee of the whole on the subject.
TEA WILL STILL COME FROM CHINA.
The Bureau of Agriculture's tea experiment
appears to be failure. Some years ago the
Bureau people got ii into their heads that tea
might be successfully cultivated in this coun-
try and we lie relieved from our dependence
upon the Mongolian to supply US with this
beverage. So the Government secured some
land and started a teafarm at Summeryiile,
sc. Tea plants were brought from China, set
out and nursed with tenderest care. In course
OF time small quantities OF leaves were gathered
aud prepared for use, but they were of inferior
quality, in no respect equal TO the genuine
Chinese article. Every possible expedient was
tried to acclimate and bring the plant up to a
healthy state of development. but in vain. Like
the Chinese people, 1t refused TO be DatuIaiiZcd.
All the different varieties were tried, but in
every case the result was the same. Now and
then, when the conditions were favorable, there
seemed TO be some hope for the nurslings but
this always proved ilusory. Now the Commits
sioner recommends that the scheme be aban-
doned as improbable, and his advice will
doubtless be followed. 4 few tea plants are
being propagated at the grounds in Washington
to supply persons who wish 10 experiment On
their own hook but in all human probability
We will continue to get our tea from China
right along, as heretofore.
VISITING THE BATTLEFIELDs.
Some Of the ex-UniOn soldiers of Washing
ton are preparing for grand excursion 70 the
battleiields Of Antietam and South Mountain
on May I6 The President and the Generals
and other officers who took part in those bat
ties and aIe still alive will be invited TO attend
and the celebration Will be d big one. Another
celebration is proposed to be held July II at
Fort Stevens near Bladensburg. This fort and
surrounding section Of the country mark the
nearest approach of the Confederate troops
under Early, TO the city. Gen. Early has never
given a thorough description Of the approach
and defense, and he will be invited 10 do so az
the celebration.
TIE NEW CRUISERS.
circular has been issued by the Board on
Additional Naval Vessels TO shipbuilders and
building Of the four new naval vessels author
lied and appropriated for by Congress March 3
1885. The circular is accompanied by the re.
port of the Board, describing the general fea-
lures and requirements OF the vessels. and sug