Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1886-02-11

National Capital which, on account
Of their magnitude and grandeur, have
challenged both the admiration and
wonder Of the world. Strange as it
may seem to persons uniformed upon
the subject, the increase Of business
in the various departments has so far
exceeded the liberal provisions made
by Congress, in the way of providing
Office accommodations, that il many
instances it has been found necessary
to rent private buildings, and there
are more than twenty such buildings
in Washington occupied BY the Gov
ernment at the present time. The
mistaken economy Of such a course
is at once evident when it ia consider
ed that there are hundreds of ayaila-
bic building sites within..the city
owned by the Government. As a rule
these buildings are in no sense fire.
proof, and the danger from expos
ing valuable public records to possible
loss by fire is the most forcible argu-
ment which can be offered in opposi-
ton to the PLAN Early during the
present week one of these buildings,
which is occupied by the Government
as branch of the Surgeon Generals
Office, and containing all of the hos
pital records of the Western and
Southern States, on which all claims
for pensions are based, was discovered
to be on fire. The loss of these records
would have been irreparable, as the
Government possesses no other copies.
The timely discovery of the fire to-
gether with prompt and earnest efforts
of an efficient fire department alone
served to avert the danger of serious
loss. Although some ofthe documents
were badly scorched, nothing of great
value was destroyed.
Washington was visited on Wednes-
day last by the heaviest fall of snow
that has been known for many years.
During the entire day the air was.
filled by binding sheets of snow.
Foot passengers were few during the
day. Street cars required double the
usual number of horses, and even then
traffic was almost impossible. Navi-
cation on the river, which had been
fairly opened, is now rather difficult
and there is danger O. another freeze.
The question of the right of Con-
gress to examine the public records
without regard to The wishes Of the
President or his Cabinet still continues
to occupy much of the time Of the
Senate in Executive Session, and a
public discussion of the controversy
as to the respective rights of the exc
o"tive and legislative BRANCHES of the
Government in the matter of the re-
moval of Federal officers is probable.
The polite but emphatic declination of
the Administration to submit to the
Senate the documents in its possession
concerning the suspension Of District
Attorney Duskin, of Alabama, will
result in lively debate on the rights
OF the Senate and powers OF the Exc
cutive. In the meantime the confr-
nations of persons appointed to fill
vacancies caused by removals has been
virtually suspended, and the greatest
anxiety prevails among the new APP
pointees, who are anxious that some
compromise should be made.
a spirited discussion was had in
the Senate on Wednesday last upon
the occasion of Mr.. Blair asking that
1000 copies of an argument submit
ted to the committee Of education and
labor, in favor of the bill to require
that the public school pupils in the
District OF Columbia shall be taught
the effects of alcoholic liquors upon
the physical system. The motion to
print was, however, finally adopted.
There is a general movement among
the trades unions OF the city towards
shortening the hours of labor. The
plumbers, timers and carpenters have
decided that after May 8 next they
will demand $500 per day for eight
hours work. 1t is said that this
movement is the beginning of COM
bination on the part Of all the leading
labor organizations in the city towards
shorter hours of work. A delegation
Of letter carriers from various cities
is here to have their status under the
eight-hour law defined. The Attor-
ney General will be asked to submit
an opinion on the subject.
Senator Sewells militia bill was
i