The Washington critic., 1886-07-08
WASHINGTON CRITIC
TOPICS OF TIE DAY.


Webster was the greatest man / have |
ever known. Calhoun was a man of |
great intellectual ability, and very
fascinating man to know. lie was
popular with young men, and he had
a great amount of personal magnetism.
He had large following, and I do not
think the people to day rightly appre-
ciate his character. lie was not cold |
man at all, and he was man Of broad
culture. was In Congress while
Pierce was President, and Pierce was,
assure you, a very popular man. He
was perfect gentleman, wcllrcad
scholar and very cordial in his man
ner. Tom Benton was also man
of great ability and Stephen A.
Douglas was rightly named the
little giant Had Douglas lived
the war would have been put down in.
side Of eighteen months. Stephen A.
Douglas had wonderful following In
the North. 1t seems to me that we
have not had real Democratic leader
In the true sense of the word since he
died. The Democrats of the North
loved him. lie was thoroughly in
sympathy with the Union, and think
If he had lived the South would have
seen that there was no possible chance
Of their getting any assistance north of
Mason and DiXon's line"
4*A
"The question of the rivalry of the
East and West" said Il noted retired
army officer to "Carp" of the Cleve-
land Ledder, "grows more Important
every year. The Atlantic seacoast
with New York as its head centre, be-
comes more and more antagonistic to
the interests of the West and it is only
question of time when there will be q
great party of the East opposed to one
of the West and South. The elements
for such parties are forming, and it
seems to me that when they crystalize
the reign of New York will be for the
time over. and that the great West will
rule The West has now the major
part of the voting population of the
United States, and IL is in the infancy
of its growth while the East Is far ad
yanced." might such a state of af-
fairs lead to the moving of the National
Capital to the West or centre
of the country" "No Washing
ton city will continue to be
the Capital of the United States as long
as the Union lasts. The railroad and
the telegraph have made all parts of
the country near to each other, and
there Is not the reason for central
capital as in the past If you will look
over the world you will find that the
great capitals are seldom in the center
of the populations over which they
govern. London is in corner of Great
Britain, Paris is in the north of France,
Pekin is in the east of China, Berlin is
in the north of the German Empire,
and st. Petersburg is away Off on one
side of Russia. Then there is too much
money invested in Washington,
both by politicians and the peo.
pie, to ever allow of q change Of
the Capital. The Senators and Rep.
resentatives now own private property
in Washington running high into the
millions, and there will always be
large individual interests owned by the
men who control such movements.
The Government buildings of Wash
ington are worth at least s100, 900, 900,
and the parks are worth many millions
more. Then there are the historical
associations of nearly hundred years
of our Government. No, | dom think
the Capital can ever be moved and l
don't think it should be-"
~
1t is noticeable to the Philadelphia
Telegraph that there are decided differ
ences of personal style among the diff
ferent sets Of Government clerks. The
Treasury clerks are the least spruce In
appearance and most spiritless in man
ner of all the Government employees.
This is due, in a great measure, to the
really unhealthy condition of the
Treasury building, which ought to be
attended to at once. The most indie
pendent, nonchalent and cosmopolitan
set of clerks are those of the Interior
Department, especially in the Patent
Office. They dress as they please, act
pretty much as they please, and look
happy and prosperous as class.
There is fine esprit du cOrps among
them. They have jolly times together
of moons, lunching and walking
through the corridors. The girls laugh
and hum tunes as they trip along, and
the men whistle and sing or exchange
stories and jokes. The Postollice De.
u
have crushed aspect. The Depart.
ment building is as still as a cemetery,
and no levity is allowed within it. A
visitor walks into the Patent Office as
If he owned it, but there is something
about the General Postofllce that makes
him falter and stammer at the en-
trance. The army and navy
clerks are Il fine-looking, we'll
dressed crowd, rather exclusive toward
strangers, polite, but withal somewhat
abrupt in their intercourse with them
in fact, there is q SAVIOR of the martinez
about these two departments, as there
is about the corresponding services.
The force in the Department of Justice
is so small that it cannot be said to have
much individuality in any way.
Finally, the State Department furnishes
us with perfect specimens of the aris-
tocratic genus of clerk. The clerks Of
this department have no intercourse
with the clerks of other departments
They are far removed above the vulgar
herd. All of them are "dudes" of the
most exquisite brand, Not one of them
would think of such thing rs wearing
turned .doWn collar, If questions are
addressed to them by indiscreet and
presumptuous outsiders they are re-
piled to with icy polteness, but under
no circumstances is any Information
given
~.
Says the Washington correspondent
of the Columbus DispdtcA: "All along
the end of the House and Senate wings
nf tba Tanitol and In front nf aaoh ~