The Harrison times. (Harrison, Boone Co., Ark) 1876-1938, 1886-11-27
OUR WASWINaT0N LETTER.

AN"fAA4 AA"PSNt III Hipet hAHS Ahh
worhmen are busily engaged in
winding sable emblems around
the marble columns of the Capitol,
Executive Departments md other
public buildings. The White
House is looking unusually clean,
having been freshly reprinted re-
Gently, and the best bunting has
been used upon it i'll order that it
may not be discolored in wet
weather by the fading of the cloth
as was the case when it was last
draped. The first announcement
of eX-President Authors death
was received at the White House
by telephone message from the
Associated press. The news spread
rapidly over the city, and the flags
on all the public buildings were at
once placed at half mast, The
President expects to attend the
funeral in New York, and it is
probable that committees will at
tend representing both branches
of Congress.
Since President Cleveland owns
real estate in the District Of Co
lumbia he seems to take more IN
terest in local matters, and has
been brought into more intimate
relations with Neutrality-suspicious..
He has always had broad Vows of
the Justice and necessity of liber-
dl treatment of the Capital City
at the hands of Congress, however,
as his treatment OF the subject in
his message showed.
In self sought seelusion the
President is now working hard on
his second annual message, and it
has already taken quite a definite
shape. Other officials as we'll us
the President have been compell-
ed to go into temporary retirement
IN order to find quiet enough to
perform important work. The as
sistant Secretary of the Treasury,
Mr. Fairchild, allows his Office
door in the Treasury building to
remain wide open even when he
would like to avoid disturbance,
and constantly he has a constant
stream of visitors despite the care
of the Watchmen. When he has
any work on hand requiring con-
contracted thought, as is now the
case, he betakes himself to his
private home rather than refuse
callers.
The Secretary Of the Treasury
has just broken up an abuse that
has long existed IN his depart
ment. 1t was the substitute sys-
tenn. Clerks have been in the
habit of employing substitutes
and giving them part of their
wages. Mr.. Manning issued an
order that clerks must perform
the duties for which they were
paid, themselves, and required
them to appear for duty in person
or be dismissed. 1t is useless to
say there were very few absentees
the day the order went into effect
The system has been greatly
abused and has greatly interfered
with the efficiency Of the force.
1t is too early to decide whether
the oleomargarine law is equal to
the accomplishment Of all that it
aims at, but the first two weeks of
its operation leads the internal
revenue officers to figure up an in
come to the Government from n
million to million and a half from
this source by the first Of Novem-
Der, 1887. The manufacturers of
artificial substitutes for butter say
that the law has helped rather
than injured their business. The
Treasury stamp they think, gives
a certain dignity to their goods
which they did not possess before,
and many persons appear to regard
it as a guaranty that the contents
of the package are pure. In a
certain sense only the stamp may
be said to be guaranty. The
purchaser is not cheated as to
the character of the article he is
buying. He asks for oleomarga-
rine or butterine and he gets it
every time. Whenever a proper
enforcement of the law is defray-
ed by Congress, he will also know
when he is getting Door article