The Washington critic., 1886-03-30
TOPICS OF THE DAY.

They are alike in build and habits.
Neither has well-trained mind in the
complex affairs of State. Having
reached middle life without great men.
tai strain, 1t was worse than folly for
man like Manning to attempt what he
did. Sherman, Evarts, Thurman, Nc.
Donald. and men of that stripe, with
wcll.trained legal minds, could do the
work which Manning and Cleveland
lay out for themselves with compare
tive ease. The former has, at any
rate, seriously injured his health by his
course, and unless Cleveland heeds the
advice of his friends he will shortly
fall victim to the same ambition
namely, running the Office of Chief
Magistrate on the oncman plan"
@*#
The Washington correspondent of
the Indianapolis JoWnat is informed
that President Cleveland is making his
living cost great deal. His incidental
expenses aggregate more than those of
any other President who has occupied
the Executive Mansion for many years.
II has been customary for some of the
Executives to draw largely upon the
contingent fund for certain current ex-
penses, but Mr. Cleveland has gone to
his private funds for almost every
thing. Congress appropriates each
year n sum ranging from $40 900 to
$4,000, which Is known "a the contin.
gent fund for the White House. Out
of this the President pays the lcgili-
mate expenses of his office including
employees, stationery, telcgraphing,
repairs and such other suudries usually
going with responsible public posi-.
tion. The sources of expenditure of
this fund are never questioned. No In.
quiry has ever been made about how and
for what the money was disbursed. 1t
has also been matter of honor with
the President that the contingent fund
should he expended honestly. Gen.
eral Grant paid for nearly everything
out of his own salary. holding the con.
tingent fund. except for clerical work
and few other expenses, as sacred.
Mr., Lincoln seldom drew upon this
iund, except for the most common ex-
pepses of the Office. II Is sail that Mr..
Hayes lived almost entirely out of the
fund. and retired from the office with
his $500, 600 salary. To-day l asked
an attendant at the White House if he
did not think Mr.. Cleveland's s expenses
cost him half of his salary. The en-
ploye, who has long been at the Exc.
cutive Masion, looked hard at the
tiling beneath him, and replied
"Some of the boys were calculat-
ipu ,ipnp i,ct ,,bot wa, osI, tbo
other day, and we figured that
$500 per year. Mr.. Cleveland S din
ners, of course, are the most expensive
things he has. They are paid for out
OF his own pocket, and the table is
maintained out of his own funds; the
stables, too, are kept up at his own ey.
expense. 1t is said that Mr.. Hays used
to pay for the feed at the stables out Of
the contingent fund, and the ice he
used in the kitchen, and many other
little things used there, were paid out
of this fund Mr.. Clevelands political
contributions and donations to charity
must cost him heap"
w.
Washington's smooth pavements give
the town an immense superiority over
wretchedly paved New York so far as
driving is concerned, says "Walsing-
ham, in the Boston Horald, and only
drive will enable one to realize how the
City of Magnificent Distances has
grown and become embellished, spread
ing out her building lots so as to take
in the green, green country, and send
ing up pictures Of the villas that
out-Queen Queen Anne, and rival
those of Newport and South Kensing-
ton. A citizen points with melancholy
resignation to lot which he sold in
1879 for $4,000, having first purchased
it for $4,000, and which only the other
day brought $1S0,OO0. The British
Minister'S residence, once in the coun-
try, is now in the heart of the fashion
able town. Pennsylvania avenue alone
remains practically unchanged, but
the project is afoot of tearing down
all the shops and buildings on the
right coming from the Treasury, the
quarter known as "Ilookers Division"
and, at cost of six millions of money,
conrerttng the site into a beautiful park,
lrhere tie proposed exposition can be held,
The market buildings alone would be
allowed to stand. These improvements
would be of immense benefit to the ap.
pearance of a city which, with Its new
residences, its flat houses, its we'll
paved streets and all its natural ad.
vantages, is more like Paris-i. c., the
model capital for beauty-than any
American town. And, to recall the
Champs Elysees, the Washingtonians
| propose to erect monument to General
| Grant that will resemble tho Arc de
Iriomphe While surveying all the
| beauties Of the new Washington, sne
cannot help thinking of the man who
did so much to make the capital of the
country what 1t is-Alec Shepherd
now working away in New Mexico
mine, intent on amassing fortune that
will enable him to return in triumph to
the old town.
Nv
If you will look back over the thirty
five Secretaries Of the Treasury which
the country has had, you will find, says
Carp" of the Cleveland Leader, that
the most of them have been men of good
education and many of them noted as
scholars before their appointment.
Alexander Hamilton was scholar
though he had not received college
education. He was noted rs q lawyer
and statesman before his appointment,
and his articles published in the news.
papers form some of the best literature
of his time. Oliver Wolcott, the second
| Spcrntnrv of the rrnnsurv yoe n Grad .
uate of Yale, and Samuel Dexter was
schooled at Harvard. Albert Gallatin,
on the election of Jefferson, was offered
the Secretaryship of the Treasury, but
Dexter would not resign, and wanted
to continue his administration under
Jefferson as he had done under Adams.