The Sunday herald., 1886-08-22

"Therc was sotne opposition 10 Judge Lowrys noml.
nation on the ground that no more than two terms
had been the custom Ia his d,sttkt. fh,e pA,posr
tion the judge, VINO IA one Oh Inv sutst Democrats
in The state, ovctcaSe, mol by any Of the small arts
cf the o.hSian, but by the weight OF hrs character
and public service The dissatisfied clement he's
unfurlcd the banner OF civil service REFORM and at
'acss the Judge for securing the appointment, NJ
worthy Democrats to once. such chstse Win no,
damage any public man IN ihdlsNa.n
"But," ldi,ahe RepNblcansc ciaiM tina, ,h,s dIsar
frc,oh VIII fesNitin the election o. ,nyir cAnddn,c
"No danger ofthaN. JSdve Lowry Win poll nearly
every DtaccrA,rc eMe 10 ais district ana many
Ner"b,iran will vote for him, too. lie will get a
bigger majority than he DID last iYMc. PSt Iha,
down in your incorandnm SooN ana look 1t up after
the election"
When Capt Mahan was before the District Com.
ml,tec OF the House last spring he gave some very
valuable Information as to bridges both In this
country and abroad, and In terse and emphatic lah
guage pronounced the bridges In this Dlsltlc, as
temporary structures unworthy OF the nation. lie
urged uroh the committee that new bridges, when
the spans we're not OF excessive length, snou,d be
constructed OF atched masonry.
"But,' sam Mt. Roweli," ,",he railroads Of tho coun
try arc content to make use OF iron bridges. They
economical"
To this Capt. Mahan replied that these iron s,ruc-
lures were less expensive as matter Of nrst cost
but dearer In the eud, account Of the re~essaty
repairs, pointing, Watching, ~.
"Besiacs all tNis,' said Capt. Mahan,"I venture
the prediction that before long established railroads
will substitute masonry for iron where the spans
are not necessarily Of too great length"
The committee pooh.poohed the Captains IDEAS
What was good enough for railroad company was
good enough for the United States. And so they d-
rected the Captain to estimate for au iron bridge to
cross the Eastern Bronch from the foot % Pennsy!-
vania avenue.
was much Impressed with tho CAPTAINS reason.
Ing at the tImc. how see that he knew his subject
since the Pennsylvania Railroad has begun the ex-
pertinent Of replacing Its iron bridges with solid ma
sonry Certainly this country 10 rich enough 70 bNll
pcrmanen, bridge structures a. Inc Capital In place
Of the trump"ry Haifs that span the Potomac Rivers
Rdtk Creek, and the Eastern Observation-Disclosures
which have neither stability nor beauty, and are Of
insufficient capacity to accommodate the public
travel.
The Con gress,cnai Denocratlc Committee seems
tote "a ccmatose state. Lack Of funds ia the
acknowledged cause. What with the uncertainty OF
the labor vote and the fnct that 30 many districts
carried by the Democrats In 1884 were won by the
detection Of Republicans who voted the Prohibition
ticket the committee has plenty OF work cut out fot
1t. would suggest that Senator dofhi,n, chair
man OF the Democratic National Executive Commit
tee, be called on for aid He knows where TO raise
money and how 10 use II. This Is an "oit year, In
politics, when the vote may be tAtected TO be COM
para,ively light. IL NIB Republicans make still
hunt, with plenty Of money to organize and get
their vote they have chance Of carrying the next
House. There Is too much at stake to let the elcc
tion go by default.
The New York Heroids mythical rnc,iiBer OF Con.
gress Is reinforced In hts attacks upon the 80 called
sectional structure OF the Cabinet by"A Democrat ;
who dates his letter to the Herald from Albany.
Not very many months since the same journal pub
shed an elaborate interview with another mythical
member Of Congress, In which the charge was made
that the Speaker Of the House Ignored the East
entirely in his construction Of the committees which
really do all the work Of Congress- In The latter
instance II WAS pointed out that tho real battle.
ground was In thr East, where New York, New Jer.
sey. and Connecticut were necessary to Democratic
success, in the former, that the East was OF no
account, md that the real struggle was to lie made
In the West "the seed bed and nursefy" of the Dem
| ocratic party.
| While 1t Is true that the Cabinet has au Eastern
and Southern personnel, and that the House of Rep
resentaves Is organized with the South and the West
In control Of the important committees the
suits have not bred dissatisfaction or dlsorg iniza-
tiOn. The House has antagonlzed the President on
financial measures alone, aud In that has had the aid
| Of Eastern Democrats as well. on the other hand
the unrepresented West has Invariably indorsed the
administration Of President Cleveland In every State
| convention thus far held.
gross, "that the political balance s we'll maintained
by the present organization Of the Cabinet and the
House. 1t might have been better still to have had
more even sectional distribution In both bodies, hui
1t works well enough as 1t Is. The country Is not
much interested In the question of the locality from
which Cabinet officer or the chairman OF a commit
tee Ia appointed as 1t is In the character aud ell
cheney Of the Individual. The House rhairmen hav,
shown their ability. The Cabinet members hav,
done likewise. There Is no split the party, East
West. Neither section is clamoring for change
In the Alexandra Congressional District the con
test will he renewed on Wednesday, which ende,
temporarily after Frank lume's nomination, which
was not declared by reason Of an old parliamentary
evasion Hume had an undispuiei two.thIrds vote
but II was easy enough TO prevent his success by
change Of votes, which seemsto have been obtaine,
readily. This do ,s not imply bad faith or dIssals
faction with Hume on the part OF his opponents.
means probably that friends Of the other candidate
were anxious for chance for their favortes and ha
| recourse to the nna resort OF preventing nomna
ton and again pulling "Lown The barsn and opening
'scrub race" Yet In the outcome 1t is likely tina
the failure to ratlfy lIume's nomination when al
ready made Will disturb Democratic ascendency II
the Alexandria District, where the party has hereto
fore had Its Virginia citadel. The best remedy 70
the mischance by which q majority candidate
two-thirds majority candidate and nominee-was nc
announced as the party's choice, would appear Il
outsiders to he Mr.. Humes prompt denomination
"Fair play Is q jewell has passed into history a
among the choicest talismans OF good faith anon
Democrats in conventions. Southern leaders dlsre
garded 1t, under the lead OF Mr. Calhoun, when VA
Buren, was slaughtered, although clearly the choc
Of his party. Van Buren, got even four years afeI
wards when Taylor became President by the Va
Buren, detection 10 New York. So, too, the Demo
cratic party lost power for twenty nve years In III
nation, because local leaders and personal consider
atons deprived Stephen A. Douglas OF the candldac
TO which the people believed him fairly entitled.
To sum up the situation likely to be met at AleS
andria on Wednesday, I should say that Fran
Hume will be nominated with cheerfulness q n
alacrity, or that the convention WILL In sheer faigu
} turn TO Mr.. Barbour and give him the chance I
accept or decline reluctant tribute TO tho man thf
Virginia Democrats have within few months viz
orously snubbed. Only Virginlans can know whit
Mr.. Barbours relations to his party In virginia ar'
and have been for some years. Malone knows some
thing OF Barbours value TO the party that the gel
eral "downed" good many times before Barbou
became It's executive head. As to Gen. Lees nom
nation, should say that 1t IS irrevocabl
lost. In such a case where names, traditions
legends, and military glory are the factor
they must win at first blush. They ar
the visible tokens OF success on first proc!amatio
, or not at all. Gordon rode like a whirlwind owe
Georgia and had neither vulgar scramble nor arft
manipulation TO help him In getting the Democrac
OF Georgia TO proclaim his supremacy. Certainly,
Gen. Lee has supreme claims upon the Democrat
the Eighth District of virginia, they will be recoG
nized, although they have not yet been recol
, nized with spontaneiiy.
met Solicitor General Goode day or two sinc,
. Tranquil In bearing and urbaue In manner, he doc
not appear TO be half as much the victim OF Malone
malignant pursuit., as Malone lInagiued he w0ul
be. Mr.. Goodies employment as special counsel q
the Government In important cases probably pay