Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1886-05-05
From our regular correspondent.

ecutiOns in Washington.
From our regular correspondent.
WASHINGTON, May 3rd, 1886.
The past week has been without interest
here. Congress plods along with it's main
business far behind. The probability is
that the session will be extended into July
before an adjournment is reached. The
tariff bill will not, it is said, be called up
till the last of this month. None of the ap-
preparation bills, and there are over dozen
OF them, except the urgent efficiency bill,
have yet been passed. Some of them have
passed the House and some are still in the
committees yet. Nothing of general inter-
est or Importance has been perfected, The
bankruptcy bill, the land grant forfeiture
bills, the Pacific Railroad bill, the river and
harbor bill, the tariff bill, together with
many other important matters, will claim a
hearing before adjournment.
The tariff bill is a standing bone of con-
tention. The tariff refermers hope to pass
the bill, and their opponents are just as
confident of defeating it. If one is passed
it would be difficult to predict what shape
it would be in. The Presidents action has
not had much influence one way or the 9TH
er. His experience with the silver question
has taught him lesson.
By the way, the President is chiefly dis
cussed here now in relation to his prospec-
tive marriage. 1t is generally conceded, I
believe, that it is ''to be-" Rumor fixes
the time in June. and they are even de-
termining the style of the lady's trousseau,
&c. Miss Folsom, his intended bride, is
travelling in Europe, and some of the gossips
are just dying to know what she is going to
wear, and where and how it is all to be
made. 1t is said the President is devising
ways and means of skipping away from
Washington quietly and having the affair
over without any except a necessary few
knowing it. OF course, there is a great
deal OF this guess work, as it is a subject
the public is apt to know more of sometimes
than the parties themselves.
There will be a dash of romance about
the marriage if it occurs. Miss Folsom's
father was w-partner of Cleveland, and
she, it seems, as child, was a favorite and
pet of bis. The love for the child grew with
her growth till it has matured into the ex-
pected event, which will make her first lady
in the land. She is said to very pretty and
a very sweet and worthy girl, and in every
way fit to be the wife of President of the
United States.
The great "strike epidemic has struck
pended. The contest is over the time The
strikers are contending for s hours, and the
employees for a longer time. The whole
proceeding looks little strange to me.
have just returned from the country where
everywhere saw the farmers toiling and
sweating from sun-up till shutdown and
longer, and never uttering word of COM
plant because the days were too long. This
they do late and early the year through
for very small and frequently pre-
carious remuneration. That class COM
poses two-thirds of the laborers of the
land. They furnish the food for the rest
They are literally and strictly the ''bone
and sinew of thedand," yet they toll on and
suffer but they never Strike" and if they
complain, their plants one never heard or
needed. The great unorganized Labor of
the Country is unrepresented. 1t has no
voice. 1t bears the burdens and feeds and
supports both the Labor" and "Capital'
of which we hear so much these days.
The farming and rural interests are the
main sufferers from these ''strikes'' and dis
organizations of mechanical labor. 1t stops
and deraDges the transportation of their
products. 1t lessons the prices uf what
they have to sell and increases the price of
what they buy. Go into your dry goods,
grocery or hardware stores now and they
VIII tell you the strikes ana unce' taInty
nave put me price OF everything up. Tie
da.nan Gu I are COIL pehsa1eo IN large
oegree 10Y tne suspension py the enhance
lneht OF the prices Oh the STOCK they nave
On nanu' anu .ne serlKers are PAID out OF
tnelr lunos anu generally oy an increase
u :. wages III 'he eeo Ior oeng OUT 90
IL ls the inhoGehC farmer ana MS farm help
WIZ pay Iile loss III 'ne emu;
ApropoS 70 the PRESIDENT marriage I'll
comes Oil lor tne extension OF the White
house. LII comparison with the otner puoilc
pullolugs vi 'he CITY, ana, IN TACT, wlth
1AAs'AJ pa CIV AAouSoo, AZ WouiA 10 bCtICi w
TAKE III uOWH, anu Du1lO IL up III a SGVlG