Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1888-03-05
WASHIN GTON LETTER.
Wnshinaton. Feb. PIN.

Washington. Feb. 27th.
1t takes congress a long time TO
pull itself together for tariff fight. 1t
is limited however, that when it does
get good and ready it will make the
wool fly, to say nothing of the coal,
lumber, sugar, with other raw and
bloody material. Well, we shall
see, but Judging the future by the
past, congress will talk and talk and
do nothing, or, at best little. Too
long since congress was elected for
the remembrance of platforms and
pledges.
Apropos to this it was Mr.. Grain
of Texas who presented the bill TO
have congress get together and to
work in three months after the cleo
ton instead of thirteen as it now is.
Anything to cure the evils of the
"short session" of congress. 1t is
argued with reason that under the
proposed plan congress will be fresh
er from the people and less likely TO
forget the promises made in the plat
form and on the stump.
Oh, those stumps What frustrums
of broken pledges of iron-jawed dem
agogues It's nothing to laugh about,
but a deadly, serious thing. This
country has grown big and unwieldy
it is true. Quite too large for the
small clothes of 1888, and unwleldi-
ness of the legislature has far out
grown that of the country. Congress
positively will not work. 1t devotes
itself to society, poker, intrigue, flirt-
alton, verbal fatulence and adjourn
ment.
Every two years the districts send
here lot of fresh statesmen, open
mouthed with wonder like a rustic at
a circus. BY the time their two
years novitiate is over and when they
are half prepared to do something,
they are relegated to private life and
a lot of other utterly unseasoned men
are elected. The dreary rate is re-
peated every two years. The coun-
try is young and vigorous and has so
far survived it. But it must be re-
formed altogether AIT delenda crit
republicd.
Then when the congressional ses-
sions are reconstructed, or before,
for that matter, we want another
constitutional amendment fixing in
auguration day upon the anniversary
of the first Inauguration, the 3Oth OF
April, a pleasant season of the year.
Neutrality-suspicious. are not the only holt
dav makers on that day. The thous-
ands of visitors from the states who
flocked here to SILVER and catch pneu-
monia, as they did on the occasion of
Grants second Inauguration, for in
stance, will all be delighted at the
change, while the steadily increasing
multitude which comes TO Washing
ton on these occasions to revive pat
riotism and give the new president an
enthusiastic send off will also be in
terested in the matter.
Since Mr.. Villas has taken charge
of the interior department it feels the
impulse of an energetic and strong
hand. A shaking up was badly need
ed. The patent Office and the public
land office are deplorably behind with
their work, and the former is In a
state bordering on Generalization.
The present commissioner of patents,
an exemplary man, and good real
estate lawyer, came to the office with
little or no knowledge of the intri-
cate and responsible work before him.
But few people are aware of the inn
mensity and Importance of the nation
al patent office.
The commissioner of patents found
himself at the head Of a corps OF
principal examiners, board of APP
peals,a court of interferences,a drafts
mans division, the patent office Ca
zette, and large corps of clerks. 1t
is no exaggeration to say that there
was not an examiner in the corps but
knew more about the intricate and
perplexing routine of the office than
his chief.
Had Mr.. Hall addressed himself to
the actual work of the office, which,
on account of the idleness and shirk-
ing of employees, was far in arrears,
he might in spite of his freshness
have done well. But like many neo-
phites, he signalized his advent by a
series of rulings that have thrown
the practice into confusion worse con-
founded, and set back for months the
pressing and engorged business of
the patent office. The situation is
truly deplorable, and the only RENE
DIV would seem to be to have Mr.. Hall
join Mr.. Sparks, the late commission
er of the land office.
Certainly if Mr.. Cleveland had
known anything about the business
of the office, he would have appoint