, 1889-10-03
WASHINGTON LETTER.
NEW EXECUTIVE MANSION.
Gen. Geo. =. Merrill Commissioner of
Pensions.


Now as the agitation for new execu-
tive mansinu Increases ard promises to
mature in congressional action. Mary
land AID Virginia take occasion Ia hold
up their pIatters fer tie money which,
nearly century ago, they len: t. GeoI ge
Washington. Mr.. J.ff-ryor ana others
with which to bm'd the present white
house
Tie gOYeTnm- nt was very poor duTlug
Washingt n's t"o terms Of utfice-rVcu
poorer than the people. For methods
OF taxation al not yet Eeen niatnred, :,
and while the ,u'gn was regular and
certain the iuc"me Was caIr:cions and
doubtful. 1t had heru agreed that tie
public buildings should he constructed
with money Obtain Il from the sac o:
the rveTument lot in tn, city. LUt tits
camo III slow y, aud pat Of il went III
expenditures UGt c,ntt mpiated hy the
contract tha fact is that tie usually
level head IF ihe great Washington him
self WIS turned duriag that de cade-
That prudent parsonage actually indulg
ed in enthusiasm and few kites. He
predicted that tie raw swamp town that
had been named for him would have
100 900 population in twenty-five years,
and that it wonld ou strip New Y"rk, or
eveu Boston. de sp,cu.uted souewh hat
10 reat estate himself, and paid trr
h Z I,,fs fTyi, hot !
fetch to day. He encouraged Rotert
Norris t. specuiBtr, and thai -iITsWI
tiuuucier, who held the armies If the re-
vr!u;Ion up by main strength, sunk all
in de tors prie"u. 1t was during
that dismal SeaS,n that The federal gov
erubelt APPEALED to Virginia AID Mary
land fr loan, under the implied
threat TO keep the capital al Ihe uoIt;, If
the loan was n"t fDrthcoming. IL round
figu g.. Maryland leut $72, ,0G0 ani VI
ginin $l20, 900 Not cent of it has
ever been la'd back. Will il ever lie?
Dnubtful
As Il senator recently said, "thc Uni
ted States government il the most re-
lentless creditor and the most cXacting
and unscrupulous debtor that the sun
shines on. When it is owed, it is very
Shylock; when it owes, it is as indiffer-
ent to its obligations as tramp" The
Sam must appeal is 80 elaborate as to
disSuade all but the pluckiest. First,
he must apply to congress for permits
sion to go To the court of claims. After
tedious years of great expense, that
court is rcachcd-perhaps witnesses
summoned and the correctness of the
bill verified perhaps, Then he must
go to the secretary of the treasury and
induce that august functiOnary to con-
descend to include the amount in the
current appropriations asked for. IF
the favor is graciously granted, the
claimant, if still alive, must go back to
congress and watch the appropriation
at every step of its progress through
two committees and through both
houses. Nine times out of ten some
demagogue thief "0bjects" to the
amount, and it is dropped, and the
claimants children or grandchildren
may again present the bill, with the
same circmlocution i'll future years.
The commission of Gen. George :.
Merrill, of Massachusetts, who has
been agreed upon as commissioner of
pensions, was forwarded yesterday by
by the secretary of the interior to the
President ut Deer Park. This is no in
dication that it will issued at once, but
it will he in stock if the President
should make up his mind to suddenly
announce the appointment before he
returns Washington. 1t is generally
regarded as being as good as certain
that General Merrill will succeed Mr..
Tanner. The dispatches from Deer
Park indicatin that perhaps Gen. War
neE has not declined, are not taken Sc
riously, because it is known here that
the declinatiOn was positive and final,
The administration wants a man for
the place who will have the entire con
fidence of the grand army, and who, at
the sane time, will not he under srlspi-
cion in other quarters. General Mer-
rill, 1t is thought, will about fulfill
these requirements.
There is no doubt whatever of the
kind of entertainment which Washing
ton will give to the knights Tcmpler
conclave next March, at which there
will be from twenty to fifty thousand
men in line, anh !, lalger contingent
crowd than was here at Inauguration.
1t will he one to do credit to the capi-
tai, ard to strengthen the belief of the
republic that this city is the appropri-
ate meeting place of all national "ath-
crings.
If the official equal the unofficial re-
ports of the speed of the trial trip of tie
cruiser Baltimore, she will be able to
get out of the way of the scows and
other small craft which have wrought
such havoc in our navy in recent years.
! Capt. Schley, her commander, assured
his friends that there is no better or
swifter war vessel alloat, and calls her
"sundowner." \ "sundowncr' is a
Il ship that makes such speed when she
| goes west that the sun never sets on
| her. II.
NEWS JOTTINS.
! The King at Portugal l. seriously ill.
! owing to the summer freshets the
rice crop in South Carolina will fall