Morning journal and courier., 1889-03-22
WAsHINGTaN NOTES.

| Plenty of Callers and Lots of Mail | at the White House-The Postomcs Department Clerks must Keep Long, | CT House.
 1 WASHINGTON, March 21.-Tkere were no | delegations at the White House to-day. | There were plenty of callers, however, in- | eluding Senators Plumb, Teller and Gray, who came in company, and Senators Coke 1 and Reagan of Texas, who were accompanied by Col. Ochiltree.
 The mail which arrived at the White House, showed no signs of decreasing. Since the fourth of March, the Presidents mail has been very heavy, averaging from six to seven hundred letters and on some days running as high as thousand. President Clevelands letters rarely exceed ed three hundred day. Many of the com munications sent to President Harrison are intended for other persons, several of whom are utterly unknown to him, the correspon- dents probably thinking that letters address, ed to the care of the President will undoubt- edly reach their destination.
 Postmaster General Wanamaker to-day issued an order directing all clerks in the office of the first assistant postmaster general and such as may be required from the other bureaus of the department, until otherwise directed, to begin work at S:30 8. m. instead of as heretofore, and to remain at their desks until o'clock D. m. instead of p. m. The clerks in the dead letter office are also required to work from 6:S0 @. ID. until p. m. until the work in arrears in that division is brought up.
 All nominations reported from committees were confirmed in secret session to-day, with the exception of that of MT. Whitelaw Reid, to be Minister to France. An effort was made to have Mir. Reid's nomination con- frmed, but under objection by MT. Plumb it went over until the next executive session. There is no question of the confirmation Of Ar. Reid, MT. Plumb's objection being pure ly formal. No report was made on the nom- nations of Fred Grant and John o. New to- day, because there was not quorum of the foreign relations committee present. The list of nominations confirmed to-day was not given out for publication.
 In the executive session of the Senate this afternoon Senator Sherman announced that President Harrison had informed him that be (the President) would be so far along with his nominations that the Senate might convent ently adjourn next week. tis expected that the special session will end on Thursday or Friday next. In order to assist the President in his intention the Senate did not take the usual three day recess to-day, but will meet again tomorrow. This notification makes 1t practically certain that no legislative business will be transacted before adjournment. A prominent senator said o-day that this would be the programme.
 Secretary Windom has been so overrun with ofice-seekers that he has scarcely minute to attend to his official duties. This afternoon he dictated the following notice, with instructions to have it posted conspicu ously throughout the building:
 The Secretary of the Treasury reserves the time from 10 till 1:30 o'clock for receiving senators and members of the house of representatives. 9th persons desiring to him upon matters relating to official patronage will please call between 1:3O an and p. m.
 The secretary requests that he may be excused from receiving visitors after in order that he may be able to devote part of the day to the con meat.
 Secretary Windom in speaking of the matter said it will be we'll for office seekers to under stand that it will not be to their interest to file their applications after 1 o'clock.
 The special committee appointed in the last Congress to investigate the methods of doing business in the executive departments, of which Senator Cockrell is chairman, has completed it's work, and the report prepared by Senator Cookrell (who has really been the committee) will be made to the Senate in 8 few days. The document is an exhaustive and interesting one, containing numerous il- lustrations of how red tape and senseless ad- herence to forms and precedents interrupts and retards the dispatch of public business The report will show that in some depart ments the pension and land bureaus for in stance it requires long a time as four or five years to settle claim get information of certain kinds. Claims filed as far back as 1884 in these departments are still undis- posed of