The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1890-05-04

two elections are not likely to make any change
in the political complexion of this House
OF the seventeen election contests eight
have already been decided. Clarke, of Ala
bama; Buchanan, of Virginia, and Parrett, of
Indiana, have been allowed by unanimous con-
elected. Smith and Atkinson, of West Vir-
ginia; Mudd, of Maryland, and Waddill, of
Virginia, (Reps.,) and Featherstone, of Arkan-
sas, Qnd., have taken the places of five Demo-
Gratis. The committee has reported to the
House in favor of McDuf1ie, of Alabama, who
wants to get Turpin's seat, and the House will
doubtless adopt the committees report.
Turpin and the other eight Democrats
will undoubtedly be removed to make
way for Republicans as soon as the majority
of the House feels the need of increasing its
numbers. But seventeen is pretty good work.
ing ma iority. If Speaker Reed had had it at the
beginning of the session he would hardly have
laid down the doctrine of the visible quorum
1t is noteworthy fact that the whole seven
teen contests were raised against Democrats
No Democrat contested a seat to which Re-
publican was elected. Election contests are
expensive to the people. Besides paying the
contestee Congressman's full salary for the
time he serves-that is to say, from the Fourth
of March till the date of his removal-and
besides paying the successful contestant Con-
gressman's full salary for the full Congressional
term, Uncle Sam is called upon to pay the
legal expenses of the contest, which may
amount to as much as $4,000 on each side of
each contest. And as it sometimes happens
that the matteri is not finally disposed of until
near the close of the Congressional term, an
election contest may cost the Treasury Sl4, 600.
There is hardly one that doesn't cost over half
of that amount.
The sidewalk pavement on Pennsylvania ave-
nue. in front of the White House grounds is in
a most dilapidated and disgraceful condition.
There is not a square yard of it that isn't
broken up. Some parts of it are sunk several
fathoms-more or less-below the level of other
parts, and the result is that when it rains the
sidewalk becomes a series OF pools which give
the navigator much trouble and discomfort.
don't know a sidewalk anywhere in worse con-
dition. The average country road, even in win
ter, affords better footing. Unless something
is done the President of the United States, or
perhaps Baby Mckee himself, may fall into one
of those pools some day, and then he will be
with McGinty.
George Washington Childs is a good mana
very good man. There are very few like him.
and it is to be feared there never will be many
like him. The fear has been expressed that
after making him Nature broke the mold He
is friend of all mankind, but he is especially
good to the unfortunate members of his
own guild-the newspaper fraternity-who are,
perhaps, more in need of such goodness and
more deserving of it than any other class of
people. Amos j. Cummings met Mr.. Childs at
clam-bake once, and, falling into conyersa-
tion, Mr.. Childs made Mr., Cummings promise
that if ever he should meet with meritorious
newspaper worker who was in need of a few
dollars he (Mr, Childs) should be furnished
with the name and address of the needy and
deserving one. In the course of time the meri-
torious person turned up, and Cummings sent
! his name and address, with a brief statement of
the case, to Mr.. George Washington Childs, Of