The Opelousas courier. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1852-1910, 1895-07-06
Washington Letter.
From our Regular Correspondent.

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WASHINGTON, July 1, 1895.
The democratic party looks more
like winner today than it has at any
time since the disastrous Congressional
election, last November. The country
is daily becoming more prosperous, and
just as the floating voters held the
democratic party responsible for the
"hard times" which were a natural
consequence of the thirty years of
republican class legislation, the same
class of voters will next year give the
| democratic party credit for their in-
creased prosperity, and in that they will
be right: The Treasury too, is begin
ming to feel the increase in the country's
prosperity. The revenues for the
month OF June were $2,O000OO in ex-
cess OF the ey.-~tlitures, something
that has not occurred for quite a while
before
But the principal reason Why the
democratic party is again looking like
winner is that its members are in all
directions announcing their intention
to get together The split which many
fOresaW and others feared as a result of
the silver fight within the party lines
will not materialiZe, unless some of the
shrewdest men in the party are mis-
taken in their calculations. The fight
isn't over by any means, but it is assert.
ed by prominent silver and anti silver
democrats that it will be over when the
National Convention shall have acted
upon it, and that the platform adopted
by that convention and the National
ticket nominated will he loyally sup
ported by both silver and anti silver
democrats. In other words, both sides
will fight to carry the convention, and
will accept the decision of the conven-
ton.
Another reason why the democratic
party looks like winner may be found
in existing republican dissensions. The
republican party in the great states of
Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York is
divided into two bitterly hostile camps,
warning, not for a principle, but for the
supremacy of personal bosses. While
democrats are hardly sanguine enough |
to expect the fight between the Quay |
and anti-Quay factious in Pennsylvania |
state being cast for the democratic can
didate, they certainly have good rea-
son to hope that the wrangIing between
the followers Of Foraker and those of |
Sherman and Mckinley, in Ohio, and
of the Platt and anti-PIatt republicans
in New York will result in landing
both of those states in the democratic
column next year.
With the fiscal year, beginning today,
many changes provided for by Con-
gress went into effect in the depart
ments. In addition to the material
reduction Of force in the Pension Office,
seventy-six clerks in that Office had
their salaries reduced in order to bring
the salary total inside of the appropria-
tion.
My! what a splutter those lame ducks
are making in the pond of the Coast
and Geodetic Survey, although Gen.
eral Dnffield's gun was not very heavily
charged. Everyone who il at all fami-
liar with the different phases of official
life in Washington has noted the air of
which is assumed bv
many of the men who are employed in
the alleged scientific branches of the
government. These men draw salaries
running from $4,000 to $4,000 year,
have been in Office from ten to forty
years, and are mostly well-to.do and
some of them actually rich. The ma
jority of them come and 60 when they
please and spend more time working
ing for the government. They have
succeeded fairly we'll in the past in
criticism by calling the critics
ignorant and accusing them Of being
unable to appreciate or understand the
Importance of the work done by the
employees of the government,
but that cry is beginning to fail and
are becoming more frequent.
But to return to those lame ducks and
their spluttering. In accordance with
authority conferred by the last Con-
gress, General Duffield. Superintendent
Of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, has
that bureau. He dropped
six employees, two Of whom had been
in Office forty years, and they and all
their numerous social connections have
begun to yell as though somebody had
pulled the plug ont of the bottom of
the world and that the whole business
would be settled on the muddy bottom
of oblivion 10 few hours. The scien-
ti6c branches of the government are
alarmed to discover that
their employees do not own the whole
outfit. But the government still lives,
and General Duffield has no idea of
apologizing to or of reinstating any
body. He believes the Changes made
were for the good of the service, and he
onght to know.
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