Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1904-04-08
WASHINGTON LETTER.
CFrom our Regular correspondent

WAShiNd YIN LIZ len.
(From our Regular Correspondent3
Washington, d. c.. April 2.-Legiti-
mate business goes forward by spat-
mode jerke in both Senate and House.
The Senate now has the postoffice ap
preparation bill in hand and the House
is trying to SWING the civil service ap
preparation bill every night "a days
march nearer home" The reading
clerk is presenting them item by item,
and contestiug the floor as far as the
Speaker will let him with members
who insist upon carrying on an acri
monious partisan debate between SELL
fences This hesii ating progress has
continued day by day. On Thursday
Senator German spiritedly arraigned
the Repu blican party for sins of COM
mission and omission, especially for re-
fuslng to invest gate the diff uslve post
office scandal. he insisted that under
lax methods corruption had permeated
every department of the government;
that thousands of office holders had
snatched Doodle merely because their
party had been too long in power and
would probably soon be driven from
all places of authority.
Senator DOlliver, of Iowa, the"
Republican orator, deprecated the
''senseless clamor" which demanded in
vestigatiOn, and insisted that adequate
and ample investigation had already
been made aud reported by the post
office department itself. There had
been enough Investigation, he said, and
Congress ought to go straight on with
it's work. Gov. McCreary. KY, asked
Mr.. Doiliver if it was generally cOnsid-
cred adequate for a prisoner to sit in
judgment on his own offenses. Sena
tor Patterson, Col, insisted that there
had been no investigation whatever in
reply to the demand which had been
made for one by the Commissioners ap-
pointed by the President himself. and
declared that an early adjournment
had been decided on to avoid legisla-
tion not desired by the President.
There was to be no tariff revision; no
public building bill; no river and har-
Dor bill; no reciprocity; no ,investiga-
ton of various scandals; no settlement
of the Swayne or Smoot cases. Sena-
tor Lodge asked him if the nation had
not had prosperity. and when in the
past there had ever been such high
tide of prosperity as under the Dign-
ley act. Senator Patterson replied that
the country had had flush times and
periods of depression under both par
ties and all kinds of legislation, but
he would venture to say that under
the so called free-trade regime of 1846,
there was more general thrift and ma
tional prosperity than there had been
under the administrations of McKin-
ley and Roosevelt. Senator Lodge ad
mitted that the worst feature of the
so. called postoffice scandal was the
fact now revealed that there had been
''secret rules" In the department for
the benefit of congressman; it was
hoped that the present bill would
abolish them.
In the House there are premonitOry
spats every days. Williams, Demo
cratic leader, SAID the situation brlstIed
with issues for the campaign. The
party in power would be held RESPONSE
BILE not merely for it's failure to cult.
vate reciprocal relations with other ma.
lions and its refusal to punish graft
ers or investigate manifest and palpa.
| BILE corruption, and for bankrupting the
treasury, but especially for its refusal
to prosecute the coal-carrying railroad
trust and to bring criminal action
| against the Northern Securities Com
pany and ordign punishment on the
promoters of that conspiracy. He add
ed that the impeachment of Judge
Swayne ought to be vigorously carried
| on or stopped that it was not dignifieG
or descent to hold a high judicial of
ficer in suspension while his arraign
ers went home to fix their fences.
Although there will probably be nc
| new public building begun or author
lied this year, the House has provided
in the sundry civil bill for a magnifi
cent addition to the Capitol-an extern
sion of the main body of the building
eastward los feet so as to bring it out
upon the plazaflush with the two wings,
This addition will contain sixty siX
spacious and Sumptuous rooms, half
Of which will belong to the House and
half to the Senate. The entire exten.
sion will cost $2,500,000, and will be
finished in two years. Leading from
the east steps to the rOtnnda will be a
beautiful marble vestibule, 10S feet
long, forming grand entrance to the
building. The Senate will probably
ratify the scheme.
The administration INDUCES in vO
ciferous joy over the news from Paris
that the Panama title is clear and
Colombia has lost her canal suit in the
French court, enabling the canal com.
during the present month. When he
up to the White House and embraced
the President with no more attempt
to hide his emotion than two girls
show upon the street when confiiding
to each other their matrimonial pros
poets. Other visitors gave way, and
automatically shrunk into embrasures
of the windows, and slid behind pOr-
tiers so as to see, not to be witnesses
Of the too ardent Fluctuations and
transports of rapture. Now let US see
if Uncle Sam can read his title clear to
bitches in the Swamp.
The numerous understrappers who
have risen from Shank'S ordinary mare
to gorgeous equipage during the last
two or three years will be deeply EN-
barrassed by the sundry civil bill, if it
goes through the Senate unscathed. 1t
provides that all carriages owned by
the government shall hereafter bear the
painted name of the department which
they serve. They will diminish their
use as private chariots to some extent,
but, as it stands, the Identifying name
need not be any larger than the type
in which this letter is printed, and they
may put it on the inside or on the un-
der side. So there are chances of es-
cape.