Year: 1876

Letter from Washlngtso.


Congress is BY not very rapid advances
settling down to the work of legislation.
The experience Of the greater part Of the
members necessitates slow progress by
the committees. and it is we'll that de.
sire to exhibit great dispatch has not
seduced the committees into presenting
badiy-digestcd material to the House.
Then, too, the prerequisites for legisla-
tion that would ensure economy in pub.
lie expenditures WAS careful and neces.
sarily protraeted Investigation Of the
manner in which the funds had
been disposed of in past times.
The committees were called
upon to unravel the intricate methods by
which the various departments had sue
ceeded in laying such = burden Of taxa
ton upon the country. Such investiga.
tions are proceeding with fair celerity in
all the departments. The committees
have deemed it best to hold their exami-
nations in private, on the political ground
that if the disclosures expected to be
forthcoming were permitted to dribble
out little by little, they would have less
effect upon the public mind than if pre-.
sented e', n.asse in the reports. Some
thing may be said both for and against
the soundness Of this policy, but on tho
whole it is, perhaps, best that the dag
nosis of the disease should not be pub.
lished until remedies are ready to be of.
fered simultaneously.


Yon have perhaps already heard that
tho nl1 vnoo c,,en fn~ L;v,~ a ~n.~ kn~-:
tory. to be called Pembina, OUT Of north
ern Dakota, is again before Congress. 1t
is in charge of Judge Kidder, delegate
from Dakota. The capital of the pro.
posed territory would probably be Bis


narck. although rs yet it is not abso.
]utely decided whether that place or Far.
60 should have the preference. The
friends of the bill maintain that the cost
of an additional territorial government
would be actually less than the present
expense Of the section to the government.
The vast extent Of Dakota, and the i'm.
perfect communication between the capi-
tai and the northern part of the territory
render necessary an excessively heavy
outlay in order to transact the judicial
and other business Of government. The
people of the district in question, claimed
to plumber some fifteen thousand, are said
to be greatly inconvenienced by their
practical separation from the capital, and


the interests Of the region to fall far short
of the development that they would OBJ
tain If the inhabitants had . government
near enough to make itself felt vigorous
ly. Judge Kidder holds that it is decid.
edly to the interest of Minnesota that the
new territory should be established. In
the Senate, Hitchcock, chairman of the
committee on Territories, is heartily in
favor of the project. have been unable
to learn who will be appointed to the
principal Offices to be created should The
territory be established, but doubtless
the vacancies are all filed even now be-
fore they exist. Ex-senator Ramsey
has, it is safe to assume, finger in tho
pie.


All the government employees have
been for some days in state of the ut
most trepidation. 1t is proposed to re.
duce by ten per cent. all salaries above
$1,000, and to reduce the working force
of the several departments by one-afth.
This is certainly very strong measure
toward economy, and will, of course, be
strongly opposed. fancy that that Con-
gressman's lot will for some time to
come be the happicst who has
fewest appointees in the government
Offices. The lamentations and entreaties
to which members are bound to be sub.
jected will be enough to make the most
enduring sigh for the quiet of private
life and bewail the unhappy fate Of tho
peoples representatives. It is estimated
that saving Of seven millions of dollars
will be effected by the enactment of the
Aforesaid reductions. Whether or not
the public service can, without de.riment
to efficiency, withstand such limitation
Of outlay, 1t is certain that the groans and
expostulations of the threatened employ.
es are 10 q great extent unreasonable.
That class of people take it rs hardship
that they are required to work, or at
least to appear to work, for . length of
time daily which would be thought q
very moderate demand by m immense
majority Of the clerks engaged in private
business concerns. Lately there has come
from some of them . moan because on
Saturday they cannot be free from three
o'clock in the afternoon, instead of at
four. True, in many Of our cities it has
become the custom for large business
houses to close at three or earlier on
Saturday, but in nearly al such cases
the employees are for the rest of the week
confined in their Offices until two or three
hours later than is the case with the
Washington clerks.


A gentleman in ono Of the bureaus who
has some sixty clerks (female) under him,
gave to me yesterday = very emphatic
opinion on the matter. He told me of an
instance where = young woman, whose
parents live in , neighboring city and who
are amply able to support her in more
than comfort, Was sent to him to be given
. place. She proved utterly incompc.
tent for the work allotted her, and was
put at something else. In . few days
shc was sent back to her former place
through the influence Of Congressman.
and the werk she is paid for doing has to
be done by another. A somewhat simi.
lar case was told me 1T the same time.
only the reinstatement of the person,
again female, was made at the request
Of Mrs. Grant to the Secretary Of the
Department. As the gentleman alluded
to said. it is pretty small business when
the Presidents wife interferes to fill the
bureaus with useless clerks. These are
only samples of numerous instances re.
lated to me. The difficulty in the way
Of getting rid Of such lumber is the inn.
probability that the twenty per cent. Of
employees to be discharged would be &C.
lected from tho worthless. The Con-
9rcSsman who had nris;nallv attained tho