Washington Letter

Washington, I). C, Maren 24, 1884. The battle has begun. The Detaíoeratic f ictions of the II"Ue of Kep-esentatives crtucuscd on the Tariff bilí TueSday erenin;r, iiiid, a .cordÍMr to predlctíon "wklened the rilt !n their lute" lo inore pronoiilici;d disoord.iuee. Efforrs were tllíldf to créate the impre.-sion thut all went qiiietly ind harmoniou.-ly williin, but after a few botín wraiigle the decisión as tfant i mnjorlty of the Dr.niocístlc Menit)ers of the House will ti v to torce tlie pnssare of sume kind of tíirifl' bW, and tliat there is :i laige niMJority able to defuat sucli legislati'in, wlio reíerved the liberty of doing so if tbey chose. Debate was liinited to fl Te minutes foreaeh sipe;iker. Mr. Morrison opened by offeiin i resolution endorsing liis tariff reduction bilí. Mr. Wandalt said it did not meet the wants of his oonstitntion. Mr. K' aan next 6iiii)orted the bilí, and resolution. llere speaker CtirlUfte aróse pfeHÍee-maker urglüg the Mt'inbers to avoid bitteruess in the discussion and beware of a rjuarrel. Then Gen. Blackburn demanded that the action of the caucus í-hould be binding upon all Meinbers present. Mr. Hopkins iinmediately offered a resolutlou tliat no one siioulü be found. Tlie debate was long upon these propositions, tbe argumenta being directed to the efleet the measure would have in the next presldei - t al campaign. There was no little exeilment and Mr. Carlisk; again took the ñoor and waved the olive branch vigorously in the face of the opposition. He also offered a resolution which was adopted by a vote of 88 to 57 to put the lax on fruit brandies at ten cents per gallon and repeal the tax oh manufaetured tabacco. The Seríate continúes diseiission on tlie Blair Educatlonal bilí as it comes up daily n regular order nuil tlie Bonded Whisky Extensión mensure 1iv been the absorbinjr topic iu the House; the menibers of uoth branches showinjí that they ai e well posted on the respective subjects. On Thursday a vote was reuched on the latter bilí and whi.-key was overwhehnIngly deteated. The Senate lias also discuased the Tenitory of Dakota, whieh is llkely to have a hard time getting into the Union as a State, inasmuch as the question promises to be regarded as a political one. An interesting debate on nepotism preceded the passage of a bilí ncreasiuff the salaries of U. S. District Judges to $0.000 a year with an ameudinent prohibiting the Jndges froin appointing any relativc witiiin the dcpree oí lirst cousin to positions 11 the conrt. The Hou9e discussed the Louisiana floods and voted against a joint resolutinn ihit $300. 000 ,e gran ted to prevent the overflow of the Mississippi at New Orleans. Another appeal for aid rave rise to a warm debate on the subject, and Secretary of War Lincoln sujrjzexted that $12ö.000 of the unpxpectfd Ohio flood tund be used for the pui pose, whicli was finally voted for by but'h Houees. A inimber of new nieasuies havo been presented to Cmifrress this week. Amonp tliem as one providing increased faciliries lor deciding upon pension claims, and requiring tliat a lawyer and a surgeon be appointed in each Oongressional district to examine pension claimants in person. Another propo:es that the Patent Oflice be organized into an indeDciident deiiartmert under the (ontrol ol tlie building kiiüwn as the Patent Offiro, but iiovv occupied by tlie Department iif the Interior ot' whicli the Patent Office is novv a bureau. Postal telegmpliy is :i vexcd question now, viirious bilis and pronositions being uador cunsii'e ation in conimiitee. Kep:esenlative ijuniner of O ilifoinia n;a le un HfKUUient i" íavorof bis bilí wbich he assci'ted no ild uot eost the Guvcrnniciit a iloliar iis the money lo eeUbltsh a po.-tal lelegiapli would be raised by the i.-ue of bond. He uiaintained tliat tbc telegiiiphing of' the neoplo could be done at ten cents a message, and inore tban elear expenses. In opposition Mr. Uobeits of the Postal conipany, whlcb has un oft'er before the coniinittee wid Mr. buniner wns a "practical politioian" rather than a "practical telegrapher." Ou Thursday Congress was memorialized by the convention of American inventors, now in session iu Ciiicinnati, against tiie passage of any act injiirious to patenttes. Ko ehange in tlie law relatiug to patents is probable.