Washington Notes

Tiiere is no truüi whatover in tlie rcport tliat Postmaster General Key contamplateR resigniijg f rom tlie Cabjnet at an etam day. ,Tudge Key himself gives it Out that Lt WÍll Btick. Tn ëferëtted fb 'tíQí Speakership, the Washington Star thinks Randall's chances are the best, thbugh he nor any other candidato .has a sure thiug of it. Morrison and Saylor each hare a strong following, and either ono of tliem may capture tlie prize. Just now Washington is overrun with an ugly malaria that is very sevére upon etrangers unusod to tho climate. The Boord of Health has just made a report upon the subject, and fijids thé great source of trouble in tho ïnaiah lands near the Potomao. Great distress and destitution prevail in Washington, largely araong the families of dischaiged Govcmment clfirks and employés. Many of these, miable 'to fiud ivork of any kind that they would be able to do, are reHuced to actual beggary. The new Commissiorer of the District, Mr. Bryan, is endeavoriug to organizo sorac system of relief that niay at lenst prevent nfcnrvation. The recently-discovered frauda in ooloring foreign sugars, in order lo reduce tho duties on those of certain grades, has induccd the State Department at Washington to adopt prompt and vigorous nieasures for thtir suppression. Proper warnings will probably be sent to interested partiea, and, after October 1, all sugars found to bc colored for fraudnlent purposes -wil! be seized and üie penalties enforced. Secretaey Schtiez has recently boen paying special attention to the subject of land steals and timber depredations. It is not improbable that special legal counsel will be sent out to Minuesota to sue for recot eries there. He has atlopted the rule that no compromisos shallbe made with lumber depredators except for the full market price of tlie timber, instead of the cost jjrico, as has hitherto been the case. Efforts have beeu made reccntly, on the partofclaim-geiits, to get the Treasury Department to reopen a number of the cotton cases wliioh were rejocted under previous administrations. Thus far Secretary Shcrman aud Assistnnt Secrettiry French havo cto.eicled against all these applications, and refuscd to refer the cases to Soliaitor Raynor for an opinión, which the. persons were vcry desirous should be done. The fact that ;5,234,800 dead. letters werc receivcd from the varioiis liöstoffices of the country at the PostoiKco Depar ment during tlie yeár onding Juno :!( 1877, shows a large degreo of ; carclessness in notproperly projiaring mddirecting letters, although other canses aided in swclling tho uumber of defunct missives. Over $50,001) in money wns found in these notes, besides bilis, driills, notes, jcwelry, etc, to a íauch eater amount. A Wasihniíton' correepondent saya tlie position wliich the ITnited States is undarstood to hold is: First, that the Diaz Government must be proved to be acceptablo to the peoplc of Mexieo, :uul not the ti'mporary triumph of a rc.volutionist; and, second, that it poseesses power to carry out striotly to tho letter all lts treaty obligations witli the United Stutes. When President Hayos' atlministratiou is conviuced on these two pointe Señor Mato will undoubtedly be recognized as the accreditod represouüitive of the Mexican republic. In other Avords, the United Stiltes has in ciïect placed the Mexican Government on its good behavior.