Father Abraham. (Reading, Pa.) 1864-1873, March 19, 1869, Image 2

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/'INDEPENDENT PII#OGRESSIVE.
LANCASTER CITY, YA.
FRIDAY, MARCH 19,1869.
- ileotiomy, Retrenchment, Faithful Collection
of the Revenue and Payment of the Public
Debt.—GRANT.
CAND4DATM
tar We are authorised to announce ISAAC
MISFILER, of Lancaster city, (late of Rest
Cocalico township,) as a candidate for the
office of SHERIFF, subject to the rules of the
Republican party.
Cam" We are authorized to announce GEO.
W. COMPTON, of C:ernarvon township, as
a candidate for REGISTER, subject to the
rules of the Republican party.
FORTY-FIRST CONGRESS.
The new United States Senate stands :
Republicans 57
Copperheads 11
Virginia, Mississippi and Texas to
elect when reconstructed.
Republicans. 139
Copperheads
Alabama, Georgia and Connecticut to
elect; also, Mississippi, Virginia and Tex
as when reconstructed.
It is believed that not less than ten or
twelve Cops. will be ousted, of which two
will be from Pennsylvania. There may
be one or two Republicans from Tennes
see rejected. The House, when full, will
consist of 243 members, and the Senate of
74 members. •
STRONG WORDS.
The man who never "had an idea in his
head , ' has taught that large class of long-
winded stump speakers and verbose jour
nalists who found fault with his reticence
the value of silence. There is not a man
In all that army of fault-finders who could
convey a more severe condemnation of
Andrew Johnson's policy than is condensed
in these words:
“All laws will be faithfully executed,
whether they meet my approval or uot.
Laws are to govern all alike; those op
posed to as well as those who avor them.
I know of no method to secure the repeal
of bad or obnoxious laws so ellbctive as
their stringent execution.”
The man who utters sentences like these
can reasonably afford to keep pretty silent
six days out of sevn.
THUGGERY ON THE MAKE.
Some time last summer, one of the lead
, hugs of this County—now an office
' bz some means managed to in
, ; Railroad Company to issue a
of free passes over their road, to
in a certain political intseat.
In
"',f using them, according to repro
.,
ions made by Mr. Thug, by the in-
uals in whose names they were is
fitied, at least eight of them passed into
the hands of a copperhead Councilman of
this city, and by him sold to butchers and
drovers, for sums amounting to one hun
dred dollars each and upwards. This
was decidedly sharp practice on the Rail
road Company. Row many more than
these eight passes were sold, we are not
prepared to state. We are ready, if called
upon, to state names of the parties re
ferred to, and may .do so hereafter, even
without being so requested. That will
depend on their future honesty and good
behavior. For the present, we have only
to say, by way of comment, that any man
who would sell a free Railroad pass,
yfeuAtnt hesitate to do almost any thing
for money. We have a few other Thug
financial operations to " ventilate" one
of these days.
THE CABINET.
President Grant on Thursday completed
his Cabinet by the nomination of Hon.
George S. Boutwell, of Massachusetts, as
Secretary of the Treasury, Hon. Hamilton
Fish, of New York, as Secretary of State,
in the place of Hon. E. B. Washburne,
who resigns to accept the position of Min
ister to France, and of General John A.
Rawlings, of Illinois, as Secretary of War,
in place of General Schofield, who held the
place temporarily. As completed the
Cabinet consists of the following gentle
men:
Eon. HAMILTON FOIE, New York, Seo
retary of &ate.
L, lion. GEORGE S. BOUTWZLL, Massa
chusetts, Secretary of the Treasury.
lion. J. A. J. Cassurst.z., Maryland,
Postmaster General.
Gen. Joan A. BAWLING., Illinois,
Secretary of War.
Hon. ADOLPHE.!FM, Pennsylvania,
Secretary of the Na
(Mn. J. D. Cox, 0 io, Secretary of the
Interior.
Judge E. R. HOAR, Massachusetts, At
torney General.
This is a strong, homogeneous and
working Cabinet. Strong not only in
'Hill, but in its decided political cast.
Each member of it has earned reputation
at home and credit throughout the nation
for excellence of character and the whining
of more or less distinction in their several
-walks of life. Thcroughly Republican in
all its parts, it will have the entire con&
we of that party throughout the coma
wiry, • , and as a necessary consequence will
work in harmony with the President and
with Congress in carrying out, the great
work of the party of progress, economy
and justice.
MINORITY COUNTIES SNUBBED!
We learn that at a caucus of the Penn
sylvania Senators and Represe ntatives at
Washington, it was unanimously agreed
that each member should confine himself
to his own district, so fir as matters local
to that district were concerned, and where
there were no Republicans, that those dis
tricts should be administered upon by the
Senates; that where there were appoint
merits at large, or covering more than one
district, that they should meet in caucus
and unite upon a recommendation. The
proposition that the Senators should con
trol the minority districts, is
,simply out
rageous. It completely ignores the active
men in those districts, and especially the
Republican candidates for Congress, who
nobly led the forlorn hope, at great per
sonal sacrifice of comfort and means,
against the overwhelming cohorts of the
copperheads. If this scheme is carried
out, we predict that next full will show
such a defeat of the Republicans in this
State as was never heard of. Why are
Republicans elect entitled. to any more
consideration in their districts, than the
unselfish Republicans who ran as candi
dates in hopeless districts like those of
Berks, York, Northampton, Lehigh, Lu
zerne, &c.? We hope Gen. Grant, and
the other appointing powers at Washing
ton, will put their feet down square against
this infamous proposition.
WATCH THEM.
It is said at Harrisburg that the super
numary officers of the House—the twenty
seven—expect to get pay fbrthelr doing
nothing by the aid of tlia, Dernocratic
members. Nothing more natural. That
party generally puts its arm's full length
into any public treasury they can get hold
of. Witness the recent peculations in the
matter of market-stall and water rents in
this city. Then go back twelve or fifteen
years, when that party held high carnival
over the public works of this State, when
the public money was stolen by thousands
and millions of dollars. But this will not
excuse Republicans who vote with Demo
crats to consummate the outrage of pay
ing twenty-seven officers, whom a month
ago the House voted there was no earthly
use for. The intention is to force tbeii,i3i
through in the appropriation bill, . This
the Senate can prevent, and we will see
whether they will be driven from their
position.
W . M7M7 9 F=TM7g
Our readers will find, in another column,
a long communication from Mr. E. Me-
Mellan, on the subject of "the Bridge
Contracts," with which the public is al
ready familiar. We cheerfttlly publish
this production, lbng as it is, because we
are always willing and ready to give those
publicly noosowl of wrong aping n Itar
and full hearing.
Mr. McMellan, in the first place as
sumes that the articles which recently ap
peared in FATHER ABRAIIAM, and also in
the Express, were aimed at himself, and
were vile and slanderous in their charac
ter. He is entirely mistaken—certainly so
fhr as FATHER ABRAHAM is concerned.
We never thought of attacking Mr. McMel
lan, nor did we even refer to him except
only for the purpose of showing up the
outrageous manner in which the Board of
Commissioners, or a majority of them,
have been squandering or using the peo
ple's money. We did charge, and repeat
now, that for the last year or two, Mr.
McMellan has been the elect of the Com
missioners, to build the bridges at the
prices, and under the contracts entered
into, and arrangements made between him
self and the Commissioners; that the latter
refused to give contracts to the lowest
bidders, as they should have done, and
that, under this monopolizing system—
making Mr. McMellan the only bidder,
contractor and bridge builder, and persis
tently refusing any other bids—many thou
sands of dollars were wrongfully taken
out of the County Treasury. For this
the Commissioners only, to whom the af
fairs of the county have been committed
by the people, are responsible. The pub
lic have therefore nothing to do with Mr.
McMellan, but only with the Commission
ers.
And how doss Mr. McMellan answer
these charges against the Commissioners?
Simply by reciting a misunderstanding
between himself and Mr. Jesse Lutz—
trying to make it appear that on a certain
occasion, the latter appeared disposed to
be somewhat quarrelsome. The sworn
statement of Hagy, says Mr. McM., is "Ss
harmless in its details as he could wish."
Then why answer it at all?
But, as we never had anything to do
with Mr. McMellan, we need 'nbt enter
into any imaginary question in regard to
himself. He is a private citizen, and in no
way responsible for the acts of the. Com
missioners, who, we repeat, and defy con
tradiction on their own part, have, in the
most shameful manner, squandered large
sums of money belonging to the people of
Lancaster county, under the sham con
tracts referred to. It is simply one of the
items of public business peculiar to
Thuggery in this county, and Mr. Mattel
kin is only used by them, in this instance,
to "pull their chestnuts out of the fire."
girThe Hanover Spectator ii out in a
new dress. It is a. good paper, looks well
and is in a prosperous condition. "Long
may it wave."
UETTINII FIVIOCIatIii.
The Copperheads are in a bad way.
They don't like the Constitutional amend
ment. Giving the patient, long suffering
and much abused colored citizens the right
to vote, and the enjoyment of " , Lib
erty and the pursuit of llappin , ‘
what they call an outrage. They are vet t
particular about the right of the thou: -
of thieves and pickpockets and out
of the Fve Points, Mackarelville and
ford street to vote, because these ri
the democratic majorities. But the h
a black man voting, is an outrage.
why? Simply because they, or at h
majority of them, will most probabl;
the Republican ticket—for the party I
set them free and raised their to ell
ship and usefulness. Aside front the
fundamental principle involved—the ; .. Speaker, this bill might
Men. They can get what
ciple of " Equality before the Law," we they want under the free railroad law. I
favor the amendment because it will add don't think there is any intention pf building
fully twenty thousand to the average Re- this road. •
PO. BILLINGFELT. Mr. Speaker, this bill
publican majority in Pennsylvania; be- l'
i p ti m l 2
v iz ide .
x s o for a road under a charter obtained
cause it will rescue Maryland and Ken- .
Mn c NELL. Fifteen years ago.
tucky from the misrule of the Ku Klux- I MR. Brzurrossra. It does not make any
ors and Copperheads; because it willmake
r was tors
Delaware Republican and do away with t i s
t n i c fren ni ce t law at i;z atfmo.e
and
i r
ti ? e or a n a p r a p u o y a
jai in the old act did not undertake to
whipping posts and similar democra c Lt a t a h t ro h u a g t r ma T fa h r is ta n e ew aam bill e i n s ae as m k e e a d t n a o a i d v
relics of barbarity. In a word, the Co p- completion ea of the road and adding new corp.).
perheads don't want colored people to vote tater& lam laboring under some disadvan
tagweeekln r a efzi
()a toll:
i t n )i s i t l 6 a m lt e h n ongli tie l s k w n e e r w e
because they are sure to vote Republican,
and we do want them to vote for precisely at work trying to influence Senators against
the same, among other very good reasons, the passage of this bill. I could not for a mo
rnetit believe that any Senators would be in
and that's just "what's the matter." aintneed. When there aro parties in this
tf ir rere te thes who are willing to employ their means
The Lancaster Intelligence). is particu-
I
I th t e hl!!
h d o e u saloals e n n t e o m f s i i 3 t i y i r
enough resources,
ii
larly ferocious about. this amendment. It
Le
falls back on the Calhoun doctrine of State gislature of Pennsylvania to encourage them.
s i a r r em g e u te r r ec th en at tl n y ot w m e many years ago -- rpa l ni n t r a y a
Sovereignty over National Sovereignty,
and says: . kinlwn as the Pennsylvania railroad company,
"If the Constitution of the United States whom we thought had contemplated or was
should de ratified by the Legislatures of three- trying to infringe upon the rights of others.
fourths of the States, it would still fail to be It seems now that they ant in favor of aliow
binding upon the people of any -State, unless ing lany company to have the privilege of
a majority of them voluntarily accepted it." buhaing railroads and developing the re-
Our neighbor may rest assured that to a a ve me t s h o e f
m th e e an C s om to m d o o n so weallhal v rov e r en t h b e e r y e
three-fourths of the States will ratify sheet five years as a member of this Legisla
aturpptaindeg s t o o
a far i;3e l ta m: e y r say ra t a h a a a t il l i Lav f e av n a e r ve a r f
the amendment. Whether it will
be binding will be a question, if the 'Passage of any bill. I have never been
raised, that will very soon be settled by
v to ote suv ar m a eT )ill r o s f o m n i t u li e is as tioo a r, be ra g a iN a t v h a e r m bi)
Uncle Samuel Grant, and in a manner, nevir-did, and never intend, to exchange my
too, entirely satisfactory. votenpon any bill. I have thought that every
bill ought to stand upon its own merits, and
The Infect' enter also says: that there was wisdom enough in this body to
"The issue is now fully made up. The pee- vote accordingly.
pie will vote for or against the repeal of the What do I find there now? Not Senators
amendment. A Legislature will be elected I of this body attending to this bill but out
which will undo the infamous work." eiders coming in here, not only in violation of
tile rules body, but in violation of all
If the amendment, a ft er being ratified,
decency, tr y ingto button-hole members, try
is not binding, where is' the issue? And ing to influence them, and damning them to
what is the incoming Legislature going to their very faces whenever they undertake to
report dai a w b t i l l ic i
iviri4tanniontffiergitattizee
interests
a en a - f
repeal? The joint resolution just ratified
by the Pennsylvania Legislature is no act, theuges; paid hirelings to come here and
h o I m n o . o n w s
or statute, but a rote—the vote of under 71n) tempt fo n r a nt obeying the
em
n um h f
Pennsylvania, which, when once polled, of a Legithialve committee, of which tbe Men
us it has been, and duly recordedlis it has T i e r ' fr r i , l i o n l y ir..___ l4
g again Lowry ]
was
to -day :41 sell out
or will be, cannot be repeated, or made the Ben ye of Pennsylvania L
_as they have done
void,
void, unless it is shown that it has been once ► '. to this MI" railroad Wawa , that
or 'AU,whilet be Ma not yet purged
polled in a fraudulent or unlawful manner. - t contempt. I see the same
It wilbe counted just one time, and no - here ar - more
more' and no leg* . - - of
All cope
toter
.sa V lla
ter nr ' the ' Amount
The vote of Pennsylvania—this moat
glorious and purely REPUBLICAN VOTE,
is polled, and theresult recorded at Head
Quarters, and that is the end of it. That
the people will simply endorse it at the
next election, by twenty-five thousand
majority, by electing the Republican can
didates for Governor and Supreme indge,
there can be no doubt whatever.
GRANT'S INAUGURAL.
The New York Tribune analyzes the
foregoing inaugural by reducing it to
thirteen plain propositions:
I. I shall advise Congress—but not war
upon it. •
11. My business is to execute the laws.
A bad law will always remedy itself when
the people begin to suffer from it.
111. We have had war,—now we must
have peace. We have our common coun
try, and any sentiment of sectional hatred
or revenge is unpatriotic.
IV. Our debt is the honorable conse
quence of the war. It is the price we pay
for Union. Not to pay is a crime only
second to treason.
V. We must pay our debts without
equivocation. When we borrowed in our
hour of distress, the dollars we received
were gold to us. We must pay gold un
less the contract expressly stipulates to
the contrary.
VI. American credit should be the best
in the world. Let us atop telking about
Repudiation and collect the revenues, and
we can make it the best in the world.
VII. I am in favor of building railroads
to the Pacific. But we must not' issue
bonds for that purpose—until we resume
specie payments. We must no longor
promise to pay a gold dollar until we re
ceive a gold dollar. That was a war "-
cessity it must be stopped now.
VIII. America can never be groat un
til her name is synonymous with Firma.
cial 'Honor. Our flag means • Liberty; ft
must also mean Faith.
IX. We must resume specie ',Omuta
speedily; perhaps not now, but as soon al;
we can.
X. We should do unto aim Imtions as
we would have other nations 40 unto
America. If countries like England make
"Alabama" precedents, they only compel
us to follow them.
XI. As for the Indian, conscience
speaks to us. We must seal'
XII. As for the Negro,—equal rights
in all the States.
XIII. And may God bless us all.
A SUGGESTION.
The Thug organ, of twi"Soldiers Mon
ument, 91 suggests an election for P. M. of
this City,- to relieve our M. C. Well,
that looks very fir—suppose the Inquirer
goes a little further and asks the Conunia
sioners to give out the bridges in the sane:
way, or at least give - more than one man.
a chance. What say you—but we forget
that FATHER ABRAHAM 18 a 44001HAMIPt
ible little sheet!"
:31 , 10 14941:4/03.140 4311 i :SA C:3:1'11
Our readers will peruse, with pleasure,
the following remarks of our Senator, Mr.
BILLINGFELT. He handles, without
gloves, the infamous crew who infest the
Halls of our Legislature to prey upon the
leople i and filch money from their pock
et** fitur the State Treasury. Mr. 131L
'armly congratulated by
parties at the conclusion
>r his bold and indepen-
Lancaster county is high
wing such a• man to re-
Legislatta
'ircnNixvmaz BAILitoAD
order was Senate bill No.
to au act entitled An act
Cornwall and Pliamixville
approved the 21st day of
4 to pass, ame my con
, filing to raise the means to
to , roadA and lam met here, not by
Senators opposing it, but by outsiders, who
are trying to impose themselves upon this
body and detist the passage of all meritorious
bills not suited to their interests.
I lad no idea of saying a word in favor of
the 0 of this bill ; I did not think it
wonkl be necessary to do so ; but when I find
thefuity of the Senators assailed, I think
in itd uty to rise np and protest against it.
Wit these few remarks, I will leave it to the
judgibent of this Senate either to pass it or
vote it down, as they may think proper.
On the question. Will the Senate agree to
the first section ?
The you and nays were required by Mr.
Billingfelt and Mr. Fisher, and were as fol
lows, vis :
YSAB—Messrs. Billingfelt, Brown (Mercer)
Oolotnan Fisher, Graham, Lowry, Olmsted,
White and Worthington, Speaker--fl.
N.ors—Mesers. Beck, Brown (Northamp.
ton,) Burnett, Connell, Davis, Duncan, Br
rett, 'Heaszey, Linderman, 141'Candless
Intire, Miller, Osterhout, Randall, B earight,
Stinatm and Turner-17. Bo the question was
determined in the negative, and the bill fell.
The "pesters and folders" at Harris
burg, might be able to get their pay by fol
lowing the example of Mr. Colder, who by
order of the City Council, hired some car
riages to be used in the demonstration in
honor of Andrew Johnson, during his
swing around the circle in 1866. It seems
that the ordering of the carriages was un
authorised by law, and Mr. Colder could
not get his pay from the City Treasury.
He holds the members to their individual
responsibility, and has brought suit against
theis4 Now, if the aforesaid "pastors and
folders" would take Mr. Colder's plan,
and 1 4 come down" on the members who
employed them without authority of law,
ttier s siight get what is due them. It is
worib.a trial anyhow.
sckmailumumat IN PROWL
We are permitted to extract the follow
ing from a letter received by an esteemed
friend in this county, from a gentienian
of distinction in Prussia, who some years
ago, ams a leading officer of the Mora
vian Church at Litiz: '
" T a same nail that brought your very
ag
is letter also placed into my hands
"Pit '': laweffiebrenner's” letters, by which
I see • ou can still enjoy wit and humor.
I t r . you very cordially for these let
ters. , key have recalled to me years
gone .y, and I see individuals of those
days , • ,in spirit before me, whose
44pc ylvania Deitch" so often amused
me. am still able to read this dialect,
and laugh heartily when doing so. I
frequ laugh
read passages to the young
etude is visiting me, and try them,
- 4.likeycan understand this peculiar
"Der I think the author very sue
, having entered into the spirit of
tip •is I formerly knew."
A 1110 H-TONED Kentucky gentleman.
teem his daughter chained to a log to pre
soot her marrying against his wishes.
GET YOUR PAY !
' IN k.l
EDITORS EXPRESS : The fanning aniarte
statements by a Mr. Jesse Late and Mn Jacob
Bogey, appeared on the 19th of Fury
last in Father di brahast, published in Ibilkoity,
and it was not until a day of two ago** my
attention was called to them. I shoukt have
passed them by as I did various othet Mute
ments which have lately, been published 01 the
same vile and slanderous character,
billt that
they seem to have been made at t lime
under the solemn obligations of an *na
tion, and by men too who might be con ellte4
very respectable at a distance.
"January 13th 1869, Jesse Lutz being duty
affirmed by Samuel Shoob, one of the A.udit
ors, did declare and say that the Bridge at
Lutz's mill, built by E. McMellen, for the
Commissioners, could be built for $l,OOO, and
less, say from $BOO to $9OO. No roof on it;
between 50 and 60 feet long, 12 feet wide out
side. Wagons cannot pass each other on it,
too high in the centre, the ascent and descent
being too great. Looks like a camel—a mete
road Bridge. The sides three or four feet high,
boarded up. The Supervisor last Spring put
stones around the foundation. The creek is
about 15 feet wide where the bridge is built.
The bridge might not have stood if the Super
visor had not done so. I have built railroad
bridges ; am a ldhcksmith by trade. The
township did the filling up behind the abut
ments. The Carpenters were there about four
days—three or four carpenters-there. Three
or four masons there for four or five days.
There were old stones there for the stone
work ; some were brought two hundred yards
from John Sweigart's. When Fritz and I
made the calculation, thought it would take
three or four thousand feet of lumber; the
lumber was got in Columbia, the railroad was
from twenty to fifty steps from the bridge. 1
don't think there was $2OO worth of iron in it.
Bridge is whitewashed. Mr. McMellen got Mr.
Freymaurer to whitewash it for a dollar or
two.
"Jacob Hagey, being duly affirmed, says the
bridge at Lutz's Mill could be built for $lOOO ;
the work is good enough. The day the Com
missioners were at Lutz's Mill I offered to
build it for $lOOO. I was at Reinhold's Sta
tion when the Commissioners and the man
who built the bridge came there ; I asked Jno.
Gensemer, one of the Supervisors, whether
there would be a bridge built, and he said
yes ; I said I thought when the bridge was
given out the lowest bidder would get it ;
Gensemer said that it would not be given out,
that . the Commissioners had their man with
them who would build it. I said nothing to
the Commissioners about it ; but they were
present."
The above are said to be the sworn state
ments of Lutz and Hagey. For the purpose of
giving the people of Lancaster county some
idea of the testimony of Mr. Lutz, which they
are asked to believe, without hearing any
thing cm the other side, I herewith beg leave
to give a correct statement of the whole affitir,
and let the people be the judges. When I first
commenced the work on the foundation of the
Bridge, both my men and myself were ordered
by Mr. Lutz to leave the ground unless I put up
the bridge at a point tosuit him, and at a differ
ent point from that selected by the County
Commissioners. Of course, I could not comply
with the request of the gentleman, and on my
positive refusal to do so. he became exceed
ingly violent and threatened the workmen
and myself with summary vengeance. Asids
insulting language and insolent behavior was
too much to bear, and in order to allow the
i
men to go on with the work, I was corn lied,
as a matter of necessity, to order him
torily to leave the ground and that, I ! stt sm
i ni
not go, I should use sufficient force to
plish that end. He then le ft , came to
caster and brought suit against me. Z t
the nature of the suit was, I cannot new re
member ; at all events, he discontinniod
suit and gratifletnimself by mire the-
I may be allowed to state moth(
Mr. Lutz Si " rith " -
the '
,nit, stone, J. used neat o hint,
which, at Mr. Lutz's_ ice, would
within a fraction of $ 9O O . No doubt the con
tract for furnishing that article would have
silenced all opposition on his part, as he would
have realized as much for his stone as he say.
the bridge could be built for.
The bridge is about sixty feet long, twelve
feet wide inside; is an uncovered tuoh suspen
sion bridge, has a comber or convexity of
about two feet, that. is higher in the muter
than at either end, and is built on the plan
that all such bridges are erected, with a view
to strength and durability. The mason work
was dontity good by good masons of the neigh
borhood, of good large sized sand stone,.
averaging from two to live feet in length. In
splitting and preparing this stone I had sev
eral men engaged from eight to ten days before
the maims commenced work. I had six car
penters, each of whom worked nine days, from
four to five masons for ten and eleven deys,
besides tenders and laboring men. The
amount of lumber used was over 10 00e het,
for which I can produce the bills. Now lam
prepared to prove the truth of my statement
by gentlemen of the neighborhood in which
the work was done; gentlemen too of the
highest standing, and of the most unexcep
tionable character; gentlemen who did not
desire to obtain the contract for furnishing the
stone at 84.50 per perch, or dictate the pro
priety of erecting the structure at a particular
point to suit their own convenience, to the
great detriment of the public. Mr. Lutz says
he is a blacksmith, and for aught I know he
may be a very good one, but, from his own
sworn statement I am convinced that he is not
the man who would be chosen either to locate,
plan or build a bridge unless the party em
ploying him were fit subjects for the State
Lunatic Asylum. He must be either inex
cusably ignorant in the knowledge of figures,
or he must think that the
_gulled
of Lancaster
county are the most easily 'gulled people in the
world, when he says that there are only about
three thousand feet of lumber used in the con
struction of that bridge. Bo much for Mr.
Lutz.
The statement of Mr. Ropy is as harmless
in its details as I could possibly wish. He
states that he offered to erect this modern
Rialto for $lOOO. ` Tht is certainly magnani
mous on his part ; patriotic In the ititrente ;
but of course he would dolt ass labor qt lyre,
just for the fun of the thing, to enjoy the rep.
utatlon of having built a bridge over a creek
In Lancaster county. IC Mr. Haim has
single idea of immortalising himself in this
way I hope and trust he may soon have an
opportunity of gratifying his attiblefen.
Equally erroneous and unjust were the at
tacks made upon me by the editors or certain
papers of this city when they say the founda
tions of the bridge at the Printer's Paper
Mill were made up of small Muss and air
slacked lime, and that I used two of the old
arches, badly cracked, the falling of which is
only a qnvstiou of a few years, mikes it a
miserable in rust ure, &e., &0. The litne used
wail always freshly burned and of as good
quality as could be obtained anywhere in the
neighborhood, and as to the two arches spoken
of I had nothing to do with them as they
were part of the turnpike road and not in
cluded in my contract. But, as this part of
the Subjeot wW soon come up for legal hevesti
gation, I will pass it for the present, regretting
however that gentlemen so much interested
in the welfare of the people, as these same
gentlemen seem to be, did not - for a moment
take time to examine the terms of thecontract
and try to know more about it before they
hurled their wholesale denunciations on my
devoted head.
In conoltudon permit me to MY that there
is nu other consideration which could possibly
induce me to appear in the ooluwns of the
press than that of protecting my chernelar
from the vile assaults to which I have lately
been subjected by such men ea Lute & Cu. ;
and to expose the motive which wised these
gentlemen to swear so disenterestedly.
B. 10711Lama7r.
OUR HARRISBURO LETTER.
HARRISBURG, Sfarsh'4,4lßet:
.Dear Father Abraham:—As•intimated in my
last, a session of the Senate was held on
Wednesday evening to consider the resolution
ratifying the suffrage amendment. Mr. Bur
nett, (Democrat) lead off in a speech of some
length, but it was a mere rehash of the old
and stale arguments of his party, and full of
"nigger," "nigger," "nigger." He was fol
lowed by his brother demts;rats, Messrs. Sea
right, Davis, McCandless and Wallace, pretty
much in the same strain. The Republicans
had decided in caucus, in order to pass the
resolution to third reading that evening, to
call the previous question at 11 o'clock and to
refrain from taking part in the discussion mt
til the resolution came up on final passage the
next day. So the opposition had the entire
evening to themselves—except what little
time was taken up by Senator Lowry, of Erie,
who, by taunts and imprecations they finally
induced to "get off" one of his characteristic
speeches. The peinocrats were much chra
glued at discovering alma the Republicans
would not gratify them by replying. The
chamber was packed with spectators who
seemed to appreciate the joke highly; and
one of the speakers finding himself unable to
secure the attention of the Senators, addressed
himself to the lobby. The whole discussion
was tame and spiritless. Next morning on
the final passage of the resolution, addresses
were made by Senators Mclntyre, (democrat)
and White, Fisher, Errett and Stinson, (Re
publicans,) Which completely wiped out the
thread-bare arguments of the opposition. The
resolution carried by a vote of 18 ayes to 15
nays. An understanding was had in the House
on Friday that the resolution would be taken
up on to-morrow evening, and sessions beheld
each following evening, to be devoted to its
consideration, until finally disposed of.
THE TEMPERANCE QUESTION
Rev. Penuel Coombe and James Black, of
your city, a committee appointed by the Tem
perance Convention lately in session herb,
have prepared a bill looking to the total aboli
tion of the license system in localities where,
by popular vote, the people decide in favor of
its abolishment. It provides that on the ap
plication of one-third of the qualified voters
of any election district in the State, the court
thereof shall order an election to be held, at
which election, if a majority of the qualified
voters so decide, all applications for license
shall be refused by the court. These gentle
men had a hearing before the House Commit
tee last week, and their proposition met with
their approval. The late stage of the session
precludes, I think, the possibility of its
passage.
TILE BOILER SWINDLER
Another snake reared its head in the House
a few days ago, in the shape of a bill requir
ing a certain indicator to be placed on all
steam boilers in the State, and requiring the
appointment of boiler inspectors to see)hat
the law is enforced. The Horning Patriot de
nounces it as a "gigautie swindle," and char
ges "that a bill of like import was before the
Legislatt#e last winter and the *um of two
hundred thousand dollars was offered to pass
it through both houses and have it signed by
the Governor." Whether dishonest agencies
are at work now or not to secure its passage,
the bill is evidently gotten up as a for
somebody, and the fact that it has not.been
placed on the flies of the members of itself
looks very suspicious. The bill was consid
ered in Committee of the Whole. A vote of
the House has not yet been reached, though it
looks as if it would pass.
THE CATTLE BILL .AGAIN
Last night an effort was made in the House
to suspend the rules to call up the " Cattle
Bill." Two-thirds being necessary, it failed.
It is whispered that the thing is "set up,"
and the friends of the 'measure are sanguine
of ultimate success. It ould be well far the
people to closely write the course of their
representatives on the I, since it is rumored
that there is "
ere
lacrialt-' nos Commit of
late will be pre to report the Ai)•
propria the using of next week.
Until itWisposed o it is not probable a
day of final adjournme will be fixed upon.
THE STATE AGEICULTIIIIAL CONvIENTION
Convenes in the hall of the House of Repre
sentatives, this city, to-morrow. A large
attendance is looked for, and the proceedings
will doubtless be very interesting. The dele
gates from your county are Messrs. Jacob G.
Peters, Henry M. Engle and Levi W. Groff.
LOCAL LEGISLATION, &C
A bill has passed the Senate authorizing the
Directors of any School District in Lancaster
county, at their discretion, to devote ten per
cent. of their State appropriation towards
purchasing and fitting up a library for the
benefit of schools and teachers. Gen. Fisher
introduced it some days ago as a general bill,
but there being some objection to it by Sen
ators, on his motion it was made applicable
only to your county.
With the aid of the Democrats, Senator
Fisher succeeded in defeating the bill requir
ing your County Commissioners to give secu
rity for faithful performance of their duties;
which came up for action in two-day's Private
Calendar. Senator Billingfelt was very earn
est in its advocacy, but by personal ap peals
his colleague secured a majority against
• In the House to-day the act authorizing the
Commissioners to remit fines in certain oases
—to which allusion has been made in several
papers of your city—was objected off the Cal
endar, and must therefore go over for one
week.
The City Charter Bill passed one reading,
and ere this appears in print will doubtless
have become a law.
Mr. Sammy has passed through the lower
branch, an act requiring railroad companies
to keep in repair all fences, and to construct
cattle guards at the crotwinp along the line of
their roads in Lancaster county, lie has also
introduced an act authorizing and empower
ing the trustees of the Zion's Church Building
in Manheim, to sell the same. Also, an act to
incorporate the New Holland Exchange and
Discount Deposit Company, of Lancaster aot.
A very important bill has been introduced
by Mr. illepkinis, providing that in all OWN
except murder in the 2tidegree, mamlanghter
or child-rape, the perms convicted shall is
sentenced to the county prison; that the courts
shall- be required on appthertinn onto Prison
Inspectors, to transfer elk iniqh plowmen" Atom
the Eastern Penitentiary to the county prison
for the unexpired term; thatnil intim* or
idotic persons con fi ned in the county prison,
ou proof of such condition, shall be transferral'
to the county hospital or litate Asylum, at the
discretion of the Inspectors.
Mr. Porter read a bill authorizing the resi
dents of Lancaster and York counties, to es
tablish fish baskets In the Susquehanna river.
In the Senate, Mr. Fisher presented peti
tions from Lancaster and York mustier, en
ing the repeal of tie fish law of last winter.-
Mr. liiiiingfelt, has introduced the follow
ing : An act auth'orizing Jeremiah Wiest and
S. S. Wier trustees of certain school property
in West Cocalico township, to convey the
same to the school directors of that township.
Also meet to prevent the spread of the oat
tie disease. Also, a petition from Bart town
ship, for a law allowing the question of Beans
ins
people public ho of that iertrilit
uses to be submitted to a vote of
the dt
An act to incorporate the Lancaster City
Cornet band assoohttion, passed the Senate.
Quite a number of Lancaster county pond,
clans have been here yesterday and today.
Among them, Jacob G. Groiclof, Sheriff PM
John 'Baker, •Thooli B. Shun:tan, Levi W.
Gkoff Ellwood - veriest, Andrew Armstrong
and D. G. Steamy. What's up? Z.
A BACHELOR, who Wall subsequently
hung for matricide, 01100:1 propounded the
following odious conundrum: Why is a
cross wife like an owl? Because she does
all her hooting at night.