The Evansville journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1834-184?, 1845-08-14
.soF MINoRTTIEs IN CONGRESS, AND
THEIR DUTIES.n

Now that il is apparent no Extra Session
of Congress will be called this year, one may
look forward TO the materials and business OF
the next regular session. The business will
be so important in very many respects, that II
is a source of high qualification TO the friends
of the country, that there is talent of a su-
perior order in both chambers; and though
that talent may be chiefly in the minority of
members, il is of kind 10 be felt and acknow-
lodged, and its influence must be so felt, and
so obvious, that though IFS possessors may not
often congratulate themselves upon the good
measures they have been able 10 project and
carry, YET they can never be without the
gratifying consciousness, that they have In
fused good into the projects of others, and
disarmed of a thousand stings, some OF the
brood which have been hatched by the
t~houghtless. Ii is a mournfnl reflection, that
a very large portion of the bills, and additions
to bills, proposed in Congress, have their orr
gin in a feeling, not so much Of desire 10 pro-
mote the great interests of the party TO which
the originator belongs, as TO identify him with
some striking mea sure Of that party, and 10
distinguish him abroad for a boldness, that
cannot fail 10 produce momentary ectdt.-
The thoughts of the future for the country,
the effects of the wrong measure as a prece-
dent, are wholly neglected. "Let the future
take care of %ilself,'' is apparently the motto
of such men. If, for a moment, the truth
should flash upon their minds, that a train
of measures, composed of such material as is
their one single plan, would ruin The country
they would say, and they would comfort
themselves with the reflection, that as one
such measure would not be ~ruinous, let those
look out for The consequences, who multiply
these bad measures. To them it is enough
that the country, and its beautiful Institutions,
will abide as long as they lire, and like the
children in the nursery game, they will only
back saddle those in whose hand Robin dies.
What would have been the fate oil the ma
ton at the present time, had these destruc-
tives of a majority been allowed 10 work out
the true ends Of their own measures, we are
not able TO say. Certainly, the country would
not have been prosperous; certainly, ii
would have been saddled with an enormo
debt; and, most certainly, the comforts and
conveniences of life, which now pervade all
ranks of the middle and eastern States,
would have been confined TO the upper crust
OF society, and that crust, like most other
pieces of "puff pastry" would have been bro
ken by the commissions below; and, not TO
drop the smile, the fragments would have
added nothing 10 the health OF The communi-
ty.
Let then the men, who go for the mea-
sures which make for the glory, aud The great
ness of the country, (by glory and greatness,
we mean its Justice towards others, and the
happiness of its W people, find no cause
for diminntion of efforts in their present po-
sition. Nay, let them not despair, even
though out voted. We repeat the idea con
veyed above, that until the madness that pre-
cedes destruction gets possession of the
Congress of the nation, every important
measure that passes Congress, must be touch
ed by the %sanative influences of that great