The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1852-06-25

Mr.. MANGUM in the Senate yesterday deliv
cred his sentiments very freely on the subjec
of the present abuse of irrelevant talking il
that body. He contrasted the present condi
ton of things with that which prevailed in tn
earlier and better days of the Senate, and de
plored the change Now with whatever con
sistency or propriety such rebuke can pro
coed from that source, after the honorable Sen.
ator's recent irrelevances in his triculent and
rather personal assault on Mr.. Brooks, every
one must admit the truth of the structures. Dur
ing this session of Congress especially, the
members of both of those bodies have seemed
bent on verifying the correctness of the sketch
in SaLmagundi, where this government is de-
fined as logOcracH or government of words,
as the process of perpetual palaver accurately
shows. The personalities which give pquancy
to the recent debates in either body, constitute
new feature, not familiar at the day when
PAULDIEe's sketch was penned. personal ex-
PLANTATION" being interpreted, means
personal assaults--then constituted the excep.
ton and not the general rule of order; but the
progress in this respect has been so great as to
require some check, unless new order ofpolit
ica bruisers is to be substituted for grave and
courteous debaters, for the benefit of applaud
ing galleries.
Some specimens of the sparring matches in
Congress have been given to the country
through the reporters; and have even brought
back an echo from over the water-but an ex-
purgated edition of the real proceedings only
goes out to the world through the regular me-
soltened, more suppressed, in the spicy portions
of the debates and even those universal Cos
sips, the letter-writers, suppress much as they
invent. This great and growing evil arises
more from the scattering way in which discus
sion is conducted, and the universal desire of
talking on irrelevant subjects, than from any
other cause. When gentlemen rise for the pur-
pose of really discussing subject, and are linn
tied to its discussion by strict rules, they are
apt to stick to that subject, and take their seats
quietly after saying what they had to say. But
when gentlemen rise simply to make speech,
with charter free as the wind to talk "de
omnibus rebus ct quibusdam aliis"-in default
ofsomething more special, they are very apt to
slide into personalities, or generalitios, to the
great waste of public time and money, and of
private temper. With respect to the great lat
itude recently allowed in this matter, we repeat
the sentiment of member on another topic !:
Gentlemen! it is time to put stop to this"
If every member of each House feels bound
in gratitude to his constituents, to send them
back at least one speech per session under his
own frank, and cannot dispense with that cere.
mony, let the plan of publishing without speak
ing be generally adopted as it has been in sev
eral instances this session with most happy eff
feet. As there are very few speakers in either
House who can even hope to catch what is
termed its ear" and as even the show of in
terest or attention on the part of the body is
manifested only TO favored few-the great
body of outsiders would lose nothing by this
labor and tme-aaving process, and the public be
a great gamer. The speeches could be pub
lished, with the usual interruptions and expla-
nations, and the speaker, having both the ques-
ton and the retort in his own hands, could do
himself more justice than in the heat and hurry
of discussion. This, too, is not without prece-
dent-and if the habit were universal, it would
in popular phrase, be just about " as broad as it
was long" A curious proof of the inveteracy
of this disease of much talking, was afforded in
the very discussion which gave rise to this no.
tice. That grave body, the Senate, yesterday
was several hours talking over the great evil o
irrelevant talking, and member after membe
dilated on this theme, until the dinner hour fas
approaching exhaustion induced pause.
The reporters of the proceedings of Congress
and those whose Tastes or interests make then
lobby-members, have reason to believe that
however things may have been in " the good oil
days of Adam and Eve" that now the common
compliment to the superior loquacity of ladie
is SANDER, and that they must yield tn
palm to their male competitors CHARLIE
LAME made this discovery in his day 81 hav
known" he said, {" six inveterate talkers-an'
four were men," He does not mention whethe
they were members of Parliament
SOUTHERN CARRYING TRApE.-The Louisville
Journal is much pleased with the reduction of Erie
Canal tolls upon cotton, tobacco pork bacon, lard
&C., and predicts that the results will be heavy
shipments of the articles by the Lake and cana
route instead of by New Orleans. The Jo,una