The weekly Lancaster gazette. (Lancaster, Ohio) 1852-1855, 1853-03-17

ieccssDrs. TIE con Usinu, disorder and dts q
sipation ufiirlr prevail oh the last night Of |
the scssioii TO such di-crrdiiable extent,
do NOT appear q have been waning on this I
occasion. These riotous excesses which Z
have characterized the last night Of Congress
for 81 many years, are 10 be ascribed prin-
cipally TO the long-estabiished practice Of
voting gratui,y Of $3.50 to the clerks aud
messengers % the two houses. These off,
cias are well pail, better paid than similar /
clerks are any where eis', and yet Congress
afierCongr-ss signifies its lasi moments by
this prodigal appropriation oil the public
money.
If the loss to the country, however, was
confined 10 the amonnt voted IL these clerks
and messer gers, though the sggrcgnte Is by
no means inconsderable, we should have
little 10 say about il. The appropriation is
not in fact gratuity but a return for con-
siderati,n---the payment Of debt. In Of
der 10 secure this appropriation, the clerks
and others for whose benefit II is made, COM
bine to furnish-the members with liquor du-
ring the closing weeks Of the session. II is
kept openly in one OF the committee rooms,
aud every member is expected TO help him
self Iithe pZccsses of the individual men,
bers, and the abstraction Of so much money
from the public purse, were the only results
Of this practice, no matter how serious might
be the evil to the members severallV, il
would hardly be deserving Of public men
ton. These are, however, but the least
permiciDus Of ito conseque uces, as willread-
ily be perceived.
. 1t has come to be pretty well Understood
that members on the last night Of the session
iwill be in condition to let almost anything
90 into an appropriation bill, without
qutstiDn. These are always hurried through
during The last days Of the session, 50 that
If every member were fit for the perform
ance Of his duties, il would be difficult to
act under5tandingly on the various amend
ments proposed, or TO comprehend their ef-
fects. But this difficulty is thousand
times increased by the excited state of the
members, and in the confusion and noise
that prevails it becomes absolutely impossi-
Bile to know what is going on, or what is
done. A few members on whom the re-
sponsibilty rests of carrying through i'm
portant bills, and others who have design
'upcn the public purse, DO not permit their
visits to the committee room where refresh
ments are furnished by the bounty of the
/ Clerks, to be SO frequent as to unfit them
for their business; and-these generally man
age things their own way.
Under these circumstances, such appro-
4 priations as the gratuity to the clerks, and
others of more meritoriOus or questiona-
BILE character, are forced through Congress.
The appropriations and measures passed al
every session Of Congress, which would be
thrown out, if acted upon earlier in the sess-
ion, cannot be easily ascertained, but they
must be very numerous. Thousands upon
thousands of dollars are annually obtained
from the treasury by such improper applica.
tions: and could the amount be computed
with any certainty, it would perhaps tend to
correct the abuse.
During the present session, little has been
done of general interest, save the passage
of the appropriation bills. Most of the pub
lie acts have only local application and in
terest; and the acts of this character have
not been numerous. 4 good many private
bills were passed, but We have not even
the consolation ol knowing that justice has
) been done TO private individuals! for it is no.
torious, that bad claim is quite as likely tC
| 70 through Congress, as good one.
, The discussion of the important matter:
which have been before the Senate will have
I good effect so far as it tends to discoun
r tenance Flbustierism. That such will b.
r its effect we do not doubt, especially sine
5 ! the President in his Inaugural has takel
. substantially the position, supported by som
2 of the disGreetest of the Democratic Sena
: tors. The head-long and furious gentr.
? who thought the national appetite for an
! nexaton conld easily be infamed so as L
: blot Cuba ut once, have become considera
1 Il L., lontlad diS
/, ton to be moderate. If any good is to b
!. attributed to the 3ad Congress, it is the on
e we have just Indicated, and of which it
9 entitled to the full benefit. It's first sess
g ion was squandered in President making,an
+ its last in quarrcling' over the spoils and
c will be noted hereafter for nothing so muC
n as its neglect of the public business, the di
d orderly and tlSgra ceiu scenes which hav
y ,ranspired amonH its members, and its wan
generally q dignity and abiIity.-e en-. Ga
!. Coon The Bayou Sara Ledger tells tn
r following story: ..-.. ...
N A gentleman told US an anecdotc the oil
CT er day, which we think is Too good to b
r lost. He said that rich old gentlema
IN who used to reside in the neighborhood {
v Natchez, Miss, used to keeps carriage al
IN pair OF horses for his daughters exclusiV
n. benefit. ard, as matter of course, the ycun
er ladies used TO make good use OF them
Is Scarcely day passed over their heads thi
II did not find them going to or coming iro
Id Natcbez. The old man, in the mean tim
e YOU must recollect, was very close in mattel
4 OF money. The horses began TO look thin
g so thin that one would suppose their on
at provender was barrel hoops, shavings
he something similar One day the old gentl
er man was standing in front of one of Il
le principal hotels in Natchez. when his ca
N rage rolled passed, and his! horses we
n mad, the subject of conversation. The {
I'd gentleman said he could not account
their being so poor, he was sure that he h
ne done all in his power to make them look
" cent, and had tried almost everything,
W the confcundcd horses never would impro'
Of "Meester,' said a raw Iri>hman, givi
re the gentleman.s a quizzcal leer, as he cc
nd tinued, 'Did ye ivertry corn!"
" SHOOTING BY A LADY IN Bathroom.
~ AT Oldtown, Me, on Tuesday evening, VIII
,r a party was dancing at Grey's Tavern
-, very respectful young lady d'scharS
~ both barrels of doubled -barreled pistol
-, a man named William Bowman, OF Opp
~ Saltwater. Onc. of the balls entered DO
I've mans shoulder and the young lacy WI
ne whom he was dancing bad her face burn
'11 INV The powder The lady who hred
gA shots vent home without being arrested.
a. iphb1ic sympathy is strongly in her favor,
m Pnv,,na,. had inflicted upon her an nirrepo'
? Ii,e ,rFono. and then refused marriage.