Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1854-10-21
WASHINGTON NEWS AND GOSSIP.

WASHINGTON NEWS AND GOSSIP.
The Transaction Of Business by Congress
"a Subscriber" whooomplains that, for many
long years, he has been kept ont Of what the
Government honestly owes him, by the impos
sibility Of inducing Congress to act finally on
his clsim, asks Us if We cannot suggest rem.
edy for this crying evil of Legislative inatten.
ton to the demands Of the Governments hon.
est creditors.
we have to reply that the remedy Is eer.
tainly at hand, and that It's application would
cure the evil in trics. It, however, lay:
Win the constituencies of honorable members
" apply Il, and We have so little confidence il
saetr disposition to interfere as they should il
such matters, that we fear that to suggest it te
them would be not more effective than whist.
ling psalms to dead horses At present, the
constituents Of the members of both Houses
instead of employing professional men to at
tend to their business before the Executive de
partments here, thrust it upon members o.
Congress. This forms the excuse for sitting
but from one to, at most, three hours per diem
tor nine tenths of every session. If forty mem
oers will enter into an agreement to insist on
yea and nay vote on every motion to ad.
journ, made before the House has been in SEES
SION tor five or six hours, the probability is
that no days session will be less than four
hours duration at least, except on some ex
traordinary occasion If constituencies will
hold members responsible for falling to call
for the yeas and nays, and to procure them,
on su, motions, most Of the evil complained
Of will be speedily cured. The next reform
needed will be to prevent the delivery of
speeches upon anything but the current bust.
ness that is actually before either House. A
large portion Of the last session was actually
taken up with personal explanations, it will
be remembered, while much larger portion
was devoted to the delivery OF speeches on sub.
Jects not before the House. Of speeches of no
earthly Importance in the transaction of the
public business. The cure for this evil is to
print, as formerly, nothing in the way of Con-
gressional proceedings, except the journals of
Congress, at the expense of the National
Treasury. The hundred and fifty thousand
dollars paid last year from the National Treas.
ury for the publication of the BuIeombe of
honorable gentlemen, is a mere bagatelie
when compared with other ruinous conse.
quenees to the public interest growing out of
the indiscriminate publication, at the public
expense, OF the trash, conventionally, but not
really, spoken in the halls, as well as that &C.
tually spoken. Our complaining subscriber
must aid us in awakening the constituencies
to the Importance of holding members to strict
not only for their votes going to
waste the time of Congress, but for their short.
comings of failing to exert themselves to lop
of the warts and excrescences, in the way Ct
bad customs, which Congress have adopted OF
late years, that so completely divert their at
tention from the transaction of real business,
as to defeat due action on at least three-fourths
Of the business to which they should attend
and render abortive their efforts to dispose Of
mach Of the rest Understandings.
The Washington Monument New
York Tribune improves the occasion of our
day or two since on the existing
lukewarmness of the country with reference to
the continuation of the work on the Washing
ton Monument, to strike it blow in the back
The editor holds that it is the duty of patriot
ism to withhold the means Of its completion
because, as he alleges, its plan is not in good
taste. This is his nIy-absolutely-his only
pretence for such advice to the public. Now,
with all due respect for him, We have to say
that he is the last man in creation who is en-
titled to sit up for a critic in the fine arts
His aim has been for years to create the i'm
preston that his mind is above such triies;
AZ to do this he has adopted the exceedingly
vulgar expedient of invariably exhibiting him.
self in public in an old greasy and seedy white
with the tail Topping around his
dirty boots, and dirty and greasy white hat
worn clear of nap His toalte ensemble, as he
shufies or hobbies along, is that of fallen
shaker, half seas over, who has just got sober
enough to walk without again tumbling into
3 gutter. Pretty figure that, to critisise the
fine arts A mans taste is very generally
manifested in his own style This is a rule
rarely failing to hold good; and it forms
good bar to the influence of his advice with
reference to the plan of the Monument. We
have to add that further inquiry has satisfied
US that there exists no danger that the work
On the Monument will be abandoned, though
it is very certain that unless additional aid is
received from some source or other, it must
lag, so as to postpone its completion for many
years. We trust that there is patriotism
enough in the land to prevent even such a
from occurring. ar'
Anti-scorbptics. following General
Orders" are just being issued from the War
Department: t t.-.s
GENERAL oRDERs,l WAR DEPARTMENT,
ADJUTANT GENERALS OFFICE