The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1857-03-20
ADJOURNMENT OF CONGRESS.

The existence of the Thirty Fourth Con
gress (says the National Tnirllig..ncer) came
to nm end yesterday forenoon under cireum.
stances more disc"nraging-not to say blam-
able-than any which have rver before fallen
under onr observation. The appropriation
bills, we believe, all got through aiter som"
tions of the Chairmen Of the Finance Com
mttees of the two Houses, and nv prolong
iae the session until noon Of the 4th Of
March, md several other measures were en-
acted BY tacking them on the appropriation
bills; but great mass of business has fallen
through, much of it being even denied an op
portunitv TO he reported by the committees
which had mrtured it,
We supposed that when this Congress had
voted TO its members liberal fixed salaries il
would have been regarded hv them rs paint
of honor 10 give the same faithful attention
to the transaction Of the public business that
was exhibited by the Fourteenth Congress,
when the first salary compensation was in
force; but never were hopes nnre sadly dis
appointed. What with the gre,t portion of
each day Of the session consumpd in debate,
the impediments constantly thrown in the
way of business by that peculiar cliqne Of
legislators who Systematically oppose every
thing but the annual appropriations, aided bv
the anomalous nature Of the rules of pro-
cerding. which require two thirds vote for
every motion, the great mass Of business was
crowded into the last week of the session,
and for several days we s'riously feared nm
utter brepk duwn, and the necessity o: con-
vening the new Congress 10 pass those mea
sures requisite to carry on the Government
Under these circumstances our readers will
excuse us ut this moment If we nre unable 10
give them an intelligible summary of the
proceedings which marked the closing hour
Of the late session. Amidst the confused
mass of propositions hurried through the
forms Of legislation with n pr"cpitanre
which, though rendered necessary hy the an.
regarded ms very little conducive to wise
discrimination on I;s part, we find 1t difficult
to ascertain what has been left und"ne dur
ing the last twenty hours Of the late Con.
rressional term. We may cite, however. ns
single illustration Of the evil we dap'ore,
tLat even a measure of benefcrni legislation
like that authorizing the duties to be restored
on goods consumed hv the great fire in New
York, during the year lS45, failed in the dis
array and conclusion of the hour, to receive
the signatures of the presiding officers, even
after Il had passed both Houses Of Congress.
1t becomes a serious QUESTION for the con
siderntion of the country whether such n
mode of legislation is to be regarded ns n
necessary incident o! representative govern
ment, or whether its origin should be- aitr
buted TO certain defects in the constitution or
organization of Congress which admit of n
sure If not nm easy cure. In proportion as
Legislative responsibility is spread over n
broader surface there is doubtless n tendency
on the part of its individual drpositaries to
ignore nr forget that special and personal ob
legation which imposes upon each consi,u
ent member of the body the same measure
of fidelity which the country expects of Con
gress as whole; and, if we mistake not, the
time has already come when the people Of
each Congressional district should hold their
particular legislator to n stricter sense of his
representative duty, not only to them, but to
the country ut arg-, lcs:, by merging his per
sonnlity in the mass of those whom the pub
lic agrees to inrulpa,e BY general censure,
the roots Of evil should fail 10 be reached by
a necessary application of that rensure to
particular eases. If even the time thnt is
wa.teIulIy frittrred AWAY in m unnecessary.
mot to say factious--calling Of the yeas
and nays on nearly all questions which en-.
counter the opposition of nm inronsiderable
norton Of the members o. either House were
devoted to the patient consideration Of the
substantial interests ofthe country and To tie
l.eiiima... subjects of national legislation, W
should not he called to witness such un un
seemlyand prrjudicial haste in the iransac
ton of the public business during the closing
hours of each Congressional session.
1t would, however, be unjust il, while Civ
to the conviction forcrdupon us
by the facts and circumstances thus dpsignat
ed, we did not except from the scope and up
picniion of our remarks the chiirmen of the
leading committees in both branches of Con.
grrss, M well u, the able and impartial Spea
kpr of the late House of Representatives,
unsurpassed, if not uneqnalled, by any of his
predecessors in the same responsible and en-
acting chair. II the despatch of the public
business was often impedcd, and sometm"s
wholly frustrated, the fault cannot be laid at
their door, since the assiduity of the former,
so far us they fell under his jurisdiction, was
ably seconded by the efficiency of the latter.
-----------------------
PoPURAR PREAcHTSG.-A modern writer
sa,irzug thu endeavors of the pulpit TO meet
the false taste of the day, which, instead of
md thirsting alter righteousness,
Graves tor what has been called "ihe blanc
mango Of Christianity" delivers himself of
the following: