The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1858-01-13
No Statesmen I'm Congress.

No Statesmen In Congress.
Whatever takers there may be in Congress.
it is now becoming sadly apparent that there is
not one statesman either in the Senate or the
HOUSEWIVES, perchance, some one of the
hitherto silent and obscure members should
hereafter loom up in the due proportions of
craftsmanship. Scarcely ever, in our history,
has there been time when this could be said
with truth. There have been times when the
tide of genius and craftsmanship ebbed low
enough; but there were always one or two
men of strength either in the Senate or the
House of Representatives, on whom one could
RELY. and from whom it was safe to expect, on
all topics of leading Importance, a speech or
two which thoroughly exhausted the matter in
hand in all its bearings 1t was reserved for
our day seemingly to witness both houses sunk
to dead level Of mediocrity, dullness, and idle
| talk.
Short as the session has been, there have been
| four topics under debate which might have A.
forded statesman an opportunity OF develop
| ing his capacity. At the very commencement
of the session, the Treasury Note bill was in
| troduced. This measure involved cOnsidera-
l tons of the highest consequence to the fnan-
cial wellbeing of the country, and very impor-
| tant questions of abstract science. The debate
| which arose on it would have justified a refe-
renee to our past financial experience, and to
the lessons il teaches to the many contrasts be-
tween our financial ways and those Of foreign
countries; to the principle of public debts
and more particularly, to the exigencies which
required the government to appeal to the Legis-
lature for aid Yet the only word of debate
which was heard was on petty technical points ;
in the Senate, seemingly, as mere matter Of
form; in the House, evidently, a thorough par
tizan opposition to the government, got up
(strange to say, by Banks of Massachusetts,, who
ought to have been above that sort Of thing
solely in the hope of embarrassing the admins
tration Neither among the defenders nor
among the assailants of the bill was there q
single statesmanlike speech made.
Then the Kansas question has been before
the Senate and House. and no end of speeches
have been made upon 1t by people of all kinds
but to what do they amount? There is Senator
Douglas with his hair splitting theory on one
side, and very likely some ultra Southerner
with another hair splitting theory on the other
side; and the republicans with their impractica
bic utopias in the rear on one side, and the
disunionists with their utopias to the full as i'm
practicable in the rear on the other; and In
the midst of all are q small party of gentlemen
who call themselves administration democrats
and whose time is spent in prigging ideas from
the Presidents Message, and diluting Thorn
freely in rhetoric, then serving them
up to Congress. How many reams OF
paper have been covered by all this idle
talk on Kansas, it were hard to say: there
must have been good many; snd-will it be
believed the facts of the Kansas case are not
before Congrese-and cannot be till the result
of the election of January is made known
and thus all that has been said may turn eu'
to be mere bosh, and good for nothing. Could
any set of school boys act more foolishly?
The Utah question has been brought up twice
4 on q motion TO exPcl Mr.. Rornhiool tho delegate
frem Utah, and on bill to abolish polygamy
In the Territories; but, as in each case the de-
bate was rather desultory, and was speedily
brought to close, IL Is perhaps premature to
despair Of statesmanlike speech on this head
But the case of General Walker has been fully
discussed and disposed Of; and where shall we
look for the calm, thorough complete erpo's Of
the law of the case, the facts as established by
competent evidence, the application Of the Law
TO the facts, and the connection of the result by
the equity view of the case-whch, in states
manship, should always be preferred to the
strict legal view? We shall certainly find
nothing of the kind in any of the speeches
which have been delivered in the Senate and in
the House. Some of these we're merely windy
fourishes about the expansion of the South In
the direction of Central America others were
seemingly extracts from the old files Of
old papers about the folly and the wicked
ness of American flibusterism and many were
pettifogging arguments about the rights Of
American naval officers when acting as con
stables. For statesmanlike views on the Walker
question we must turn to the Presidents Mes
sage.
These messages of Mr.. Buchanans are the tes
by which one arrives at knowledge Of the
penury of our national legislature in the higher
qualities of statesmanship. II is by comparison
with them that the speeches of our orator,
appear the wordy performances they are. They
seem to be the only relic of our old statesman
ship left to US.
DISTRIBUTION OF THE CRY GRADING AMI
LEvELLrSG LONESOME of the newspapers are
| we see taking up the views originally pro