The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1859-04-04

IT was a sad day for BUNcoMRE when a Com
mittee of the last House of Representatives deci-
ded unanimously to advocate the removal of the
desks of the members. Sadder and stranger still
ii was, that members, knowing who they were,
and what they were, should have calmly
scented to the sacrifice. There was a touch of
heroism in this one act of selfabnegation which
is worthy of being commemorated. 1t was no.
BILE protest on the part of the majority who voted
that occasion, against being included in the
general censure, which, by figure of speech de-
cidedly Shakesperian, had not unfrequently char
acterzed The House as "a bear-garden." 1t was,
in effect, declaration that they, at least were
capable of putting themselves to a better than
that of writing letters, and franking documents;
and that they had no especial laundering after the
petty perquisites, which, under the convenient
head of Stationery" comprised penknves and
porte monnaes; ladies' reticules and articles
Of bVooaerie. But, apart from the loss
of these attractive little extras, the removal of
the desks will prove, we fear, matter of
very serious inconvenience to a certain class
Of members who have nothing to do, and
and are thereby deprived of the appliances for
doing it. The manifest advantage of desks for the
and for the legs of weary Representatives to rest
upon, and for giving an air of business to those
who are vacant-minded, has never yet been prop
erly appreciated. With the removal of the desks
it must also be admitted that good deal of pic
tlresque effect will be lost. All the old, careless
attitudes must be given up. Angular gentlemen,
from the rural districts, must commence a new
study-the study of the GRACEs. At the best of
times-and we say it with all due respect-the
customary pose of quite number of them would
not have illustrated HoGARrHs line of beauty-in
point of fact it was what would be vulgarly called
-slouchy. To such, the desks were of positive
value. They concealed portion of that awkward
ness, which would have been otherwise but too ap-
parent, and enabled members to amuse themselves
with scrawling unintelligible hierogyphics upon
the best hot-pressed paper when it became
them to listen to speeches. to which it was their
duty to give their undivided attention, even
though the arguments adduced might have been
beyond their comprehension. In some books on
etiquette there is special chapter devoted to the
management of the hands. What will members
do with theirs now that they have no desks to rest
them upon; no papers to busy themselves with; no
pages, with quick succession of sharp raps upon
the mahogany? 1t would be the height of i'm
propriety in them to thrust their hands into their
pockets. They cannot play with their watch
guards everastingy. They would be ashamed
that is, they ought to be ashamed, to be seen
twiddling their thumbs. What then are they to
do with their hands? And there are the
lower extremties to be attended TO- Under the
desk they might be elongated or curled up,
or stretched apart, crossed over each other: but
where there is no sheltering mahogany what
course is to be pursued? If the use of chairs only
is henceforth to be permitted any one
who has ever seen TRUMBULL's picture of the
Signing of the Declaration of Independence
will understand at glance, the trbula-
lions to which future members of the House
of Representatives will be subjected, and partcu-
lary those from remote districts in their efforts to
render graceful their exposition of pantaloons.
Notwithstanding all these drawbacks, the Com
mttee, in advocating the removal of the desks
were clearly in the right. BuNCoMBE may suffer
but the general interests Of the Republic will be
benefited by the change. The Committee in their
Report, emphaticay presented the desks as IA
nuisance" In reality they were so. They clogged
the wheels of lcgslation-they afforded an excuse to
some members for inattention to their dutes-to
Others, for their ncapacty. They served to isolate
members from each other in place where it was
important that they should be brought into familiar
proximity; or, better STILL into friendly contact,
and they occupied much space, that, in the Ian
guage of the Committee, it was ''aways difficult,
''and sometimes impossible for those at distance
'from the clerk or the member speaking, to hear
distinctly what said" By the use OF
chairs only, the two hundred and thirty-six gen
temen who compose the lower House, instead OF
filling as now the vast area of the Hall, in which
they assemble, will be concentrated into less than
one-third of it; will be brought more directly
under the eye of the presiding officer, and from
their absolute inability 10 turn their attention to
other matters will be constrained to take, or to
appear to take some interest in the proceedings,
and to participate in the discussions if they possess
the capacity to do So Let us hope then that this
reiormatory movement in the lower House will
fulfil the expectation of the Committee and that in
future there will be ''quiet orderly, decorous
"debae, instead of the customary noise and vocif-
"eration of school boys"