Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1859-04-05
Desks and Bunconbe.


1t was sad blow for Buncombc when 4
Committee of the last House of Representa-
tives decided unanimous Y to advocate the re-
moval Of the desks of the members. Sadder
and stranger still it was, that members, know
ing who they were, and what they were,
should have calmly consented to the sacrifice.
There was q touch of heroism in this one act
of self-abnegation, which is worthy of be-
ing commemoratcd 1t was noble protest
on the part Vi the majority who voted on
that occasion, against being included III the
general censure, which, by figure of speech
decidedly Shakesperian. had not unfrequently
characterized the House as Il 'bear-Sarden.
Ii was, in effect, Il declaration that they. nj
least, were capable of putting themselves TO
better use than that Of writing letters, and
franking documents; and that they had no es-
pecial hankering after the petty perquisltes,
which, under the convenient head of sta
tionery," comprised penkiyes and porte mon
naies; ladies' reticules and articles of blJou-
terie. But apart from the loss OF these at
tractive little extras, the removal OF the desks
| will prove, we fear, Il matter of very serious
| inconvenience To Il certain class OF members,
who have nothing to do, and are thereby de-
prived of the appliances for doing ii. The
manifest advantage of desks for the heads of
drowSy Representatives to repose upon, and
for the legs of weary Representatives 10 rest
upon, and for giving an air Of business to
those who are vacant-mnded, has never ye.
been properly appreciated. With the re-
moval of the desks it must also be admit
ted that good deal of picturesque effect
will be lost All the old, careless attitudes
must be given up. Angular gentlemen
from the rural districts, must commence
new study-the study of the GRACES.-
At the best of times-and we say it with all
| due respect-thc customary pos" "I quite Il
number of them would not have illustrated
! IIogarth'S line Of bcauty-!n point of fact
it was what would be vulgarly called
slouchy. To such, the desks were of posi-
tive value. They concealed Il portion Of that
awkwardness, which would have been other
wise but too apparent. and enabled men,
beers TO amuse themselves with scrawling un-
telligiblc hieroglyphicS 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 Especial
chapter devoted TO the management OF the
hands. What will members do with theirs,
now that they have no desks 10 rest them
upon; no papers to busy themselves with: no
opportunity for worrying those alert youths,
the pages, with quick succession OF sharp
raps upon the mahogany? 1t would be
the height Of Improperly in them to thrust
their hands into their pockets. They can
not play with their watch guards everlasting.
| They would be ashamed is, they
ought to be ashamed, to be seen twld-
ding their thumbs What then are they
to do with their hands? And there are the
| lower extremities to be attended to. Under
the desk, they might be elongated or curled
up, or stretched apart, or crossed over each
other but where there is no sheltering mahog-
any, what course is to be pursued? 1.-THE use
| Of chairs only, is hencefOrth to be permitted,
| any one who has ever seen Trumbulp picture
of the Signing ofthe Declaration of lndepen-
dence, will understand, at a lance, the tribu-
! iations to which future members OF the House
| Of Representatives will be subjected, and
particularly those from remote districts Ill
their efforts to render graceful their EXPOSE
! ton Of pantaloons. Notwithstandingal these
| drawbacks, the Committee, in advocating
the removal of the desks, were clearly i'll the
| right. Buncombe NAV suffer, but the gener-
al interests of the Republic will be benefited
BY the change. The Committee i'll their
Report, emphatically presented the desks as
IA nuisance" I'm reality they We're so.-
They clogged the wheels Of lcgislation-thcy
afforded an excuse to some members for in
! attention to their duties-of others. for their
incapacity They served to isolate members
! from each other i'll Il place where 1t was
important that they should be brought into
familiar proximity; or, better still, into
friendly con tact and they occupied so much
space. that, in the language of the Commit
tee, it was always difficult, and some
times impossible for those ut distance
from the clerk or the member speaking, to
hear distinctly what was said" By the use
of chairs only, the two hundred and thiry-six
gentlemen who compose the lower House. m
instead of filling a now the vast area OF the
| Hall. in which they assemble. will be conreu-
trated into less than one-third Of it, will be-
brought more directly under the eye Of the
presiding officer. and from their absolute IN
ability to turn their attention to othrrmattcrS.
will he constrained to take or to appear to
take some interest in the proceedings. and to
participate in the discussions if they possess
capacity to do SO. Let us hope then that this
reformatory movement in the lower House
will fulfil the expectations of the Committee,
and that in future there will be - quiet, or
derby, decorous debate, instead of the cu,to-
mary noise and vociferation of school boys
Ball. ErchangS.
The WAGON Road Fraud.