New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1860-02-06
FROM WASHINGTON.
ELECTION OF MIR. FoRNEY, AND Mr..
HOFFMAN-THE DISCIPLINE IN THE
REPUBLICAN RANKS.

tO0 10 Dir. Sbtflnan lIngbt result IN dropping him
aud taking up anS electng John Hickman, the
venerable occupant OF tbs White House, in Ian
guage that showed the deepest feeling, begged his
hierds to avert what he would regard as a perso-
moi afrODt even though IN doing so it were neces-
sary to aid indirectly in the choice of Sherman him.
SELL He only deprecated HelpeIism on public
grounds. He detested Hicknanism from the bot
tom of his heart
But in accordance with the philosophic principle
that men hate most inexorably those whom they
have injured most vitality, there is another Pennsy-
vanian toward whom MIR. Buchanans aversion is
Of a still more malignant type The old man detests
John w. FOrney with all the bitterness which his
gangrened soul is capable of engendcrng. And
Mr.. FOrney has this day been elected Clerk OF the
House Of Representatives by the enemies of Mr..
Buchanan's Administration As the accomplished
editor of The Press fills his joyous beaker TO the
brim, the cantng Pecksniff of the Executive Man.
sion, with head acrOOk and heart awry, drains the
cup of humiliation to the dregs. lie might pos
sibly have endured Hickman. But For
ney "Take any shape but that J" As
Just retribuiOn for the manifest crimes of
his administration, and as q warning to future Oc
cupants Of the Presidential chair, many wise Re
pubEcaDs have advocated the impeachment of Mr..
Buchanan. OF the conshtutionality of that mode
of punishment there can, of course, be no doubt;
hut TO infict FOrney upon him, as the second Of
fcer in a coordinate branch of the Government
trenches hard upon that clause of the Constitution
which declares that "cruel and unusual punish
" ments shall not be inflicted"
MIR. FOrney possesses rare sagacity as pOliti-
clan, varied accomplishments a writer and pub
lie speaker, and Will bring to the discharge of his
duties ripe experience, great vigor, tireless deyO-
ton 10 business, and winning suavity in his inter-
course with those who are daily brought into Off
cial contact with him.
Mr.. FOrney rel dered valuable services TO the Op
position party of Pennsylvania in the victorious
campaigns of 1858 and 1853. We believe his WELL
understood present political position is this If Mr..
Douglas should BE- nominated for the Presidency on
ENTHUSIASTICALLY platform, and should avow-
edly accept that nomination on such platform, and
should declare to the country that he adhered to
the principles he proclaimed in the LecOmptOn con-
test, then Mr.. FOrney would support him, Procided
he beliercd that the platform established ia rood
faith aid Mr. ID. tr0S sincere in has dUOt0a{S. If
either Of these contingencies fails then throughout
the coming Presidential struggle, he viii be found
dong battle with the friends Of the Constitution and
the Union against the enemies of both.
The Sereeant-at-Arms, Mr.. Hoffman, was o
Member of the Congress over which Mr.. Banks
presided He was brought forward to-day by
Messrs. Winter Davis, and j. Morrison Harris
whose friend and former colleague he is. In the
XXXIVth Congress he voted for the expulsion of
Preston S. Brooks for his assault on Charles Sum-
ner. He is a gentleman Of ability tart, and ener-
gy and viii wOrthiy discharge the duties Of his re-
sponsible office.
The unbroken front with which our friends have
faced their opponents at every crossing of weapons,
and especially as eyinced in their votes to-day for
Forney and Hoffman, excites both the admiration and
The apprehension of the Democracy. These reiter-
ated exhibitions of the very highest reach Of party
discipline, despite attacks in front and CALLING Hank
fires, provoke comparison between their CONSOLE
dated ranks and the disordered columns OF the TOE,
presaging glorious victory in the great Presidential
battle, OF which the pending contests in the House
are the preliminary sklrmishes.
FITCH, DOUGLAS, AND HUNTER-WIL-
SONS SPECIFICATION AT WASHING
TON ON THE ELECTION OF PENNING-
TON-TBE sERENADE.
Cores sondsnee Of The N. Y. Tribune.
WASHINGTON, Feb g. 1860.
TIE speech of Mr. Fitch of Indiana in the Senate
Yesterday, upon the Slavery question, was rather
tame production. The VEN OF hostility TO Douglas
which peryaded it, and more particularly
the colloquy between those two Senator's at
its close, shows that the old grudge which
grew up during tue Anti-LecOmpton contest
still stands good In respect to some not
oyer-complmentory personal illusions, Douglas re-
piled that be was quite well satisfied with what In
diana had done for him in the selection of delegates
TO Charleston. Fitch wiOced under This keen re-
fort and responded. with more Guinness and truth
than dignity or grace, that, regarding his nomination
10 the Presidency as wholly out OF the question,
Mdiaua had merely chosen delegation that might
cast complimentary vote for Douglas, but that he
could neither control their action in respect to HIM
self nor transfer their support to a fayOrite whom
he might select Douglas replied to this attack by
simply sayngs that he desired no controversy with
the Senator from Indiana, and was content to leave
things as they were.
The bearing Of Douglas toward Fitch to-day ex-
hibiied marked contrast to that OF two years ago,
during the Lecompton campaign, when, in req cling
the FREQUENT attacks of the latter he used to mani
fest rare pluck and extreme bitterness He seems
conscious OF the embauassnents that environ his
attempt TO creep into the Charleston Convention
without disgusting and repeliing the friends whom
he led in that campaign
The speech of Mr.. Hunter is regarded as the
putting in Of proposals on his part for the Charles
ton nomination. The peculiar policy of the distn-
ouisbed Senator on the vexed question: pervades it
throughout. Ultra in theory, but qualified with so
many contingencies to render its doctrines prac-
tically harmless; propounding the most radical
opinions of the Negro Propagandists but expressed
in terms that can hardly offend the most tmid Con
seryative it is eninentiy claracteriscof the man,
who, though always voting with the Fire Eaters
and Disunionists, and never lodging any response
bity which the most turbulent OF his party NAV
force upon him, nevertheless seldom speaks on the
subject Of Slavery, never utters inlamnatory Ian
guage, and not infrequently chimes in with the
common current Of cheap cant about " the perpe-
f" tuiiy of this Glorious C0niederacy."
Speaking of the Senate, it may not be amiss to
note. as one Of The signs of the times, that Gen