The Portland daily press., 1864-04-29

WASHINGTON, ID. C., April ?

The "Tax Bill, for which we we're SO i'm
patient, aud of which we are likely to have
| quite enough before we are done with 1t, has
now been before the House a week; and 15l
of its 173 sections have been considered in
committee Of the whole. The spirit in which
the House has thus far acted upon this prime
measure is such as to indicate just appre-
citation, by that body, of the pressing wants Of
the country. There is no blinking the fact
that we must tax and be taxed after fashion
that will make all previous taxation seem trlv-
ial If this seems hard, we must remember
that national bankruptcy and ruin is the on
ly other alternative. Bravely, resolutely,
cheerfully, will the people, as l believe, accept
this burden.
The House began to hold evening sessions
week since. Daily sittings Of seven or nine
hours, with all the committee work necessary
TO keep the wheels Of legislation in motion,
is fair allowance of business, even for 3
Congressman. Ii you add to this the innu-
merable jobs, great aud small, wherewithal an
NJ. c. is saddled by his constituents, his Office
becomes anything bat what certain Virgin
la place-seeker called, by slight error of pro-
nuneiation, sine-curee" Slow the House
may have been in bringing forward the great
financial measures called for at this time, but
it can hardly be charged with idleness.
A regular speech making session, such as
the House has been in the habit of holding
on Saturdays for the relief of such members
as were uncomfortably full of suppressed
buncomb," is mildly amusing. l can under
stand how man can speak with floor and
galleries frowning and lowering upon him, or
even with revolver or bludgeon in no very
distant or uncertain prospect; but how man
can pour out floods of impassioned eloQuence
to empty chairs and solitary benches, with
only here and there a fellow-sufierer who
cares not a straw for what he is saying-this
passes comprehension.
The Senate has been holding late afternoon
sessions, but has not yet extended them into
the evening. 1t is now busy with the House
Bank bill as reported by Mr.. Sherman from
the Committee on Finance, and will probably
have disposed of it by the time the tax bill
comes from the House.
When Congress will adjourn seems very I'M
certain. On the third of March the Senate
tabled resolution of the House fixing the
time OF adjournment on the thirty-first Of
May, since which no action has been taken on
the subject by either branch.
The funeral sermon of the late Col. Uric
Dahlgren, or rather discourse commemora-
tive of his life and death, was delivered before
a crowded audience in the 1-2 Street Pres
byterian Church, on Sunday evening last, by
the pastor, Rev. Byron Sunderland, from the
following text; Thy hands were not bound,
nor thy feet put into letters. As man falleth
before wicked men so fellest thou. And all
the people wept again over him. ? Samuel,
3: "a. 1t was heartfelt and glowing tribute
to the talents, the virtues and the eminent
services of the boy hero and Christian patriot
who fell SO gloriously in the attempt to rescue
from rebel dungeons the brave defenders Of
our country and cause. His early life was
pleasantly and somewhat infinitely sketched,
his many daring and successful exploits mar
rated, and his last days and hours described so
far as they are known. His character as q
son and brother, as citizen and soldier, as
gentleman and Christian, was graphically de-
nneapee ~ --a- who had enjoyed rare oppor-
tunites of knowing him Intimately Ills
honor was maintained and his memory yndi-
Gated from the rebel calumnies with which the
craven wretches who had fed before his on
set while alive, sought to blacken his good
name aud excuse their savage and bestial out
RACES upon his lileless body. Hopes were
long entertained that his remains might be
recovered, but every effort of his bereaved
father and friends to give them Christian
sepulture have been in vain.
And these are the foes whom, while they
plumber, insult and outrage our dead massa-
ere our unarmed prisoners, bayonet our
wounded, hunt them from their retreats with
bloodhounds, bury and burn them alive; these
are the foes whom our amiabe copperhead
friends propose to conquer by Cancellation,
smooth speeches and love-pats. A very diff
ferent plan Of operations, however, seems to
be entertained by Gen. Grant. Every day
and on every hand we see thickening indica-
tons of what is about to take place. Much
has occurred within few days which, though
of interest, may not perhaps be quite suitable
for a letter at just this time.
These warm and sunny skies, this dainty
green, clothing the hill-sides with delicate
verdure, this spring air, balmy and blossom
scented, are all very pleasant, but more ON
inous than grimest portents on earth or in
air. Through all the brightness and upon all
the bloom we may discern the shadow of inn
pending carnage and death. And may God
grant that when the tornado OF conflict is
past and the battle-rack lifts once more, the
skies may be radiant with the glory of vic
tory. 7. S. p.