Indiana State sentinel. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1864-05-02
VIZ. Long Cenxmred.

From the New York Commercial iRepublcanl
The war which WAS begun with so rousidera-
be manifesto on the 10Th inst, taperei down
on the 20th TO an exceedingly fine point and
left the opponents OF freedom of debate" in
Congress, in Il position of conspicuous failure,
although they did succeed in passing Il mild
hammered resolution Of censure On Saturday,
the vote to expel Mr. Harris was 81 to So, aud
to censure him. 80 To lS. Yesterday the votes
condemnatory of Mr.. Long, were on the first
resolution, that he ian unworthy member of
the House." so to 10, and the second, that
his conduct is incompatible with his duty as a
member of this BODY" 70 to 63 The debate
was lons, but uninteresting, its chief enliven-
ment being discourteous objection by Mr.
Chandler. of this city, to allow Mr. COlfax to
proceed after his hour was up and after the Dem
ocrats generally had consented TO give him ami
Mr.. Long all the additional time they needed
Mr.. Chandler took very little by his motion, ex-
cept such a disagreeable notoriety ms arises from
doing bad thing 10 very bad way.
Now that this matter is done with, it may be
asked what has been gained by il? Mr. CJlfax
novel the resolutions against Mr.. Long. he
said, on his own responsibility. 1t was an un-
wise movement of mistaken zeal, but undoubt
eddy dictated by sincere and patriotic purpose.
He dragged after him most OF the Republicans of
the House. making them parties to his opinions.
and Transforming into. party question that which
had been better left it started. personal issue
He forced his friends TO array themselves against
freedom OF debate" and to look for a piece
dent, 10 the action Of pro slavery majority in
ceusuring Mr. Giddngs Fas est ob hoste do
ceri; but IT is significant OF evil when the wrong
acts OF the enemy are taken up in Justification
of our nended i'll doing On the other
hand. M. Long expressly declared he sp Ike
for himself, and his Democratic friends took
good care to leave him out in the cOld.'' aud
to regulate his sentIments-Wo0d aud iriis
being the exceptions to this-while they clus-
tered around the sacred principle which was
being stricken down in his person This
effort the pratt of the majorIty To make "A
party and a political matter out OF Mr.. Long -
abOminabe sentiments. has not met the expecta-
tons OF those who devised il. will il be likely
To 10 So when it be;pmeS KIN Iwn that the only
circulatorS and purch lsers OF Mr. Longs speech
thus far are. Congressman who were especially
ei"qaent in denouncing his speech treasona
bic Far better had il been If this matter bad
never been brought up, aud better still for the
fame of the House IL party ties had Welded before
the summons of principle. and men hid voted in
accordance with sober conviction. and not he
cause they felt bounl to- follow favori- e leader
There have been many times, these last ten
years. when the nUblest advocates of freedom
would have been censured in. or expelled from
either house of Congress. had the plantation
lords dared ID CT tck tile whiU a. loudly ana as
| inso.ently some of our Northern Codgressmen
have learned to do, in the ride of their position
aud the consciousness Of plant maorities at their
| heels
The first rebuke administered to Mr. Long was.
that he l. an ''unworthy member of the House {"
Congress has been in session four months and u
half Ii has done absolutely nothing. The alb
senteeism is conspicuous Its fondness for r
relevant debate is notorious. It's waste of time;
its contempt of the public good it, cowardly
fear of taking the responsibility of measures es
sential To the well being of the country. all
shamefully dscreditable. Ii would be Interesting
TO bring the public TO decision a resolution
of censure upon them. and TO how quickly
and by what overwhelming vote the popular
verdict would be recorded, that the majority of
Congress "are unworthy members of the House, y
and that they show by their conduct that they
have no regard for their official duties.
Six days are wasted TO reach Wednesday
Lame aud impotent conclusion" and to prove
that the House had sense enough left to tolerate
some degree Of respect for one of the guaran-
tees of the Constitution. Six days Of increasing
debt. and not word raised lip moved TO re
assure the country, or to put its business in a
better condition. The people demand taxation,
knowing that taxation alone save the nation
al finances, and they get instead the fruits of
such profound craftsmanship as that which sub
mits a tao to drive the notes of State banks out
of circulation, and attempts to check the sale of
gold by making time sales void and heavily pun
ishable As sure AS the fall elections come. n
popular verdict of "unworthiness' will be pro-
nounced upon some of these "pottering legis-