The Portland daily press., 1866-06-12
Letter from the National Capital.
WASHINGTON, June 8, 1886.

Inc deDate IN the Senate upon the COnsti-
tutional Amendment has been very desultory,
protracted, and latterly very uninteresting-
Long rambling disquisitions, tedious discus
sions OF State politics, attacks, not personal in
the technical parliamentary sense, yet directs ed
to some body in particular, and the inevitable
reply, followed by rejoinders and answers ad
s'v'nstasn, photographed definitions of posi-
uon, and other matters, all very edifying no
doubt to the speakers, but very irrelevant to
the subject in hand, and wholly uninteresting
TO the country, have been permitted to exterd
this debate to wearisome length. The gen
eral SUBJECT OF reconstruction has been to full
ly and so ably discussed that few men are now
able to throw much new light upon it, and
long speeches are mostly waste of time.-
That the desire of the country for little
prompt vigorous, decisive action is not prop
erly appreciated, we have had ample evidence
amendment have consumed not little time
as it appears to me very unnecessarily. Mr..
Doolttle follows in reply to his colleague, i'll
which, after claiming that he saved the Union
party from defeat in Wisconsin last fall, he in
forms us with surprising display of modesty
and good taste, that ''it is not the first time In
| the history Of the 1orld that men haze turned
in to cruelty their Sduior." BY the way has
not Mr.. ID. some friend good enough to suggest
to him the propriety of selecting, when next
in want of an illustration of his services and
sunerings, some less example than the Savior
of the world, the Redeemer of mankind? ?
Then follows Mr.. Cowan in his favorite role
of constitutional lawyer fairly bombarding the
Union side of the Chamber and the party at
large with such "solid chunks of risdom" as
could hardly have come safely up the throat Of
even our old acquaintance Dunsby. Next day
Garrett Davis gets the floor, resolves himself
into committee of the whole on the state of
the Union, and goes of upon regular ram
page. And so the debate has gone on. Still,
though the Senate has no Sprecious question"
we have never ceased to hope, even in the
darkest hour, that as most human things have
an end, this discussion would also.
And the end has come The Senate met
taking vote before adjourning. Senator
johnson made set speech of considerable
length against the preceding amendment, and
Senators Fessenden and Yates spoke in its fa-
vor. About five in the afternoon it was
brought to a VOTE Only two Senators elected
as Unionists were found to signalize their ut
ter subserviency to the Executive behest by
voting no,-Doolittle and Norton; while the
magnificent majority of exactly three to one
| for the measure must convince every one that
the representatives of the people will stand
true and firm to the end. The House is ex-
pected to promptly accept the the Senate
amendment, and then it will be for the people
to decide this great conflict of opinion among
their servants, That they viii settle it wisely
and well we readily believe and confidently
trust. fI H
A very pleasant occasion was the opening,
on Wednesday evening last, of the fair now
being held in this city in aid of the proposed
National Home for the orphans of soldiers
and sailors who fell in the war. The Temporal
ry building erected for the fair at the intersec-
ton of Pennsylvania Avenue and 7th street
is quite spacious, being one hundred and fifty
two feet long by seventy-five wide, and is ad-
cohstfdctad aaptfa pfcpdy ap If ~ a h8f PsiA
ed-down government barracks, and by the la
bors of soldiers detailed for the purpose. The
main and central part of the building is
beautifully canopied within with large garrison
aags, furnished, suppose, from the govern |
ment stores here, while the wings on either |
hand, devoted to the tables, are also hung above
or on the sides with the national ensign.
The orchestra is surmounted by an arch |
spanning the breadth of the main building,
beautifully decorated with evergreens, and
bearing in letters of green upon white field |
the inscription, 80 T Country has tear for |
the patriorsgrare, and home for his desolate |
orphan" The door of the supper room dis |
plays the invitation "Come and eat that the |
hungry may be fed" The whole interior is |
profusely decked with evergreens, and adorn- |
ed with tasteful devices too numerous and |
complicated to be particularly described. The
citizens of several States have furnished tables
distinctively their own, while those OF others |
united in the preparation of Independent" |
tables. Each of the States of Maine, Yer
mont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New
York, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Kentucky
have tables which all do credit to the patriot
ism and benevolence of their citizens, while |
the District of Columbia has several well sup
piled and tastefully adorned. A new Eng |
lander may be pardoned for referring to the
prominent part taken by his own section OF |
the country in this most patriotic and chris
tian enterprise. # |
The Maine table is next the entrance on
the right, is one of the most spacious in the
building, and is in every respect worthy of
State, which, having nobly borne its part in
fighting through the war to successful issue,
is now willing, and more than willing to do
its part in taking care of helpless ones be.
qUeathed by our dying heroes to the nations
care. The table is under the direction of Mrs.
Woodland, Mrs. Col. Talbot, Mrs. Weeks, Mrs.
Wharf, and the Misses Hartley, Bagley, and
Cole. 1t is surmounted in front by an arch
trimmed with evergleens, bearing the word
MAINE, beneath which is displayed the coat
OF arms of the State, supported on each side
by the national flag 1t is adorned with flags,
including the one carried by President Lin
coin on his visit to Richmond little before
his death, wreaths and stars of evergreens.
pictures of Washington, Lincoln, Grant, Sher-
Tan, Howard, and displays the motto "Ihey
stood bet,ceen us and destruction; their chill
| dren are our legdcy." In addition to the la
dies above mentioned many others have ex-
erted themselves in preparing and furnishing
the table, among whom may be mentioned
| Mrs. Ingersoll and Mrs. Gilbert. and some few
| contributions have been received from Maine.
including box from Wmterport and another
from Bath, and five dollars each from Mrs.
LIP. Strout and Miss Sarah L. Strout OF
Thomaston, by the hand of Mr.. J.C. Stout
| of the Ordnance Office