, 1866-03-14

on the occasion proved truitless waste Of
words. The weeks derotcd In the two houses
to the elaborate discussion Of the two meas
,res mentioned, must be added to the already
.heavy debt Of Congress under the head
OF lost time. Nothing has been gained hut
farther evidence Of the great, apparently In
crcasing diversity ofopiniou n1uohg The mem
iere Of the majority Us to the best and most
practicable means Of overcoming the recon-
st1nction difficulty. Nothing was DEMON
strated but d seeming impossibility Of uniting
The Union party upon some well-deined, con-
s!stent, prudent and at the same time just
and honorable plan Of political acttou.
Az, Apd Tiswed ds rrsvt + this n1ssnt:ds sh the
rati father discourasins: Indeed % tSe fatsiity;qf
disagreement, that has been hanging over the
majority ever since the opening ot tic session,
preventing all substantial legislative achieve
Mrnts OF 4 political bearing, threatens to be-
come chronic, inBeparable obstacle to the
success Of Congress in conflict with the Presf~
dent: and were It not Tor the consoling re-
lection that the tangle Of propositions and
itself almost hopelessly involved, Is produced
by creditable competition among the mcm-
bers of the majority IN attempts to improve
upon each others schemes for best securing
the 10 ting pence and PrOsperf ; Of the coun-
trT, rather than by selfish cOntruriety md In
trinslc differences Of yiews, ,thcre would be good
ground for the grasest apprehcnsions as to
In the short debate Ii, the House preceding
the vote on the Civil Rights bill, which was
recommitteA to the Judiciary Committee
without Instructions, the three participants
(MessEs. Bingham and 5hellabar.:er. Of Ohio,
and Wilson. Of lows, sevcrally distinguished
themselves 80 decidedly that It will long be
remembered is one of the most interesting
episodes Of this Congress. Mr.. Bingham
spoke with great force OF delivery and his
usual polished dictfon, but his augmentation
Was not as sound nor as strongly set forth As
might have been expected of bis legal acu-
men. Unless my recollection is at fault, the
defence Of State rights he cssayed was great
ly at rarIancc with the constitutional doc
trines embodied ia his great speech npou the
Constitutional Amendment In january. Nor
an l able to see how he can reconcile th3
tender regard be expressed for State rights
With the position he assumed in his report
from the Reconstruction Committee recon-
mendfpe the re-ndmEssion Of TENNESSEE. Mr.
Shcllabargcr's time Was too ehort for fnlsh-
IN. the fine argument be began In the
five minutes allotted to him. Mr. Wilson, Of
Iowa, never spoke with more spirit, fluencg
aud clcarness Of llctfuu and power OF logic:
Ills refutation Of the arguments of Alr. Ring-
fore the House we're most successful, as the,
failure Of the motion of the member from
Ohio. to rccoullatt the bill With certain in
structions, proved, The recommitment with
out Instructions was by no means fnal de-
claration Of the House agatust the bill. The
great majority Of the Radicals arc satisfied Of
the right Of Congress to enact laws OF this
Kind iosthe protection Of the freedmen; The
bill viii no doubt cyentna1y rass the House,
thourA ufrha Pc rot without some modi1ca-
lions and considerable further discussion.
Mr.. ALLIsoS's SPEECH ON TIE RECIPROCITY
BILL.
The most noteworthy incident of the pro.
ceedinEs Of the House upon the reciprocity
bill, next following, was the fifteen minutes
speech Of Mr. Allison; The first part OF his
remarka wa8 devoted to contradiction! Of
some Of tile e1traEuKaut- assertions .ot Mr..
Kelley, TN the preceding day, concerning the
rutnous effect OF the provisions uf tue hill
relative to the duty OH Canadian bituminous
coal. The latter part consisted Of strong
appeal to the House for proper regard to
consideration OF this bill, which he contended
would not be as fully protected by its proyis-
ions as theF should be- He said:
Nov, III. ibis Ply 60 ntafn' provisions which
certainly conn end themselves tn come degree to
the Farming 1nteEestA OF the fest, refer 10 those
provisions DESIGNED to Keep open those great chAu-
Ecs of communication upon which ne rely for the
tfanf fp0ftAnou OF our prpnce from the est to the
not taiIshed "1h the provisions Of TIL. blu In this
-..a 9hs ~ ~ taa. a. !as nst
rs. naTort H.. 13arss .t,ea nn,st ~
rnen rsmrr-entjnr cc1tain snisrr.ts n Ill rann.
~ vuted against that 1neasute~a measure ab.
ttolutets essential TO the transportation Of our
occasion TO ny to The committee that we must
1i onr esrsi nroneis r n al % 81 on3p,n anct
facilitIee. lie nroiuctiye indn,frie of Ne,s Ena.
land md all ihe great Cenlfal stasts must not a.
pect % to join tn giving them that protection which
they z ha.e sn1oysd the 1T + few Yeass Lesaslatton
G9 . aese mnst oe mnna' sna RECIPROCAL
anuacuse proancts Witch we hsTe ~ R been M astus
toned to otsa{n IRON them, thsT must Eve ns he
tsc1ft,es for rea ching theIt mills and their factories
~ith he Kest staples Of Tue Western States. This
can on!5 pc done by the en!arEenent Of onr great
ts ~ ano ny ne" usooeS o' "ates cum
1Thn Wefand c.nst n ot vs1ne IA M. Init II.
.aluc il small camnarnf wf,h he fnereasin1 ;,teI.
...s and increasing products OF tbs West. The
canadtsn raroad- aFc Of value to Us, heeaute they
do to some extent create competition with the
graf esas and Eest line irom Chicago to the sea-
ooalo: ane .nesatanle M !awt o. 1Ioae ana 81 sell
n1n1si ~ bes,iie fSsv
aye not adequate. Wo ehouId have canal within
our own borders, connecting the gTcst Lakes Erie
ena onta q ~ paes to paes our srEs
aAs * W. Masi ao imPt9'e ~ !. .t sae haenai 3,
In the course Of the proceedings upon the
bill, tho chairman or tic CommIttcc Of Ways
and teana. prnnos..f1 n nurnhrr nf nmeIil.
uncnts OF minor Importance. moi SERIOUSLY al
lccl1ois the nature Of the Li1l. which The
House readily agreed to. But The aloptton
proposed duties on herring to one dol1af per
barrel, and on all fish not otherwise provided
for to one dollar Der one hundred Iounils
and TINT Of Mr., Stevens. Increasing tie dutv
On coal from ff.v cents to oue dollar ma
twenty 1--we cents. neain brought out The hos
tility 0l the maioritT to tic Object Of thn hill
in strong relief: Before The vote on Mfr. STE
rsns' nmendment was taken IN Sir' ~ Morr1i i 1rc r.
marked that If this proposition should pre-
yau, there would not be left; in the biIl n sin.
copId i,r,,e mon ;is own neo,,la E tha aInn,;on %
eoatu u'6I. upol4 n4a onA Peopte tuc aAUpeiou
o. any o. me privileges ana 1conaltlons
which We demanded at their hands. Therein
he fo5eslade"ed f.; !: the certain fate Of The till,
fhp rroyinrjnls- If II shoIl surr,ve fha rnnoh
naninu,at;nns ~ thc % Mnnsc Tis s' mn top9;r
want 10 reciprocity, w. and night s as veil 's fass
by killing The 6ill outright.
Ma. FEssEspES's CLOSING SPEECH on TIE
CnveT1rnrtn,c .ur,rn.rrrr
eDu ., x':
Ihe prominent feature OF the 1hat proceed.
mgs H. the gp"p dns Se.;s
stntatinn- wns tbG gneeeh NJ sfr. FessenAcn,
Eantraor to the neno{ nrsctjra ~ tha senator
~ Luz tant - 49, ~ sns 20. osnaeo
9om Ma1ne, ,s, " enoss lor lns no4Ee WIS o.
decidedly political character, Ho made
{yiessrs. Hendricks, Buckn1ew md samner,)
haudling them all, one after the other, with
extreme severity. The SARCASM be expended
on the former two, was no less well deserved
than well applied, and. las personal alIusions
always do, greatly contributed to the enter
Ia;p,nent ~ thc senote and th,. srallerles. IN
shnxy its cnttir~ charncter viii nnote txo
s.9" 1u - thE7,s4r -nh,s," - afa.' ."~
made some time ago by Senator Hendricks
TINT the constitutional amendment Was but a