The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1867-04-06

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poor little girl whom he had hired from
the Orphan Asylum in Prince street
Harriet Beecher Stowe might find in hun
dreds Of similar cases here in this city, foot
for more sensational tale than even Uncl
Tom. Who shall ever proclaim emancipa
ton from the slavery that comes from
poverty?
Business dull and weather light and fine
MOULTRIE.
Our Washington Letter.
| ESPECIAL CORRESPONDENCE OF THE DAILY NEWS
THE SENATE IN SECRET SESSION.
WASHINGTON, April 1.-The Senate
in accordance with proclamation Of the
President, commences an executive session
this morning. An executive sitting o.
that body means conclave with closed
doors, and, Theoretically, the discussion o1
men and measures in strict confidence, and
under Senatorial bond of silence. The
first desideratum is enforced vigorously
but the latter consideration has come to be
a "dead letter" so far as the intelligence Of
the outside public is concerned:
Throughout the whole of the hours Of
debate going on in private within the cham
Der, crowd of two or three hundred men
surround the door, and group about the
corridors; From time to time Senators will
emerge from the inner councils, and confer
with one or more Of the congregation allud
ed to, and not always in tone so low, OF
language sufficiently guarded, to prevent
the looker-on from deriving certain unmis-
taxable evidences that the Executive ses-
sion, and the subject uppermost, are the
chief basis of anxious inquiry and Sena'
torial assurance.
Indeed, half the names included upon
the list Of Presidential nominations to the
federal Offices are known and handed about
among those watching and waiting" at the
portals of the chamber, before the Senators
at their desks are cognizant that the ap.
pointments have been laid upon the table
for action. The intelligence Of the crowd
goes further, for in no case is an important
nomination acted upon without that body
learning with exactitude the respective de-
greesof support oropposition afforded by the
Senators for the candidate, and the precise
figures by,which the latter was confirmed
OF rejected. And all this in the face Of
certain oaths and honorable responsibility
u11 lts ssaatoE to refrain from such
Divisions dssH5n
But this has come to balg1eh y 2 1ossllzeo !,
obligation, that it would be more remafssksd 2
in the observance than in the. breach.
The chief attraction to events 80 common,
isain the extraordinary personnel Of the
Office seeking wayfaye.--ss, who in part make
up these crowds in waiting. Executive
sessions frequently last four or five hours,
aud throughout the tediun of:itall, expecta.
ton and hope is on tip.toe at the senatorial
Threshold. Here you may determine the
length and breadth Of patronage then un-
der final dispensation at the hands Of the
body within; note the order of men who
are supposed to have "the inside track"
study values Of place in the anxiety and
abstraction visible in each face and mien;
scan character as exempli6ed in the word
and act of those that tarry; and finally,
strike the average of individual probity
and capacity that seem to pertain to the
lot
1t is singular study, very! Every
man of them present, from the party,
courting an obscure assessorship in levying
the national tithes, to the seeker for high
places, high salary, and inexhaustible
"perquisites."
The former, present in body and anxiety
of soul, the latter in spirits and in craft.
Of course, every one will divine just
the degree of mental torture visible in the
countenance of the individual who seeks
his reward for party fealty, or party be-
trayal, at the moderate rate of three DOL
lars Fer day.
It generally takes the fs.; ':odd' or even
hundred that the applicant can raise} to
pay the expense Of coming to Washington,
and sojourning in the Capital until be can
obtain hearing, and receive the nomina-
ton. Thus, when his name goes to the
Senate for decisive arbitration, the ap-
pointee has that sinking Of the heart, and
despair Of success that ever attends a strong
fight for the mastery, and an. after period
of compulsory inaction to determine the
fate.
But with your powerfully backed and
highly ambitious office-seeker, who stands
before the non-posted multitude of the
world, as neither seeking nor declining Of
fetal preferment, it is far different in this
last run of the gauntlet leading to the dis
tinction of Office. In spirit and in craft
they are present, certainly, but only thus.
Mayhap they play the part in an ada
cent committee room wherein a magnificent
collation. is not unfrequently spread, but
stand guard at the door Of the Senate and
remain breathless at the key hole? Never!
There are others who delight in that SER
vice-who can tell you at any hour Of the
day whether Tadpole or Tittlebat is ahead
and who in the privacy Of conference
with their ambitious principals, will indi-
cate to dot what interest Of the lobby
should be appeased, and when fabrication
may be best applied.
These latter may be old Congressional
stand.bys, well up in all the ins and outs
Of offce-seeking, or new hands introduced
as blind to the interest they subserve.
They may be men or women, but as either,
depend that their worth is determined and
marketable because Of some inde6nable
hold, which the party is known to exercise
upon Congressional mind, TO the uplifting
of Tadpole or the exaltation Of Tittlebat
Of the pecuuiary benefits they derive from
these mysterious connections who shall say!
Workmen are worthy Of their hire, and as
indefatigable laborers in the Congressional
vineyard-generally successful-and in
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