The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1868-02-20
From The Capitol.
The Twelfth General Assembly.

The Twelfth General Assembly
THE WORK DONB,so FAR--A GAY CLIO
SING sCENE---A CONVENTION OF COL
oRED PEoPLE--sPKEcH BY ATToRNK'
GENERAL o'coNNoR.
From our Special Correspondent
DEs MoINEs, Iowa,
Feb. 18th, 1863 !
Ed. COURI ERR
The Twelfth General Assembly
having been in session one month
has adjourned for . fortnight, ont .
respect to the opinions ofconstituent'
and calico. Having consulted will
it's constituency, and admired its cal
leo sufficiently, it viii return to th,
Capitol.
Meantime, now is aprpper occasion
TO review the work which has beer
done. A great deal has been done ii
the way of bills introduced, consid
cred by committees, reported npon
and acted upon preliminarily by ont
house or the other. Quite a number
of bills also have been passed by the
house in which they were originated
Some have been killed and decently
buried, in the most commendable
spirit OF remorselessness. There have
been introduced more than three hun.
dred different bills, so that what with
these, resolutions, and joint resolu.
tions, there may be said to be an un-
usually large quantity of Legislative
business in hands.
Not very many acts have been
passed and approved by the Govern
or, though more than is usual this
early in the session. Two or three have
gone through providing for the hold
ing of courts in as many districts ;
abont as many legalizing certain acts
of sundry school district officers; an
act granting the right of way for a
steamboat canal around the lower
Rapids Of the Mississippi, which has
been published and is now . law; an
act refunding TO the counties which
lost it the Swamp Land money gob-
bled by R. G. Orwig; an act resuEing
the lands heretofore granted to the
McGregor Western Railroad Com
pany; the act for the speedy compile
ton of the Chicago, Rock Island and
Pacific Railroad hence to the Union
Pacific, upon which took place the
longest, most interesting, and most
lively debate Of the session. Several
foUa1 pnls nave also gone through all
the necessary stages Of legislation,
and have received the sign manual Of
his Excellency the Governor.
This does not appear like any great
amount of legislation, but it is not
time yet for results. They will come
in due time, and in full measure.
There was gay old time in the
Senate at the closing scene. The
grave and reverend seignors cast
aside their dignity and their grand
department for the time being, and
went in for fun and frolic like boys
getting out of school. One Senator
moved to recommit the President Of
the United States to the Committee
on the Suppression of Intemperance.
Another wanted to know whether it
was in order to inquire whether Joan
Of Arc, the fair maid of Orleans. was
one Of the g'hals or.not One vener-
able Senator tried to sing a funny
song, but it ran into aHark from the
Tombs," or ssFrom Greenland's Icy
Mountains" every pop, and he gave
up before getting the lovely and am
liable heroine lying dead on the
ground, with a cup Of cold pizen all
down by her side, and . billydux as
sid twas by pixen she died. Merrily
the days of Thalaba went by. So did
the scene in the Senate which closed
out the first month ofthe session, and
made the Senators ready for their
visits home. ought to add that the
fan was as innocent as it was jolly.
Yesterday, being the anniversary
of the birthday Of ABRAHAM LINCOLN,
the colored men of Iowa held con-
vention in this city to consider Of
political mattersin which they are
interested. 1t is still! in session as /
write. A number Of delegates being
present from abroad, and the colored
people here attending pretty gener-
ally, the attendance is quite largo
The proceedings have been sensible
and orderly. In size, good looks,
good order, and general speechifying
ability the convention will compare
very favorably with any democratic
State Convention in Iowa which I
have had the pleasure Of looking up
on in these latter years.
Major O'Connor, Attorney Gener-
al, made short speech st the con-
vention, last evening. The church
was crowded as full as it could be
packed, there being many white per-
sons in attendance. Tho Majorspoke
for only about thirty minutes, but he
crowded into that short space Of time
one Of the best addresses l ever heard
"A most convincing and eloquent plea
for the establishment ofimpartial jus
tice, and the recognition ofthe broth
erhood ofmankind. He fairly brought
the audience to its feet several times
by bursts Of impassioned eloquence
which it did ones very soul good to
hear.
A.. .ddrcs. +o tho Ar:nrA. ~ 49,.