New-York tribune., 1868-07-28


... minntes after 12 o'clock, to-day, the
81 eocs on the Capitol were instantaneously
be signal which told the City that the first
""'is, ,os.ion Of the Forteth Congress was thing
o.t Active newspaper correspondents at the
=. croclaimed the same event TO their mil
- constituents through all the seven ana thiy
no"o Tia last hours of the session were unmarked
o'''oa oircnmstance of unusual significance. There
Dy any of the scenes and incidents of former adj
ats "''o There was no reading of the Declaration
i5,donce no buncOmbe speeches, no laughter
-Ioos,rt bantering, no keen encounter OF wits, no
.:Id M tests no ludicrOus antics, no trVohty' Inc
jICoanittee Rooms were not Hospitality thrown
-. tbe members friends. 1t work, work.
III IL 70 the last Time was very, very precious
- ool1en sand was wasted. History has
tarnod the mage and written Finis" She has set
be seal TO the work. and stamped the session as one
Of tbe most important and significant ever convened
Its record becomes brighter and brighter by COM
-, Economy in the public expenditures has
bqon the guiding principle, and it can be-said with
,rntb that fewer swindng schemes, taking money
0nt Of the Public Treasury have been passed during
.be last legislative months than at any time since
tb growth of the Government to its present gigantic
rronortions The session Just closed has kept the
wbteness of its soul unstained. It's hands are clean
The lobby has met with signal and crushing defeat
~obso have been slaughtered by the score, and men
Who in other years made Handsome things during
a session Of Congress 60 hence tonight and to-
morrow in positive desperation, not having
realized the amount of their hotel bills
70 say nothing of the social little dinner parties
ruinous games around the green-covered tables and
the hundred fancy drinks which provoked by the
heat of July Pacific Railroad bills have been ruth
lessly thrown asde-2O per cent, went by the board
loni ago Private claims have been buried forever
in Committees. Revenue schemes, finance schemes
schemes to protect this interest and to besow nnu
merable advantages upon that schemes to pay the
National Debt with of course no prospect of imme-
diate OF ultimate advantage to the originators-au
have been slaughtered and consigned to a grave
from which there is no resurrection.
Both branches of Congress met early this morning.
Senators who left the chamber at o'clock a. m. in
the driving rain, returned at o'clock a. m. 10 the
CAPITOL The last business Of the Senate was prnci-
pally of an executive character At % o'clock on
Sunday evening the Senate went into what IS tech
neay called Executive Session. in which itremained
until o'clock in the morning An Executive Ses'
sion is held with closed DOORS no One not member
of the body except the Executive Clerk is allowed
inside the walls of the chamber The galleries are
cleared and searched for any lurking inquisitive
eayesdropper. The doors all locked and barred,
and whatever while the Senate is thus sitting
is held by custom to be secret and nvolable. How
are the proceedings Of an important Executive Ses-
sion ascertained and published next morning |" Is
question which has puzzled more than one Senator,
and which can be solved only by the gentlemen who
tell the busy world what is occurring around them.
Treaties occasionally published in advance ana
the debate on important nominations and other
Questions Is often given to the public much to the
surprise and chagrin of the gentlemen who partici-
pated in it, The principal business of an Executive
Session is the action on important nominations
which always creates a grand swell OF excitement
and attracts interested friends and leaders
Of the lobby to the spacious corridors around the
Senate Chamber. The President, as the readers OF
these dispatches are well aware, has been sending in
nominations innumerable for the last ten days from
the insignificant pOstmastership in some country
VILLAGE to the highly important foreign mission. Ihe
different nominees had their respective lobby
lists and friends ut work in their interest
Az the last hours drew higher and higher,
the anxiety of these cormOrants became intense
and on Saturday and Sunday evenings they HocAeulh
hundreds to the capitol. There were nominations
for the Naval Office of NewYOrk, and for the COM
missjonslip of Internal Revenue for this foreign
mission and for that and for half dozen Assessor
ships of Internal Revenue 1t is astonishing how
many thousands desire to serve their country, and
how many more thousands are sufficiently dsinter-
ssted TO work for their friends" out of pure friend
ship even at a cost of $l 80 per day and extras.
At 10 o'clock last evening-Sunday-u of 200
Of these people were in the long oblong corridor IN
front of the main entrance to the Senate Chamber
They crowded around the door TO the discomfort OF
the doorkeepers. They paTaded the tesselated floor
defling il with tobacco expectOrations They gath
cred in knots of threes and fOur around the statue OF
John Hancock, not however, to admire the memorial
Of the great Revolutionary sire, but to discuss the
prospects of their friends whose fate was being de-
eided inside How about SmithP q" Well DO II l
know; Wilson is making speech against MN.
"How is CamerOn-is he in favor OF himI what 90
You hear about JOnesP The Committee are all
lfor him. think he III pull through. Conkllng went
for him in Committee, and says that that fixes him.
These were the queries and replies heard every
SIDE during that long five hours session. They
watched. and waited, and worked until the doors
we're finally thrown open and the Senator's exhaust
el. omit the building for their homes.
The scene was renewed this morning. The same
linen, the same faces, were punctuay at their posts
In the long corridor at 81 o'clock remaining there
until IL o'clock, when the Senate adjourned, and
when some were very qievOusly disappointed, and
Ohers FASTENED TO receive their checks for their de-
ltasing and degrading services.
! The rain poured in torrents and Washington was
almost as dreary as in December. There were few
visitors to the Capitol. Final adjournment il gene
rally witnessed by crowded galleries, but this one
proved exception in consequence of the inclemen-
ey Of the weather. The President entered the Capt.
Col shortly after o'clock, and as fast as they passed
both Houses, signed bills which there was no chance
TO veto. All the Cabinet officers except Gen. Scho-
Held were on the floor Of the Senate. Mr.. Eyarts