The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1870-06-30
The National Schoolmaster.

The National Sch00lmaster.
A DELuGE OF PUBLIC DocUMENTs-sENAToR
STOCKTON ON THE FRANKING PRIVILEGE.
We COPY from the Congressional Globe a re-
port of the speech delivered by Senator osocK- ei
ton, of New Jersey, on the :, aool9on Oh Iae ae
franking privilege. The railleTy addressed sIo TO
the Republican members on the intoleraole
bore of their speeches, against which the peo-
ple protest in their petitions for the abolition,
will be found pleasant reading:
Mr.. SToCKToN-Mr. President, was called
ont of the Senate Chamber few minutes ago,
and when, went out the Senator from Wlscon--
sin (M.r Howe) was speaking on this bill; and
ss [ passed out of the Chamber l heard him
saw that if the object of this franking privilege
was to enable us to be schoolmasters and edu-
cate the people he would send all his speeches
to his Democratic friends to enlighten them.
Last night the Senator from Nevada Mr.. Stew
art) said he was in favor OF this bill because ne
would like the Democrats to have an opportu-
nifty of printing their speeches on the Dill TO
enforce the fifteenth amendment. Now, Mr..
PRESIDENT, always listen to the Senator from
Wisconsin and the Senator from Nevada with
great interest. I trust that my constituents,
having afforded me the great pleasure of sitting
here and listening to them, of taking advantage
of their grace of manner as well as their beauty
of diction, it will be long before they recall me
from these halls and deprive me of that estlma-
bile privilege. Laughter.) But, sir, in the
ordinary course of human events l may be
taken away; and then what consolation IN
my declining years to be able to read the beau
tifully rounded periods of my friends on the
other side, to be enabled to lay down those
''grand old masters whose footsteps sound
IL. ~, &c mi
speeches of the Senator from Nevada and the
Senator from Wisconsin, to console the closing
hours of my life A happy retirement passed
in receiving those valuable documents Laugh
ter.) But, sir, hope that shall always have
two cents on hand to pay for the document
when it arrives; and if do not, perhaps a
grateful constituency may make some provision,
so that may console myself in my declining
years in that way without putting the country
to the enormous expense now imposed upon 1t.
Mr.. President, these petitions have come in
here as the great spontaneous outpourings OF
an ovef-burdened people. They come to Con
gress praying you to abolish this enormlty
which is pressing them. They poured In their
petitions day by day and hour by hour, until
the Senate had not time to receive them, but
had to make a general rule that they should be
handed in at the Secretarys table without the
ceremony of presentation. The House Of Rep
resentatives passed this bill in hot haste to
please their constituents and yet the Senate
seems to be inclined, not to kill it decently, not
to kill the mcasvre promptly, not to vote direct
ly upon it, but to worry it to death, as dog
would worry cat; to make it die in spasms, in
fits Can they not let it die decently? MIR.
President, remember that it was stated last
night by the Senator from Wisconsin (Mr. Car
penter) that there were thirty-three thousand
people who had the franking privilege. Out OF
that thirty-th thousand who have the frank
ing privilege how many of them are Demo-
Gratis? There is not an office-hodcr who is
Democrat. Nobody but members of the House
of Representative and the Senate seventy-iive
Democrats-out of thirty-three thousand frank
ing officials, at the outside. But sir, why is it
the people come here to beg You to abolish the
franking privilege? The Senator from Wis
consin tells us that he has spent $500 out OF his
own pocket to send Republican speeches all
over the country, and that 100000 was spent in
sending speeches from Washington throughout
the country. should like, as said before
TO pass my declining years in reading those
speeches. But have an infatuated constituent
cy. Laughter.) They have become sick, they
are nauseated with this stuff that has been sent
from Congress to them under these thirty-thrce
thousand franks, and they hope and pray you
to abolish it. Their stomachs will stand no
more of what has been sent to them. Laugh
ter.) They have asked you for q fish and you
have sent them serpent. They have asked
you for bread
Mr.. WARNER-Allow me to ask the Sena-
Mr.. THURMAN-No, oh, no; do not inter
rupt.
Mr.. SroCKToN-The country will never
know now how that sentence would have end
ed, on account of the Senator's interruption.
Laughter.) The Senate will never know pos
terity will never know; you, Mr.. President will
never know; the world will never know how
that sentence would have terminated on account
of the unfortunate interruption of the Senator
from Alabama
Mr.. DRAKE-I hope the Senator from New
Chamber will not confne it to that particular
ssS!0D' sidSe. but Will 'i0" us 70 ns'' nj" 0" TINS
Mr. STocKToN-Mr. President, can you i'm
agine-perhaps some of you have witnessed
such scenes-a boat at sea with shipwrecked
orew, and women and children on board On
the third or fourth day the last drop is out of
the fresh water. After day or two man be-
comes insane and jumps overheard and then
another unable to endure his agony any long
er. leans over the side and drinks the salt wa
ter and drinks his own destruction, drinks
poison at every drop he drains. Sir, that has
been the effect of the franking privilege on the
people, The people were athirst and they
cried out for relief, and you sent them, not
pure water, not what would quench their thirst
but you sent them a nauseating draught that
drove them to delirium. Therefore, the peo-
Pile have come here, with one voice, demand
ing that you keep your medicine; they want
no more of it. Mr.. President I remember
when was boy, 1 think in one Of Walter
SCOTS histories, a torture invented in the
Highlands for an enemy, which has been con-
sidered by many as one of the most severe that
has ever been inflicted. The prisoner was let
down into deep cavern and kept there for
,,lo |.