New-York tribune., 1871-01-13
THE dHAz0Ns At TIE CAPIT0L.

ia evidently making the pesC uSo VI
tunties. The Senate Committee declines to
listen to tho ladies, so they wisely deteTI;'e
that the auditors whom they hare secured
shall get enough Of them. They probably DO
not expect 70 achieve any distinct result. In
fact, at the close Of the session, their situation
will doubtless be similar to that OF the grazer
who drove his refractory bull to market, the
animal breaking into every corn-feld and up
setting every beehive on the way; after roar
ing and paving around the market oil day
without finding purchaser, he was at last
reluctantly driven home by his owner, repeating
on tho way the picturesque but tedious exploits
of the morning. When at last, after Infinite
labor the brute was safely returned to the
stall from which he had been led forth in the
morning, his owner thOugitfully and with
considerable cheerfulness observed: "Well, l
chad a good drive out of the bull anyhow"
1t is likely that at the expiration OF the ses-
sion the ladies will s0lace themselves Win
similar congratulations in respect to Con-
gress. They viii have accomplished notMng,
but will have harricd and fdtig'led the lcgl5-
lators as electually as the grazier did his
bull.
OF course this is to be regretted; but what
are we to do about it I Our stupid and narrow
minded legislators will persist in thinking that
the Fisheries dispute the San Domingo I'M
brogliO, the settlement of the Alab2ma Claims,
the restoration of wholesome and friendly re-
lations with the South, the national indebted
ness, and so on, are subjects of more urgent
consequence than those which Ms. Victoria
Woodruff 20 eloqucnty advances. Whether
she shall be entitled 10 run for President ard
whether Miss Susan 3. Anthony shall be en-
entitled to vote for her, are, we confess, mat
ters of the deepest concern but 1t Is difficult
TO get your average member of Congress to
think so. Confronted with actual and positive
women, not merely the documentary and re-
corded shadows thereof such as petitions, resOlu-
tons, afirmatOns, and the like, he Is apt to make
a present sh0wof concession, even Of conviction,
and to promise all sorts Of aid and comfort TO
his besegers. Bat, alas, he generally backs
out as soon as they are gone, and the wizard
spell of their voices and the compelling en-
chantment of their eyes are withdrawn from
him. Possibly it will be 80 With Mr. Cook and
Judge Loughridge, and even with the fiery and
determincd Butler, upon whom, In full con-
claye. Mrs. WoOdhull empted her ethical aud
expOstulatory urn.
But whether they succeed or fail, their att1-
tude is alike courageous and interesting. III Is
no Joke to beard the Judiciary Committee III
IFS den, and, in presence Of so many learned
doctors, enter upon new eXegesis OF the
Constitution. We see no reason why MIS-.
Woodhull should not, so fer as intrinsic cOur-
age il concerned, be placed upOn level with
Joan of Arc or the Maid of Saragossa. 1t is
really feather in her cap that the Senate
Committee declined to trust itself in her de-
clamatory presence. However fortified in their
present convictions, that venerable and learned
body could have no assurance that at the first
v0oing accents of her voice, the structure of
their faith, however solidly buttrcssed with
biblical citation and cotempOrary prejudice,
.-4..ia 4orsIe orv, ihe che walls OF Jer-
cho before the persuasive Quayer OF the
rams horns They would have been
like SO many Simpsons, before the fair
and fluent Philistine, and she would have
bound them one and all with her logical
withcs They have escaped that destiny by
declining TO confront the enemy and immur
ing themselves within the walls of their
official Troy II the House Committee had
set similar example it is difficult to con-
and to whom they would have intOned their
plants. They coald at have gone direct to
the President, as he is known 10 cling to the
notion that women Oaght to
stay at home and mind their business. Bout
well could MT have given them any comfort,
unless, perhaps, he had assigned them all
to situations in the Treasury Depart ment |
and among the remaining Secretaries |
and other high dignitaries Of the Capitol we
can think of mono to whom in such an event |
they could have advantageOusly unbOsoned |
themselves. Now, if they had gone all that |
distance and found nobody to listen to them |
it would have been IN every particular cir |
cumstance of misery, and we are therefore |
moved TO suggest the appointment of Joint |
Committee of both Houses to be in perpetual |
session. whose special function it shall be to |
hold interviews with wandering squads of women !
who with supplicatory, denunciatary, or argu-
intent may chance TO visit the Capitol.
If anybody deems this suggestion irrelevant |
)r needless we invoke his attention to the fact |
hat any of the present Committees can at will |
decline such interviews and send the wandering |
and reformatory ladies homo again without |
giving them a chance to nburden themselves |
IF their grievances. This viii never do. Let |
IS make it somebody's business to listen pa
iently to all the feminine "whereasesr and ere
solves We always give them faithful hear
ng, and any quantity of good advice. Why |
hOuld Congress be less mindful of its duties |
md ObligationsP
There seems to be no good reason for the |
Nxiety reported to prevail in Liverpool re-
pecting the disabled steamer City of Brooklyn,
which left this port on the 31st of December |