New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1872-06-14
A SCENE IN THE SENATE.

AToRs-vARIoUs EFFCTS-vAsr CROWDS Al
TRACTED-sCuURz's SPEECH IN THE EVENING
tyRoM AN OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT OF THB TRiBuNhI
WILMINGTON. June 6.-The historical painter may
eod NJ some time material for the reproduction OF
some Of the late extraordinary scenes in the senate
of which there has yet been given no very Iuli ue
Ecription Extraordinary they certainly Werei ioi
Senator Summers speech came like thuhder cap =,
tbrouoh the air that was heavy and thick Win the
iobberies and corruptions OF the last part OF tno
session.
The ancients used to portray opportunity as
bald-headed runner with single lock OF hair upon
his forehead; tins lock YOU seized as ne went Oy'
lint failing that effort was vain, for there was
notbipg behind to snatch So when the ma
;o,itv ignored Senator Summers request for
cbonce 70 reply to the assault upon him IN tho
report of the French Arms Scandal investigation, the
Senator seized the opportunity by the toreiocA III
moving the indefinite postpOnement OF the ApprO-
praton bill; and as in the Senate every member Is
his own indge Of whether he is speaking to the mo-
ton OF not there was nothing for his opponents 10
do but to bear his Philippe as they might ana
tremble before his thunder.
The uS,,al rush Of business going on: senators
were IN committee rooms or lobbyists were button
bolinc them in the passages Mr.. Pomeroy was IN
the chair and few sght-scers were yawning In the
galleries keeping time TO the yawns of the reporters;
the schemes of the politicians were prosperng; MI
Wilson was going abont rubbing his hands, Washing
them. according to his way with invisible soap
IN impercentible water" Mr. Colfax was darting
in and ont the ROOM shedding meteorc smiles as lie
went and came; the Administration senators Wcro
looking complacently forward to the hour Wheh
they sbould have dragooned their enemies into their
Hne-whcn, suddenly, as If By an earIhquahe a1
that was changed; Sumner was speaking; speaking
Chamber
resounded to; and the campaign so comfortably
manned was revolving on another axis. The tele-
grapb wires at the Capitol were at work in a few
minutes; people came focling in; the galleries
were crowding; the House adjourned, and after the
first half hour OF the four hours speech an audience
had assembled that hardly left standing ROOM
There was no doubt now where Mr. Sumner stood
orwas to stand, and the CONSERVATION among the
majority was something laughable to see But Mt
Sumner has dealt with majorities before. lie dealt
With majority in I'll those years when nearly alone
ne stood up and confronted Slavery in that Senate
he was dealing with O majority when its bastard
enissares struck him to the ground with blows that
rhounded ON itself he dealt with that majority tl
he DESTROYED it, In his long and patient waiting he
learned all the arts and illnesses Of parliamentary
law. and now the Administration Senators had no
means of getting him off his feet when they found
his Nominations beginning TO scorch them. lhey
made useless motions they worried ana bdgetteu'
Observation-Disclosures, and took up newspapers,
and opened and answered letters; they sprung
mn suddenly and ran to conspire together. Mr..
Copkling was particularly prominent in these
demonstrations. as he usually chooses the central
aisle TO figure init may be with some idea Of his
faucied resemblance to that yellOw-haired Apollo
who bestrode tho harbor of Rhodes, though really
the resemblance goes no further than the fact that
The Colossus of Rhodes was made OF brass Ihe
Senator has been in an rate state for some time and
II is only the other day that like huge turkey
Topping and reddeniDg all his wattes and spread
ing all his frills and feathers he advanced upon
brave little bantam Frank Blair in such manner
that his enemies-and they, as Senator once said.
are all who hear him speak-congratulated them
selves that Co1kling was going to have the conceit
taken out of bin at last Neither Mr. Summers
pausing Dor the ChaiImans gaveling could reduce
Mr. COukliug and his confreres to quiet on the day
Of Nr Summers speech during their first agitation,
and lev made enough disturbance 10 annoy all who
wished 10 listen. Finally forced to listen them
selves by tie character Of the speech, they made
studied show Of not listening confessing Judgment,
however every few minutes when darting forward
10 take notes at what they deemed vulnerable points
in the speech The conduct Of these Senators is, by
the way something amazing. 1t is not so Iemarka-
ble that the rottenbOrOugh capetbaggers, into the
scale Of whose election Gen. Grant threw his sword,
should be his creatures; he made them, and can I'M
make them and they breathe the breath of their po-
litcal life through him; but that the free and hon
oabe representatives of great States should be in
the same condition is inexplicable.
During the latter half of Mr.. Summers speech,
Senator Morton, dark and fierce, sat jumping about
IN his seat Carpenter leaned back, huge, bullying,
unbuttoped and sneeTing; Conkling, with his ele
cant feet in chair read papers; Logan sat black and
mcditatiye as Red Cloud; Chandler was rs white
when. long since, the night of the Santo Domingo
speech he shook his fists in Summers face; Harlan
aud Howe and Cameron aud the rest Of the more
undiStnguished nerd, moved about restlessy or sat
and eloweTcd in helpless silence under the blister
mg exposure. When the House of Representatives
one by one crowded in to hear the arragnment and
the doors were thronged and the crowd accumulated
beyond the doors-for the great Senator could be
beard out in the lobby so well modulated was his
voice, which seemed to be unusually clear of what
the impudont little pages call the Oyster-shells in
bis throat - it was an audience worth
contemplating. The Russian and Brazil
ian Ministers, the Chambruns and Others, were
in the diplomatic box Mrs Blaine, Mrs. Schurz,
Gail Hamilton, and other ladies Of distinction in the
thronged galleries; the Speaker OF the House was
sitting negligenty in chair at the foot of the plat
form, perhaps absently balancing chances; Gen.
Butler pale and excited in another chair with that
magnificent old Roman head of his bent forward on
his breast; Senators Ferry schuTz, and Trumbul
clustered round the orator. and Senator Sprague-
perhaps the most independent man in the body
directly before him; the Democrats smiling
and triumphant In their places; and Kelley, and
Dawes, and Negley, and Raney and Garfield, and
Farnsworth and all the leading lights Of politics
moving abouf the II a couo dopiI of tba