The semi-weekly Republican. (St. Francisville, La.) 1872-1872, 1872-06-21
THE FORCh BILL.

II will not be the fault OF tne oen-
. if the closing days OF this session u
e not covered with disgrace. We Is Is
We often during the last six months u
I'd occasion to refer to the rapidly =. :,
.creasing generalization Of the So - =,
,lled Upper House. BY the lnno- r
nee of causes unnecessary at this !, u,
me to specify, the Senate has been !, =.
onstantly losing, ever since the war;
IL the prestige it possessed in ear ,
ier days, and within the last year or
NO the degeneration has been SO
swift as to attract the attention OF
,he least observing. There are men
still remaining in the Senate who IN
and ability are equal 10
any Of those who have o'sn,feo us
past history. But they have, through
no fault Of their own, lost the pre-
dominance which is their due. IN
character and of craftsmanship which
are associated with the name are
Trumbull and Sumner and Schurz );
but the men who lead the Senate in
policy and in legislation are such are
Pomeroy and Conkling and Morton,
whose rule of action is the will OF
the Administration, and whose only
spasms Of independence are when
their own interests appear to con-
dict with those of the President. It
is under the leadership Of such men
that every vote which the present
Administration has needed to accom-
plish its political purposes, to shield
it's unworthy or dishonest officials, to
insure its own perpetuation in pow
er, has been rushed through under a
pressure which rather resembles the
tactics Of a Ward meeting than the
deliberations of the most pretentious
Legislative body in the world.
It is doubtful, however, whether
even this Senate ever made SO COM
plete an exhibition of its mingled
servility and turbulence as in the SEES
sion of the night from Friday to
Saturday. The discussion, if that
could be called a discussion which
consisted on one side of the unavail-
ing protests and on the other of in
solent violence, was in relation tc
Mr.. Kellogg's amendment to the
Appropriation bill by which the
operation of the Force bill, provid
ing for Executive control Of elections
| is extended over the whole country
putting into the hands of the Presi'
dent virtually unrestricted com
mand of the polls. The Chair was
occupied in turn by Senator An
thony and Senator Pomeroy, men diff
fering widely in courtesy and breed
ing, but alike in obeying blint1ly The
dictates Of the caucus. Their decis
ions invariably favored the violen,
and reckless majority. Anthony de.
cided this most homogeneous amend.
ment to be in order, and Pomeroy;
, when his time came, overruled every
motion which was calculated to de-
lay Or prevent its passage. There
was no discussion, no pretense O
) any. Mr.. Morton, Mr.. Edmunds
and, we regret to say, Mr.. Sherman
impatiently lectured the minority fo7
making such row about tride -
this in relation to a measure secont
, to none passed this year in impor
, lance. Mr.. Conkling, with that fat
: uous confidence in his own opinio,
> and contempt Of that Of others which
mark him, said the majority was re
sponsible for all the legislation of tn
Senate. He evidently thought tina
those who differed from him had n,
: more right to vote than idiots ant
> maniacs. The minority exhausted
all the arsenal of parliamentary tao
tics to delay action on this perniciou
; measure but the stolid phalanx G
the retainers of Grant held firm, an,
passed it on Saturday morning.
In the House Of Representative
! as has frequently happened durinI
3 the session, the Executive whip fail
! ed to force the members to registe