Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1872-01-13
Washington Matters.

In the United States Senate, Thursday,
Mr.. Conkling delivered his anticipated speech
upon the one-term amendment, and was
replied to by MIR. Sumner. There was no
further debate upon it and no action. In the
House, bill for a ship canal from Lake
Michigan to the Mississippi river was re-
ported and recommitted. A bill protecting
the discoveries Of guano deposits in the
Guano Islands was passed. A bill was re-
ported to increase the limit involved in suits
which may be appealed to the United States
Supreme Court from $1,000 to $4,000. A reso-
olution accepting from the State of Rhode ISL
and statute of Roger Williams was apopted.
good deal of time was spent in eulogy of
the religious martyr and of proftless but not
uninteresting discussion upon the Pilgrims.
The debate in the House on Thursday upon
the Roger Williams resolution was unusually
interesting. The journal says: Mr.. Eames's
assertion that Roger Williams was driven out
| of Massachusetts by intolerance, elected a
| response from Gen. Banks. He spoke most
eloquently. and excited SO much interest that
the members gathered about his seat from all
parts of the hall. Mr.. Eames made brief re-
Spouse in support of the proposition he had
taken, and when he took his seat, Mr.. Cox
rose to reply, and made general attack up
on the Puritans and their government of
Massachusetts, in the early days of the colony.
He said the Puritans originally asked King
James to grant them charter for some far
off land "where they might serve God and
catch fish," Pointing to Gen. Butler, he
said that no doubt this was the reason why
the gentleman from Massachusetts, was SO
much interested in the fisheries. This
seemed to excite good deal of merriment,
as did other illusions of kindred character
which did not seem, however, to have much
bearing upon the subject under consideration.
MIR. Cox's speech brought Gen. Butler to his
feet. The members who had left their seats
in body and gathered about Mr. Cox, now
moved across the hall to get closer to Gen.
Butler. The latter made most eloquent
defence of the Puritan and the Puritan char
acter. He showed that Mr.. Cox and others
had an utter misconception of the early set
tiers of Massachusetts, and he further demon
strated that the very ideas which were now
SO much condemned had come to have an in
fluence over the whole country, and that the
very ideas of the old Puritans were being al
most imperceptibly' carried out in Federal
and State legislation. Mr.. Cox having said
that the Puritans landed upon the New Eng
land coast by accident, that they had sailed
originally for Manhattan Island. Mr.. But
Ter took advantage of this and created good
deal of merriment at Mr.. Coxs expense, by
contrasting what New York was, and what it
might be if the Puritan principles had pre-
vailed there. At the conclusion of Gen. But
ler's speech. the resolution was adopted unan.
imously.
In regard to the debate in the Senate on
Thursday, between Conkling and Sumner the
Journal says:
Mr.. Conkling has been fashioned by nature
to take the lead in any debate. He is in the
prime Of life, with commanding presence, a
flexible and expressive countenance, rich
and full voice, the slightest enunciations of
which are heard in the most distant corners
of the galleries, and that easy manner which
so few Of our public men possess. His re-
marks to-day, which had evidently been
carefully studied, were of two-fold charac-
ter. First, he stood forth as the champion
of the President, boldly and ably defending
him, and proclaiming his denomination and
his re-eection and secondly, in attacking
the proposed one term amendment with in
genious sophistry and logical arguments. He
unquestionably aimed barbs of keen satire at
Mr.. Sumner. In so doing Mr.. Conkling in
geniously kept within the strictest require
ments of parliamentary decorum, but there
was an occasional bitterness of expression
and indirect denunciaton which could not be
mistaken. Mr.. Summers reply was states
manlike, ignoring the inuendoes aimed at
him, and simply abiding to the merits of the
amendments and TO some of Mr.. Conklings
principal objections to it.