Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1872-01-18
THE SENATE,


who don't sleep well O. nights, and house
less Migrants who have no abiding place.
The galleries so quiet, the cushions SO
luxurious, and the whole chamber wear
ing such a sedative air, and then such
dreams as doubtless dance before cloud
ed visions, half supernal, half real,
must be far above earthly bliss. But,
mo rose but has its thorn and woe be-
tide the dreamland explorer who has the
audacity to sleep so loud as to be heard
above his contemporaries upon the floor.
The wicked usher unable to indulge in
such criticisms himself, will be upon
him and insist that his language is un-
parliamentary and cannot be allowed
Of course if such an offender be at all
gentlemanly, he will straightway apollo
gize and ask leave to make all necessary
corrections upon the globe, and when
told that this privilege is not granted to
the third house, will be apt to feel as If
he had been caught mapping. But, let
us see,-we started to write OF the Sen
ate. and have somehow wandered into
the gallery. The principle legislative
event of the week was Senator Conk-
ling's elaborate defense of the President
on Thursday. Previous notice of the
event had been. given, and goodly at
tendance was on hand. The galleries
were well filed with attentive listeners,
and many distinguished personages oc-
cupied the floor, among whom was the
Presidents private secretary. Mrs. Grant
occupied the diplomatic gallery, in COM
pany with other distinguished ladies'
Mr.. Conkling spoke upon Mr.. Summers
proposed constitutional amendment, dis
qualifying the President for reelection
He spoke nearly two hours, and it is adj
mitted by many who consider some OF
his points illogical and hardly well
taken, that altogether it was very able
and exhaustive vindication of the Adj
ministration, and an eloquent appeal for
reelection. Mr.. Conkling is one of the
leading debaters in the Senate, and he
seemed 50 thoroughly alive to his sub
iect, throwing heart and soul into it in a
manner lending great eoZat to the occas-
ion, and acquitting himself with due
credit to a great advocate. He first
touched upon the mania of the present
day for holding Office, and to the posi-
ton taken that the President may use
the vast wheel of patronage to secure re-
election, and claiming that the civil ser
vice reform instituted by the President
through the commission, was one step
in the direction of remedying this evil,
he proceeded to criticize the motives
which prompted the resolution at this
time. This is substantially all expressed
in this quotation from his words, ''He
must be blind indeed who does not see
in this proposed amendment, device, a
make-weight, an eXpedient, to effect the
reelection of President Grant. Ostrich
like it buries its head, but ostrich-like it
is big with exposure. Itwears a vail of
preamble and a ig-leaf of benevolent
postponement. 1t tries to hide its real
self under the words, This amendment
shall not take effect until after the 4th
of March, 1873 Although be con-
fined himself within the radius of parlia-
mentary language, much that he said was
manifestly personal, not to say acri
monious, in its reflection upon certain
Senator's. For instance, he said, Gould
the public eye pierce al the holy garbs
put on by the foes of the President, who
do not and dare not let the real cause of
their hate be seen, new truth would
gid DR.. JohnsOn's saying, that patriot
ism is the last refuge of a scoundrel. u
Mr. Sumner replies briefly, and in a pure
ly statesmanlikc manner, stating
that he should not then reply to the
elaborate arguments of the Senator from
New York,-''nor at any time shall I,
he says, ''make any reply to the insinu-
ations and inuendOes which he has 50
lavishly strewn in his path. leave him,
sir in the full enjoyment of what he has
done"
At nearly the same hour the House
was indulging in its interesting labors Of
the week. The Rhode Island statues of
Gen. Green and Roger Williams were
formally received by both Houses of
Congress that day with the usual eulO-
CYSTIC ceremonies. Old Roger became
the cause of some justice and mr,ch
abuse to New England on that c-.caeiop
Sunset Cox, especially, Was witty. ant
and wicked in his illusions to the Puri-
tans Of old, and displayed some animos-
ity toward the puritan spirit of late
which he declared to be ''mean and in
tolerant, said the old Puritan first ap-
piled for charter to come to this coun-
try to worship God and catch fish. )"
and that it was characteristic of them to
have one eye turned heayenward and
the other looking down for a bite. and
then as proof of his assertion, instanced
Butler, whom everybody could see is
cross-eyed and has a worldwide reputa-
ton for fishing. New England, of
course, had to acknowledge the corn
beg pardon we meant fish.-but was
ably defended by the worthy sons in
Congress. The scene brought to our en-
thusiastic anticipation the time when
Vermonts Green Mountain Boy shall be
admitted to the silent congress-" and
we hope her sons in the noisy congress
may speak their pieces loud enough to
be heard in the reporters gallery.
To-day Mr.. Summer made an exhaust
i've speech upon civil rights, and still in