Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1872-06-05
Our Washington Letter.



editorial congrotulating the people Of the State
upon the unexpected passage Of a supplemental
apportionmcnt bill, by which the State retains It's
present representation in Congress, instead Of
sustaining loss of one member, as 1t did under
the general opportionment bill. In this the pa
pers were little premature, as the bill in cues
ton did not pass the Senate until the Goth, and
consequently not until after these editorials were
written. These premature rejocings were occa-
stoned doubtless by failure to notice that the
House bill passed the Senate with an objections
bic amendment added, which the House refused
10 accept A committee of conference was or.
dered, and the Senate finally receded from its pro
posed amendment and adopted the bill as il came
from the House. The papers fortunately there
fore have nothing to take back. By the operation
of this bill ten members are added to the House. |
more than were provided for in the general ap.
portonment bill, and Vermont thereby escapes
the contemplated loss Of a member for the next
ten years Tho House as thus constituted will
consist Of 903 members, which is SO more than
the present number. While this number will
not be otherwise Objectionable, IL will crowd the
floor Of the House with desks TO the limits of IL.
capacity. If with the future growth Of the
country and the increase Of population, the num-
her Of representatives is hereafter in ,rcascd, it
will necessitate an enlargement Of the Hail. which
il not otherwise necessary ought to be done to &C.
cure proper ventilation.
In commenting upon the fortutous passage of
this bill, notice that nearly all the papers give
the entire credit Of its passage to Mr. Willard,
thereby conveying the impression that the other
members OF the Vermont delegation If not neg
ligent Of the interests of the State in this par
tcular, had little or nothing 10 do in securing
the passage Of the bill, Without wishing to de.
tract in the least from the measure Of credit 10
which Air Willard is justly entitled, justice to
other members Of the delegation, will excuse
brief allusion to the history Of this effort TO save
: Vermont from loss in her representation. When
the general appointment bill was before the
House, in the early part Of the session, Hon.
% l.. p. Poland introduced an amendment thereto
, emhodying substantially the same provision, and
designed to accomplish the same results as have
been secured by the recent passage of the supple
$ mental bill Under the operation Of The free min
d ute rule, restricting speeches to that lengh OF
e time, it impossible to get the attention Of
i the House rs to explain the necessity and ei-
Il feet Of the amendment Another potent reason
n which operated 10 defeat this amendment was,
b, the fact that the apportonment bill had been 50
Il skilIuly arranged that Maine which had lost over
'' two thousand in population, retained her full
< former representation, while Vermont which had
!, gaincd over fifteen thousand lost representative.
d OF course Speaker Blaine was anxious that the
J. interests Of Maine having been secured the bill
}. should pass a. it stood, without being endangered
p by amendments 1t was hastily arranged that
D. the present amendment should not be passed and
that the end sought could better be accomplished
e by a supplemental bill which was to receive the
D. favor and assistance of the Speaker Judge Poland
N was thus forced to abandon his efforts for a time
tie in that direction.
y 4 conference Of the Vermont delegation wa,
b. soon after held to arrange for the new effort and
D all three Of the Representatives could not in.
Is troduce the bill, that privilege was conceded By
re the others to Mr.. Willard. The real work neces
ut sary to its success had to be performed after III,
r bill bad been introduced and referred, by the ex
ne ercise Of personal influence, and by individual
effort among the members Of the House In th
of course all the Vermont members contribute,
all they possessed both in the House and Senate
1t was exceedingly fortunate for the bill that th'
, judiciary Committee 10 which it was referred
=. was largely composed Of members from State
No which gained in representation thereby, whicl
j., secured n favorable report from the committee
o. While nine other States participated to nm equa
! extent with Vermont in the benefits Of this bill
"A it was nevertheless peculiarly Vermont mea
"A sure. Not only the FIRST, and the finally sue
cessfu effort, introduced by members from Yer
:, mont, but its successful passage through bot
!. House and Senate largely due 10 the earnest
persistent and influential efforts OF each membe
~ Of the Vermont delegation. While Mr.. willsr
is entitled to much credit for his agency in thi
:, matter, he is by no means the only one thus en-
=, titled. IL should be remembered that Judg
Poland was the first in the field, and only with
a drew to secure more favorable position and i
oo should not he forgotten that while before H.
-. Senate it received the watchiul care Of Senator
Morrill, and Edmunds. With all these efforts an,
n influences 10 its favor, It's successful passage wa
a. largely owing to lucky chain Of iavorng cir
= cumsNnces.
n, During the past week Congress has been work
~ ing under high pressure, and has at last found
necessary TO extend the session another week
- The last proposition is to adjourn Monday, IN
- 10th inst
The epent Of the week was the delivery q
elaborate speeches, on Friday, by Senators Sum
~ ner and Sehurz in continued assault of Presiden
Grant and his administration Ii had been uu
~ derstood for some time that they were bot
loaded to the muzzle with charges which wer
= intended to blow Grant and his chances for re
IL. election, If not for denomination, sky high
-, was also understood that they shrewdy ntende
to withhold their FIRE until so late in the session
~ that no one could reply. The explosion occurre
on Friday, when Senator Sumner opened his bat
terry in a four hours speech, which does grea
honor to his industry. In seeking for ammuni
ton he had picked up every harmless shot an
y" every exploded she'll which had been hurled a
n General Grant during the past four years, whic
u, he appropriated and fired of again, as though
- were all fresh from the arsenal Mr. Sumner In
W. not, IN this speech, added anything ~ his repu
he tation for fairness, 10 say the least Il was be
IT, meath has dignity and his character to republis
nd ISLANDERS that had long ago, and in the most con
elusive manner, been proved maliciously false
10, Mr.. Schurz obtained the floor, and fDllowe,
rst Mr.. Snmner 10 three hours speech which wa
in characterized by Mr.. Schurz's usual eloquence
a.. elegance OF dctiOn, cearness of argument an,
:" keenress OF satire 1t was a much more credit
Ia able eiiJrt than Mr.. Summers and calculated L
IN do more damage to the Republican party Boil
M will doubtless be extensively circulated as cam
- paign documents. The extension of the session
< will give opportunity for reply which will doubt
nus less be done by Senator Carpenter, who was NOR
RS personally interested in the subject matter upo
which the speech was based-ths report of IN
French Arms investigating Committee Mr.
U.s. iiamin, the Chairman OF the Committee, wouI
he doubtless reply if he were here lie il absent i,
Il, Maine, attending the bedside Of dying brother
nc TnoxAs.
" Letter 10 Mr.. Sumner.