National Republican., 1873-01-27

I
fore, deduct the receipts from these sources
The account will then stand 1927, ,a35, o.,
ga 5000 cents the average rate We thinl
we have proved the correctness Of our posi-
tlon and the error of the Journal.
wANTED-A LEADER"
At the beginning OF the present session o
Congress there were many gentlemen high IL
position In this city, who, disgusted at tn,
action Of the House Of Representatives IL
committing u number OF foolish and senselesi
things In the course Of the lrst week after Il
had assembled, did not hesitate privately &c
censurc severely it, strange and unaccounta
bic action. The REPUBLICAN endeayOrcd tC
give expression to the feeling, and to thai
end printed more articles than one under the
above caption. With the exception OF score
Of members they were, we believe, unanl-
mously approved by the Republicans in the
House; but timid councils prevailed, and evei
since. In political point Of view, the ma.
jority party In the lower branch Of Con.
gress has been committing blundsr aftel
blundcr, and drifting from bad to worse. TC
such pass has 1t come in that body that the
Times Is moved to print the following letter
from this city, the truth aud force Of which
every one who has watched the course oi
events during the last two weeks will apprr.
ciate:
"The Iamentabe lack Of courage exhibited by
the Republican majority In the House OF Repre-.
sentatives during the present session ls oyokinR
even more comment than the developments
made by the several committees. Here we have
a body OF Republicans, charged with the respon-
sihility Of maintaining the organization and dis
cipline as well as the Integrity OF the party,
weakly and supinely surrendertng the lead IN
matters over which they should exercise CON-
plete control, into the hands Of their enemies
Emerging from q contest In which they achieved
the greatest political victory ever recorded, they
surrender the sceptre Of their power, and ObcJ
the dictatorial he6ests Of the Democracy From
the 1rst day Of the session, when James Brook
cunnlngly suggested that In such matter as tht
chairmanshlD uf the Foreign Affairs Committee,
there should he no such thing as party con.
sideratlOn, and twenty Republicans weakly sue
cumbed, down to the present time, the Republi-
can party In the House has abdicatcd its func.
| tiOns Of leadership aud CONTROL and tamely sub
mits to he led by the nose into all sorts Of awk.
ward and Inconsistent positions 10y such an un.
mltlgated demagogue as sam Randall.
"There isn't courage enough left In the House
TO even give decent treatment to the Presldent's
recommendations. The debate on Mr. Shella.
barger's bill proved this cOnclusively. There 1.
an unquestioned majority In the House In sym.
pathy with the idea Of doing something 10 re-
store our commerce, yet this important bill,
after the speeches OF Sheabarger and Kelley,
was taken charge Of by the Democracy, and al
the dictatiOn OF such Democratic partisans A.
Kerr and Cox, was unceremonlOusly laid on TIT
table. There seemed TO he an entire indspOsi-
tion on the part Of the Republican members to
speak on the subject, or to do anything which
would save the principle involved In the mea
sure from humiliating defeat. on every Mon
day for three weeks past the House has been led
into all sorts Of Inconsistent attitudes, even t.
the reversing, under the goad Of the Democracy,
Of It's arefuliy-cOnsidered aud well-matured ac-
tiOn Of one year and two years ago. Within tht
past two weeks membefs have voted In direct
opposition to their previous votes and Of thelI
convictions, simply because they feared an
honest vote might he miscOnstrued.
ave all know that this has been caused by the
exaggerated Importance given TO the develop
ments before the investigating committees. But
that Is no excuse for the great majority who are
not Involved. II II not necessary that investiga-
tlOns should cease, nor that they should not be
ordered; but II Is absolutely necessary that the
Republican majority In the House should give
direction and control TO the matters OF inyesti.
CATION. Al the present time the House seems
disposed to swallow any dose that Is prepared
for II by the Democracy. sam Randall ia the
real leader, and he has only to assert that u
thing needs investigation to secure the assent Of
the Republican majority. heretofore IL has been
the rule Of action never 10 order an investigation
upon any members or persons mere assertion
or request, but only upon the appearance ol
probable cause. Now, however, since the In
VestigatiOns are made public, any member who
has private malice TO crafty can secure his OBJ
ject by resolution directing one OF the commit
sSs. scamp in asy pa o Phe country on wth
like purpose, eau write letter or get the ear Of
men like Randall, with a story to revenge him
self upon some public man, and forthwith his
statement Is accepted by the House as entitled
To consideration. lie appears before one Of The
committees, deals his stab, gets II into the news
papers, and the very statutes OF Congress pro-
tect him from being called to account for hls
statements. Thus the House lends itself tn the
exercise o. the most absolute and worst form Of
tyranny that can be conceived. II amounts to
an inqusltiOn worse than that of any grand jury,
for the widest publicity is given 10 every Circum
stanceand fact Of damaging character, infer
entialy or direct"
"The Republican majority Of the House should
at once put stop 10 the spread Of this species
OF decentralization, and compel every proposition
Tor investigation ~ stand upon It's positive
merits. Otherwise Congress viii become simply
degraded TO machine for washing other peO-
ples's dirty linen and reyenRlng individual grief
and spltes. We had last year a surfelt Of nyestl-
CATION, all directed at the other end Of the Ave
nue, and the result showed very clearly that
there was not grain Of truth to every mountain
Of charges. The result iA no reason why investl-
cations Of the legislative branch should not be
had, but II proves that there Il no reason fOl
allowing the Republican party name, either In OF
out Of Congress, to he dragged In the dirt at the
suggestion " malicious paTtlsans on the other
side or malicious people On any side"
As the Times correspondent says, the Re-
publlCans In the House have allowed them
selves } he led hy the nose by the Democracy,
1t Ia truc that Sam. Randall Is to-day more Of
a leader in that body than any man who sits
upon the Republican benches, which Is only
an evidence Of Mr.. Randalis ability and of
the lack Of direction and nerve on the part Of
the majority or the men who are looked up
to Us leaders In II. However lamentable and
1t may be to Republicans, never
Iheless 1t Is a fact that during the last six or
seven weeks the Democratic minority has
done more TO influence legislation, and direct
what should and should not be done, than the
Republican majority. They have ordered
most of the investigating committees, and
killed more hills than their opponents have
passed. They have virtually kept Banks and
Blair aud Farnsworth ut the head Of the COM
mittees, from which they should have been
In the Senate 1t has been alto
gether different. There we have seen some
thing like judgment and management and a
proper appreciation Of the situation. But,
since Mr.. Brooks become too Ill to attend the
sessions of the House, Mr.. Randall has di-
vided with Mr.. Cox the honors Of the leader
ship of the House. How long will Republicans
permit 1t to contisue2