American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1873-05-10
The Adjournment OF the Pennsylvania
Legislature.

The Legislature has adjourned, and the
last hours have been marked by the usual
half-drunken orgies that have marked its
dissolution for the past six years. While
the House was waiting for messages from
the Senate this morning the fun grew fast
and furious, and Mr.. Brockway moved
that Andy Mcclure be invited to address
them. The Senator was found by the
Committee appointed, and, promptly re-
spending to the invitations addressed the
House as follows:
Mr. SPEAKER AND CoMMoNERs OF THE STATE
OF PENNSYLVANIA: | thank you for the dis
tinction you have conferred upon me by your
invitation to address you on the subject of re
form. l know of no other body of men, either
of the present or past, that needs instruction
On the necessity of both public and private
morality so much as the House Of Representa-
tives of this State now before me laughter
or that has broadly and deeply expert
mented in the line of individual and official
profiigacy. Laughter and applause. | am
not surprised. however, that ii is so, when
consider that of the members serving in this
House from my immediate locality, many were
not even nominated, and few, any,
were elected. Shouts of laughter. l
sent You reform bills, which cost me many
days of anxious thought and labor TO perfect,
but you danced not when piped to you, nei-
ther did you weep responsive To my mourning
over the degeneracy of the body polite.
must admit, however, that You were prompt
executioners, for every bill that looked to-
wards reform negatived with yeii as fast
rules would allow. But in political, rs
often in moral and religious cycles, the
darkest hour is just before the dawn of day;
and it is gratifying that after you have con-
summated all the harm YOU can possibly ini!irt
upon the State you have by unanimous reso-
luton called for a confessor. Laughter 1t
WIS well to pause thus, just for the sake of
novelty or reference, SO that when the
tempest breaks you can point to this
act of ba -
done to your constituents and the Common
wealth. Applause and sarcastic shouts Most
of you who have for three months been serv
ing in the places to which other persons were
elected by the people have discounted the retri-
butive wave of popular reprobaton by Great
ing offices by legislative enactments, to which
you hope to return; and those unprovided for
hope to be placed on the indefinite payroll of
the pastors and folders of the House, in accord
ance with the prevalent custom here to pension
decayed statesmen. lShouts of laughter.1 That
you seek Liberal Counsels to have good seed
sown in the chaos of virtue that surrounds
you is a hopeful sign OF the times, and if you
do not cheat us more than 50 900 in Phladel-
phia next TALL the places that know you now
will know you no more forever. Laughter.
But turn to the faint silver lining on the deep
cloud of your record. One act of this House
gladdened the hearts of the whole people of
the State and reinspired hope throughout the
length and breadth of the Commonwealth. l
refer to your vote in the midst of disorder that
at a Philadelphia fire would be called riot, on
Monday evening last, fixing early day for
your final adjournment. Laughter and APP
plausc- l have heard of no citizen of the
State who did not heartily approve of the act.
Laughter. l am happy to point to it as the
oasis in the withered desert that you have
made about you, and to accord you credit for
it Hoping, gentlemen, if 1 may be pardoned
the of the term-[laughterl- that the
length of your lives may correspond with the
measure of your virtues, and that you will be
succeeded by better men than yourselves, bid
you goodnight
The Senator retired amid roaring ap-
plause and a liberal shower of paper
balls.
that they had gone avoiding and come
home shorn, and their gambols Tagged and
petered out.-Harris6urg Letter to ". Y
World