Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1875-03-05
The short Session OF tho FOI ty-thiTd
COperess-Ihs Party Lash and the
6ag-Law-Dem0cratic and Re-
publican Leaders.
The Cheeky Beast who Was the Leader
of the "Rads''-The Great Speeches
in the SeDate-Lamar In the
HOuse-Ths Defeated
Ferce Bill.


Many who have served il congress q
number Of years say that this short ses.
sion has been the most wearisOme and
exhaustiDg they have ever known.
"Partly,n said senator in converse
| ton with several others on the subject,
"this is because of the really startling
events which have happened since con-
gress met, the New Orleans affair, the
Vlcksburg interference and the Ar
kansas message, all of which filled men
OF both parties with grave apprehen-
sions Of the future, and gave to many of
us sleepless nights" A member Of the
house added, "but partly, too, 1t is be-
cause, at least on our side, the debates
have been uncommonly dull. With few
exceptions the men of acknowledged
ability have not had opportunity to
speak, and, in general, by some fatality,
the discussion of even the more impor-
tant questions has fallen into the hands
of second or third-rate men, to whom
the house listened with WEAKNESS and
without profit This is true of the
house, though not Of the senate, where
a number of able speeches have been
heard during the session from such men
as Bayard, Schurz, Ferry, Cor
don, Thurman, Boutwell,, Edmunds
and others. But Of the house
the remark OF a member during last
nights tedious session is very true:
"There are 40 competent leaders on
either side" said he. "Dawes and Gar.
field have neither the strong will nor the
ability any longer to command their
side. They are bullied by the house, and
Overreached when he pleases by General
Butler, who is the real leader of the Re.
tNUtll fHa NH hot a. 10
who impfesses his will on his party, and
who has the originality and fertility Of
resource and determination which are
necessary for party leader. The speak
err added this member, sis a man of
more force, YigOr and intellect than any
other man of his side or in the whole
house, but he cannot lead while he is in
the chair. He has guided debate and
influenced the course Of the house with
Incompatible ability, and has won the
highest plaudits from both sides, both
for his uniform fairness and his extraor-
binary clearness and ability. In the
next congress, when he sits on the floor
and may take part in debate, he will be
a great power in the house, and his lead
ership will be worth dozen members to
the Republicans.n
son our side"-it was a Democrat
who now spoBe-tthere is no one who
has had the requisite qualities for q
leader. Randall comes earest to it, but
he is not up to the mark. He lacks self
confidence, audacity, the aggressive
spirit. He acts naturally on the deiens-
i've, and that is fatal. AS for Potter, he
is able, but too lazy"
To this a Republican replied: "Lack
of aggressiveness is the fault, too, of
DgweLand Garfield ana the reason why
their Influence has become less and less
in the house, continually. They are al
ways defending themselves or their
measures, and their loud voices no
longer scare even the new members.
The way Dawes was worried in the
house about the tax bill made him ridic-
ulOus, though the introduction of the
bill by him was enough to make him ri
diculous, without his lame and impo-
tent defense Of it. AS for Mr.. Garfield,
he seems fated to pass the rest of life in
complaints that some one has OutWitted
him; but what is the use of leader who
can be outwitted? The use of a a gen.
eral is to win battles, and not to make
ingenious pleas that the enemy took
an unfair advantage of him.
"The house." said anOther-a Repub-
where great measures can elicit great
debates. The rules which have grown
up in the last dozen years have made
debate almost impossible. There was a
time when every important measure was
discussed, altered, amended, and, in
fact, framed by the house; when day
after day, after prayers, it went into
committee of the whole, and heard the
ablest thinkers and speakers all day,
aid for many days at time, in speech
es which went to the bottom of the ques-
ton, showed up every side of it, and en-
abled both the house and the country to
form judgment on the matter at issue.
Now bill is elaborated in secret by
small committee, is brought before the
house as party measure, is weakly de-
Tended and as weakly attacked by the
members of the committee alone, who
have a silly prescriptive right to rule the
debate, and is then forced to vote. The
result is that trickery, ingenuity, cum
ming, a readiness to twist rules to ones
use, are the qualities which make man
leader in the house. Hence General
Buffers prominence. He is not an able
speaker. The house never listens to him
with pleasure. His strength lies in
quick, though rude, repartee, and in au-
dacity and an adroit use of the rules"
"That is one reason why able men 30
anxiously seek the senate,n said an
other Republican. "There debate sur
wives. There oily can an important
question be fully discussed. The SEN
ate is always in committee OF the whole.
1t need not vote until it is ready, and
this session has seen the curious and
unusual spectacle of the senate leading
the house, the senate caucus framing
measures and policy to be accepted
by the house, the senate organizing i'm
pOrtant measures and even consider
ing finance bills to be sent over to the
house committee for adoption. We are
chOked to death in the house, and when
men cannot speak they can no longer
think clearly.n
This long conversation is here quoted
because it describes very well the main
reasons why the house has, at so great
an expense of strength IN prolonged
night sessions done so little, and, what
is worse, done that little so badly. 1t
has been choked by its rules. The most
important measure which any congress
for many years had considered, the force
bill, has been passed by what is equiva-
lent to "gag" rule, for under the rules
the Alabama committee-three Repub-
licans and two Democrats, all five men
Of whom it is not offensive to say that
they are of second rate, or even third
rate, ability-were permitted to almost
mOnOpoliZe and entirely control the de
bate, which, besides, was limited to
brief and fixed time. Hence, no man
first class ability had opportunity to b
fully heard, and those of this class who
did speak had to say their hurried say n
ten, or at most fifteen minutes. Lamar,
southern man of such wisdom, moder-
alton and genuine patriotism as make
him respected by all the best men in the
house, was choked down. or the Re-
publican opponents of the bill, only
Willard, of Michigan, Pierce, of Boston,
and Poland, were heard, even in brief
remarks, and the bill was defended by
the most absurd set of ranters ever
heard, who dangled the bloody shirt be-
fore the speaker, and brought their
words togeth r with drum and fife as
they do their colored voters at the
southern polls, and Ii was opposed al
most as lsmely, though not as rldicu-
lously as 1t was defended.
The filth affapdino the fpuoatiuafiop