The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1876-01-25
WASHINGTON LETTER.
A strange Centennial Debate-,A Com.
pnFison between Mr. Herr hnd
Mr., niuine,

WAsuNGros, January 20, $50,
ThOHo of ~ who have been cOngrat-
ulating ourselves, and the country, and
humanity, TINT the war Is over, that
liz sad wounds are healed, aud that We
would In this halloWed year gather
under the roof tree OF our fathers, to
renew with singleDess Of faith aud pIr-
pose the great conflict for honest Gov
eminent, which they only began, were
perhaps a little too sanguine. We had
not calculated that there were politi-
clans In Maine and Georgia, or, per-
haps, from Maine 10 Georgia, who, In
the lust Of ambition, are ready to pro-
fame everything, wreck everything to
gain point In the presidential game.
Mr., Blaine will not be outdone; he Is
too smart for that, No sooner Is our 81.
van President inspired with peachdm
for public schools, and third term,
than Mr.. Blaine Is even with him 10y
bill In the House. When Mr.. Blaine
goes him one better, and brandishes a
hOrrld windlngsheet. ...
IL IL terrific the way these non-con-
bntants, Blaine and Hill, nght-in
words, II was cruel they were not al
lowed any fight during the war, 1t
would have been better for the country
If they had met then, in mutual can
collation.. ~ . ~ .l ~ q ~,
In Washington, IL Is only necessary
for the papers to make nm announce
ment, In order to Insure II full house
and overlooking galleries, in a verbal
mill like this Who is SO vlrtuous that
he has not stopped, aud been absorbed,
and taken sides, when two Infatuated
market-wOmen have striven for an adj
vantage in billingsgate But, when
men whom fate, ianatlcism, and the
newspapers, have made what the vul-
gar call "great,n have "set to, each
with intent TO blazon the meanness,
weakness, and littleness, of the other
in good English; every patriot must re-
greet that their mutual humiliation is
only u metaphor ..I -.rrl Ana ~.
But | was saying that the galleries
were crowded, On occasions like
this, Washington, transient and
locnl, diplomatic aud Afric, pours to-
ward the capitol, till the seats of the
galleries are filled, till the corridors in
the rear of the galleries are crowded,
and until the floor of the House is in
undated by those who have the usual
or temporary privilege of coming upon
the floor. Hundreds have always to
return, unable to find even standing
room near the doors of the galleries.
Mem bels and Senators are beseiged,
by their friends, with requests for ad.
mission to the floor, to the reporters,
gallery, the diplomatic gallery
where that there may be possible space
for one more. In cringent times like
this, your correspondent realizes the
importance of'the press. fhe arrives
late, he wedges through the dense mass
In the corridors, enters the reporters
gallery, and its down monarchically
at division of a long writing desk
marked "DALI.As I II ilIERALD,t
He observes that Senator Morton,
wonderful to see, has been carried
into the House for the first time, per-
haps, in ten years; that old Ben Wade
and old Henry 5. Foote, smouldering
| fires, hive been accommodated with
chairs side by side on the floor. He
makes note that there are Il number
of Senators, three Cabinet officers and
rs many judges OF the Supreme Court
present, and unusual occurrence be-
tokening more than vulgar interest
this, perhaps, makes or unmakes party
success. They are all here to hear the
Republican Presidential preco ;ity, Mr..
Blaine, of Maine, illuminate against a
poor old imbecile, long since out of pol
tiles, and fast passing out of memory.
And this is the one hundredth year, in
which we celebrate liberty, equality,
fraternity, bankruptcy, and | had al
most written amnesty ! ltF
Mr.. Blaine appears to much better
advantage in the Speakers chair than
upon the floor; there his readiness,
praise, and immense capacity of en-
durance, together with his fairness as
an arhiter in parliamentary questions,
made him, while armed with the gavel,
many friends in both parties, and they
were no little surprised to see the once
able and dignilied Speaker believing,
boisterous, out of order, quivering with
excitement, and when unable TO out
roar the majority, cropping wildly in
the air for the departed gavel, and
trampling upon all the parliamentary
rules of which he had been so long the
exponent. r.fe..l.
1t is humiliqting to see our idols de-
throned,. but when they ,grovel we de-
spise them. Mr.. Blaine's head has
become dizzy with vanity, his long
tenure of the chair has made him ar
rogant and dictatorial. He Is not of
the rare few whom the possession of
authority sobers, but of the vulgar
many whom it makes drunk. He has
been petted by the Republican party,
and patted on the back by Whitelaw
Reid until he exhibits insolence and
ALLEGATIONS that would hardly be toll
Grated In pretty woman. In a dis.
cussion of parliamentary question he
had the bad taste to bully the Speaker,
saying among other things that he
hoped for his own MIR. Kerr's) sake he
would not decide against him, hut
Mr.. Kerr calmly ruled against him,
and was approved in his decision
by ex-Speaker Banks, and the author
of the very book on rules, which Mr..
Blaine had cited.
W. wv men conlu oe Ill more Strlk-
ing contrast than Mr.. Kerr and Mr..
Blaine. The difference that first i'm
presses the observer is physical. Mr..
Blaine has a powerful physique and
exhuberants health. Mr.. Kerr has
neither health nor strength. But here
the scale Nof advantage changes.
If Mr.. Blaine has better knowledge
Of the mere letter of parliamentarv
law, Mr.. Kerr has more profound IN
sight into its spirit, and the principles
which underlie its formulas Mr..
Blaine is remarkably pert, he would be
at, the head of his class in any school,
and always recite his piece with flip
pant ease. Mr.. Kerr would vary from
the text and hesitate, not from def
cipncv of knavladgass's, a. fnoh;I.t., -