Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1877-12-21

After Conover had read from disiointed
slips of paper, with schoolboy voice and
manner, his defence, in which he claimed
ignorance of the law, while he made two or
three palpable "hits," which made the gal
cries laugh, Edmunds arose, and said he had
nothing to say in reply to the Senators from
South Carolina and Florida; but, in order
to test the sense of the Senate on the matters
that had been so much talked about, he was
about to propose an amendment to the reso-
luton from the Senator from Ohio. If it
were true that Senator who was under
indictment tor buying his seat in the Senate
had been promised that, if he would vote a
a certain way, that indictment would be
quashed, and if he did not he would be sent
to the penitentiary if he had been told
that the wheels of Justice should be stopped
Mr.. Patterson Coming in from the cloak
room)-"Does the Senator mean to say that
upon his own responsibility
| Mr.. Edmunds-''C Certainly | say every
thing that | say on my own responsibility"
Mr.. Patterson-"AllI have to say is that
| it is untrue"
Mr.. Edmunds-"I did not say it was true.
| said if it were true,"
Mr.. Edmunds then began TO laud the New
| York Tribune, and to tell how it entered
more homes than any other Journal in the
land, and that into these homes it had borne
the tale of Patterson's bribery, and how be
| had voted for Butler to save himself from the
penitentiary The cold d-blooded manner in
which this paragraph was read. was far more
cruel than the paragraph itself, which, after
| all, was but a fair statement of the current
report of the day. The thousands in the
gallery leaned over breathlessly; the white
face of the wife opposite grew whittier as she
| heard the accused man held tighter with his
arm the little ruddy-haired boy who had
crept to his side. while he quivered from
head to foot with excitement. As Mr..
/ Eimunds read the last word, he sprang up
to his feet and cried ''Mr. President and
| Senators, appeal to the manhood and sense
of justice of each of you, il the action of the
| Senator from Vermont Is fair or Just. am
here to carry out the will of my constituents.
The indictments spoken of by the Senator
have been in existence for weeks, and why
are they brought in here to-day and read :?
| | appeal for Justice If, because | will not
vote as some persons demand, my God, am
to be tried and convicted in minute? Must
| be tried and convicted in my absence {?
| Why did not the Senator from Vermont do
that weeks ago? 1t has been published and
| read it, and it has been here for weeks. :"
To many, Mr. Eimunds's assault was
without potency. from the well-r ;membered
fact that the Journal which he now lauded he
| had as often decried. The world knows
( that the New York Tribune, in the main,
is fair and Just far beyond average journals.
| The world OF Washington knows, also. that
it has never been spared by Republican
Senators when it bravely assailed any Of
their pet sins or measures In the Senate
| Chamber Roscoe Conkling has berated it in
particular, and all newspapers, in general
7 by the hour and Mr. Edmunds has not
Jagged far beh ind him in the same diatribes
! Thus it was something unwonted to hear it
lauded by one OF these law-giyers, for any
| cause whatsoever. | only hope his praises
will continue. The mantle of newspaper
assault now fell upon the honored hut
chokcd-up head of Senator Thurman. In
| spite ot snu1 and catarTh, he flew into the
breach, and, amid blasts from his nose that
| shook the foundations beneath him and shook
the galleries above him with peals OF laugh
/ ter, which woke the irate Edmunds to hints
| of arrest, he "lathered his opponent for ar
raigniug his newborn son OF Democracy Ion
| the accusation of an anonymous newspaper
scribbler." The newspaper and the ''news-
paper scribbler, packed into every sentence,
were beaten with many stripes. Mrs. Mary
I CkDwl,r sa tie tqdePsrdsHf.