The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1877-03-31
The Next Congress and the Extrs
Session.

have been for many years. In the senate
the republicans will have majority OF only
three or four In the House the democrats
will have. on the organization, a majority OF
at least nine. and perhaps fifteen. ms
closeness of party strength is in itself Sc
curity for wise and against hasty legislation.
Where parties are SO nearly evenly balanced
the ADLER members of Legislative body can
and do exercise wholesome control over
measures they hold the balance OF power,
and the party caucus and the previous ques-
ton lose their demoralizing force. There is
reason, therefore, for believing that the next
Congress will be more strictly under the
control of its brains and less affected by the
ignorant and the designing among its men,
bers than any Congress which has sat since
the beginning of the war. Needed reforms
will have an unusual opportunity to get
hearing, and vote, too ; and as the ever
lasting Southern question will be out Of the
way there is a solid ground of hope that the
country will be benefited by the next Con-
gress.
This hope is strengthened by glance at
the list of new Senator's Garland, of Ar
kansas; Hoar, Of Massachusetts,; Morgan, of
Alabama; Kirkwood, of Iowa; Lamar, of
Mississippi; Davis, of Illinois, and Hill, OF
Georgia, all men of real ability and states
manship, take the places of Clayton, Bout
we'll, Goldthwaite, Wright, Alcorn, Logan
and Norwood No one can fail to see in
these changes great improvement. Stanley
,bo Oh Charm n I
seat, and Mr.. Beck, who succeeds Mr.. Ste
venson, are both positive characters, and as
able men as their predecessors There has,
indeed, been o sensible and continual I'M
provement in the character of the Senate
since 1872. In that period have disappeared,
besides those we have named above, Ames,
of Mississippi Chandler, Cooper, of Ten
nessee; Flanagan, Of Texas; Gilbert, of
Florida; Ramsey, Scott, of Pennsylvania;
Sprague, Stewart, of Nevada; Stockton, and
West, Of Louisiana, all men who could easily
be spared from the Senate, and they have
been replaced, in many cases. by better
men, for in the same period the Senate has
received Herman, Randolph, Booth, Chris
tiancy, Mcmillan, Jones, OF Florida; Coke, Of
Texas. Mr. Blaine, who succeeded Mr.. Nor
rill, though not an ADLER, is more brilliant
man. Mr.. Grover, who takes the place of
Mr. Kelly, from Oregon, is reputed to be
sound lawyer and intelligent man. Ferry,
of Connecticut, Sumner and Schurz are
men whose loss was keenly felt in the Sen
ate but the new men give the promise
of replacing even these, and the number of
Senators who are either extreme partisans or
persons of little or no ability has been hand
somely decreased in the last five or six
years
The new House of Representatives suffers
by the loss of some of the ablest of the old
members. Mr.. Kerr is dead; Blaine, Hill,
Hoar and Lamar have gone to the Senate F;
Pierce, of Massachusetts,; Kasson, of Iowa;
Elijah Ward, Charles j. Faulkner; Abbott,
Seelye and Thompson, of Massachu-
sets; Willard, of Michigan; jerks,
of Pennsylvania Scott Lord, Hancock,
of Texas, and Holman, of Indiana, do
not reappear. All these will be missed.
We trust among the new members there will
be some chronic and stiffbacked objector to
ject" was terror to jobbers in the last
House. Of men of note and power in
| Congresses before the last the new
House regains only Clarkson Potter
and General Butler. OF the new mem
bers General Ewing, of Ohio, is the
only one we now remember who is pretty
sure to make his mark. But of the men
who served with more or less distinction in
the last House, and reappear in the next,
there is O considerable list. On the repub-
lican side there will be Foster, Garfield,
Hale, Chittenden, Kelley, Townsend, Grape,
Burchard and Frye, and some others, prob
ably, whom we do not now remember. The
democratic list is longer, and includes Ran
dali, Wood, Cox, Schleicher, Knott, Ran
dolph Tucker. Swami, Randall Gibson,
Reagan. Clymer, Lynde, Hewitt. Eppa Hun
ton, Bright, Sayler, Gilbert, Walker and
Waddell, of North Carolina.
A good many journals express the hope
that Congress at the extra session will do
nothing but pass the Army bill. We do not
agree with them. There is no reason why
the extra session should not do some good
work for the country. In the first place we
hope it will adopt constitutional amend
ment in consonance with the Presidents
inaugural Message, making Presi-
dent ineligible to reelection and pre-.
scribing term of six years. Mr.
Hayes rightly urged this rs necessary
means toward reform of the civil service
the country demands it; and the amend
ment, if adopted at the extra session, car
become part of tho constitution early mex
winter.
There is no good reason why the month o
June should not see the country at last pu
fairly on the way to specie payments by the
u Il =. n