The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1878-03-21
RANDOM THOUGHTS.
BY THE EDITOR.

Every EOuINh Ol Juilt prior 10 NhS "ait
was disgusted with the "hyfalutin' ora.
tory of the speakers They talked about
this great and glorious Countrywide land
Of the free and the home of the brave
the asylum for the oppressed Of all ma
tions. At the same time, one-sixth Of the
entire population were held as chattels,
bought and sold like cattle and hogs.
few nights ago | was reminded Of
the old style of oratory, when ! heard
this country held up as the pattern and
perfection Of Christian civilization. Now,
If most Christian reformers are satisfied
with the progress made. am not. 1t is
not the fault of the morality of the Bible,
but it is the fault Of the selfconstituted
false teachers Of the Bible.
have room only to refer to a very few
things this week, as seen in the papers
within the past ten days First, | will
speak of drunkenness in high, or at least
public places. The Fayette County Her
aid says:
Every cell in the station. house, at
Dayton, was full of soldiers from the
Home. on Saturday night last Cause
that was pay day, and the soldiers par
took Of intoxicating fluids too freely.
That is the way their money goes
Rev. Joseph Cook. in one of his cele
brated lectures. speaking of drunkenness
in the United States Senate. says:
"a distinguished Senator, says news
paper document, which is quoted from
L IL Il
and forth with that sponEy and uncertain
action of the knees which plaintively
suggests that one foot or the other has
been caught in a skein of sewing silk
His arms went around every man he met
in some maudlin embrace, and both sides
OF his desk were needed when he rose to
vote There was another Senator, dis
tinguished for his opposition to the pend.
ing bill, who displayed great anxiety to
strike out the second line of the word
government Gsbrieks Of laughterl finally
by help Of diligent whispering. a mau
prompting and supporting on each side,
gave his amendment correctly, dropped
back in a drunAen stupor; the amend
ment was voted down; he woke. rose re-
peated his amendment wild and uncon-
trollable merrimentl, repeated it the
third time (Senators around him nearly
crazy with mirth) Senators and at
last persuaded in his befogged mind be
tottered from group to group, denouncing
the unfairness of a vote on his amend
lnent while / was down at dinner He
dined at s. The amendment was voted
on after 10. Still q third Senator, for
thirty years the honored leader of a great
party in a great State, passed from his
seat to the cloak room aud the cloak
room to his seat only by wide apart steps
and supporting chairs, and when he
reached his seat fell there into a drunken
sleep in one of the pauses Of debate in
which be was endeavoring to join, and
did Join when be awoke-having slept
with a man laundering at him two feet
from his desk-with incoherent exclsma-
tions and doubtful answers to a simple,
plain, and easy question. There were
other Senators less noisy and further
gone-one at full length on his desk and
chair-legislating on the silver question
as Congress insists on legislating on that
and many other questions, eyes shut and
mouth wide open.
On this came subject, Mary Clemmer,
writing to the N Y. Independent, says
There was one Senator, Of long expe-
rience and national repute, so drunk he
could not stand unsupported at his desk.
Even his faithful handkerchief. which al
most never fails him, dropped from his
hand Two men. one on either side, held
him up, prompting him to utter his
amendment which he slowly mumbled
out, amid shrieks OF laughter. At last he
sank down in a drunken stupor. His
amendment was voted down; when he
awoke. arose. and repeated il. amid the
widest mirth Of the Senate, who gather
ed around him almost crazy with merri
ment In the middle aisle stood Blaine,
perfectly sober shaking his finger and
shouting at a third Senator, who bears
an honored name in a great State, who a
moment later staggered to the cloak
room, helped on by benefcent chairs, that
saved him from the floor, and who only
reached a sofa to sink at once into a
drunken sleep, where he slept, while two
| feet away another Senator thundered at
/ him simple and easy questions, which he
was too drunk even to hear. When he
| awoke, at last, another Senator, as drunk
as he was, staggered up in front Of him,
| clapping both uncertain hands upon his
shoulder; and the two stood thus waver-
ing together like two swinging pendu-
/ lums, gazing and muttering at each other
in the most maudlin manner. The ludi
]
serious, and both gallery and Senate
/ leaned back and shouted aloud with
amusement. There was another Senator.
who has a reputation for refinement OF
dress and manner. His personal friends
assure me that he is as sensitive as a
woman; which is unfortunate, as he in
sists on the masculine prerogative Of get
! ting tight This night he peram bulated
| the Senate Chamber as if his feet were
caught in a skein Of sewingsilk, and he,
in the effort to disentangle them, was
disiointing at the knees, with a terrific
bump threatening to annihilate the back
of his curly head His affections were of
such lively character that he insisted
on hugging and kissing every Senator
whom he fell against. He was also bur-
dened with a wild desire to speak. His
best friend could not keep him still. He
broke in, with unintellicible sentences,
upon every speaker, and when he at
tempted to vote fell over his desk.
All this. and thousand deal more
went on in the Senate Chamber, with the
Senate ofthe United States in full session
With all these senatorial bacchanals
shoat, not even sixty sober Senators
could redeem the aspect of the legisla-
tive chamber or make it look other than
a convention of men engaged in the wild
| est spree.
There was not q Senator from New
York nor from New England who was
| intoxicated. There were many Senators
from the West and from the South who
were perfectly sober. Yet the liquor lu-
natics were all from the South and the
West"
Here is the description OF a scene in
the other House OF Congress, as described
in a dispatch from Washington City:
"The constant and habitual drunken
ness of Beverly Douglsss, a member from
| the First District Of Nirginia has been q