The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1878-02-16
A LITTLE FAMILY AFFAIR.

A LITTLE FAMILY AFFAIR.
The very name of West Point seems
to have the same effect upon the sensi-
tive natures Of certain Southern Con
gressmen as the waving of IL scarlet
petticoat upon the nervous system of
that classical ANIMAL mad bull,-not
Durham, of Kentucky. The harmoni-
Gus, eternal and everlasting Democracy
| in Congress seem to have had an ele-
giant little side show, en- Monday last.
over an amendment relating to West
Point salaries. Being purely family
affair. it was on this account none the
less enjoyable. Mr. Aiken, of South
Carolina-a State not generally painted
very consp;cuousIy on maps of the
! South,-seems, on this interesting occa-
sion, to have assumed very naturally
the tauriform role. Never having been
refreshed by the light of this distin
guished Pamettoist, we are ignoram of
his physique, whether it be tapfine or
even bovine. Suffice it tc say, how
eyer, he seems to hase displayed an
innate conceptiSS7of his role, since he
roared ana beloved in accents true to
nature. BY coincidence in name at
least, Mr.. Durham, of Kentucky, seems
Ito have been the Congressional mata-
dor first to prick the hide Of the South
Carolina taurus The point of his fgu-
rative sword, and the actual one of his
argument, was the advocacy of an ad-
ditionai allowance to lieutenants acting
as instructors at West Point.
True to his instincts, Mr. Aiken
rushed head on upon his tormenters,
this simple term embracing generally
everybody who does not, like hun, de-
Spise the National Military Academy,
but particularly Northern Democrats
with q weakness for West Point, and
who believe that its graduates have and
will continue to honor their age and
country. He spoke of it pleasantly
and feelingly as an incubus upon the
country, and denounced it becominglv
in those bland and persuasive tones
characteristic of amiable Southerners.
and of which some few Years ago both
House und Senate We're so resonant.
Warming with his subject. he reached
the climax of his hatred of this deteSiel
Institution by proposing to bankrupt it
by withholding its appropriation and
forcing it in disgrace under the cheap
enng hammer Of the auctioneer.
Through all this sat quiet, but not
unmovsG Mir. Hewitt, Of New York.
whom we recall a. not an incOnsplcu-
Gus member of the Democratic political
family, and who proved himself equal
TO the exigency Of a pointed reply to
his bilious brother. No doubt: no
doubt, the gentleman con.i"G frqm the
State he does, would be glad to give
West Point to anybody else: but
West Point has vndicated itself in
the history of this country, and the
people will never allow it to go Under
the hammer or be closed up"
This caustc reionder from his New
York compatriot brought down the
House. We do not mean the fcsDec,a-
bic Democratic body of Representa-.
tivee. but an unoccupied member of it,
reveling in that suggestive cognomen
and hailing from Tenncs4eS. The House
lit severely to task. Answer A iken
in argument. and don't be demagogue
and traduce the entire Southern peo-
pie" Now to be called a deihagagne
to your teeth by member of your own
family is not pleasant prepandial per-
Torrance, particularly in so dignitied a
presence as on the lower ioUr Of Con-
gress. Who can predict the result had
Mr. Morrissey, ;2stead of Mr. Hewitt,
been the man thus addressed? Had
the former muscular but christian Rcr-
resentatiye, whose successful career as
a political evangelist so emnently fits
him as Congressional missionary, been
the recipient of this compliment. what
may not have happened. But fortu-
nate y for the peace of the family and
for the credit of the country at large,
Mr.. Hewitt is a pacific man, AID the
conventional oil being poured upon the
troubled Democratic waters, the happy
era of reconciliation dawned again
Nevertheless it was an instructive lit
tie episode, and had its meaning as well
as moral
But the impressive scenes of Mon
day dwindle into nothngness compared
with those of Wednesday, Time and
reflection only seemed to aggravate
the ofensiveness of insulting language.
West Point was the ostensibie, but a
lost President the real sore, that the
South Carolina fre-eater carried under