The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1878-02-15
W WASHINGTON.

| BfdIte surprises NE Senate 9cifh q
tame Spesch.-His .fauHless Clothes.
Wiggington Wins.-A maudhn
Mem6er.-A Railrodd that sends q
notorious Womdn to Congress-
Something about Lobby Queens
WASHINGTON, u. c., Feb. 9, 1878.
The entertainment furnished by Con-
gross, this week, has been rather tame,
and, in respect TO Mr.. Blainc's speech,
Disappointing. The galleries and the
! floor of the Senate were crowded to
hear him. If he could stir up a menag-
erie ON the presentation of q marble
statue, what might not be expected
from him with our ancestral root of all
evil for thcmeI AT precisely fifteen
minutes before the appointed time for
/ his speech, he entered the Senate cham
/ Der, and all eyes were fixed npon him.
! Ii was observed by the ladies that he
was iaultlcssly dressed, but this Is n
rule, not an accident, with Senator
Blaine. lie seems to have imbibed the
very spirit of The advice of polonius to
his SOM 'Costly Thy habit as thy purse
can buy, but not expressed in fancy !;
rich, not gaudy.' Much to the disap-
pointmcnt of his audience, he arose
with manuscript in his hand; il was
felt that that little roll of paper would
bind him 10 his subject, and fcttcr that
splendid rashncss that has been the
chief characteristics of his former
efforts. Before he was half through, a
large portion of his audience had
deserted him. After speaking half an
hour, the senator from Maine sat down,
having for almost the first time in his
life spoken without sensation and ecldi.
At the other end of the Capitol, they
were discussing the Pacheco-Wigginton
claim to scat in the House, and that
question has been decided. after kind
of to Z fashion. in favor of the Demo-
cratic claimant. For some time the
Democrats in the House have had
great difficulty in keeping their
strength in hand 50 as TO utilize their
small majority. Some questions they
are disposed TO dodge; on other qucs-
tons they arc lukcwarm. 1t is obscrv-
cd that the Republican members fill
their seats in dense array and are well
in hand, ready to take advantage ofany
lack Of vigilance on the part Of their
opponents. During the debate Oh the
Pachcco-W igginton case, and few
minutes before the vote was taken, |
heard a reporter say: "Thcrc is Bev-
crly Douglass at last, and drunk rs us
ual." Mr.. Douglass, a representative
from the Mother of States,' etc, was
seen on the floor, shaking hands with
every one that he could reach, gcstcu-
lating and talking in state of maud-
lin intoxication. lie had been sent
home and to the hospital, but in this
crisis his vote was needed, and telc-
gram had summoned him to the Capt.
tol. 1t is not the fashion. I know, to
tell of incidents like this. Corrcspon-
dents and the press are strongly lcnient
in relation to what we call the private
lives of public men; but the life of no
man is private, much less of a legisla-
tor. Ifno man livcth to himself, how
much less the representative ola large
things about public men that the pub
climb and stand on cminences, they
must expect 10 be observed and criti-
ciscd. There are correspondents here
who could furnish some mighty inter
cstng reading, if they were not afraid
of hurting somebody. But the world
has, perhaps, not yet been educated tn
that point that ii can receive the
nakedncss of truth; it still prefers to
see things Through a glass darby"
Hence we have imperfect diagnoses,
and, rs sequence, aimless, blind
treatment. once wrote something
about our sailors spending their
money in brolhels; but the editorial
Aunt Nancy to whom il was sent was
afraid TO print the word "brothels,' so
he changed il to saloons, thus making
il weak in strength, and short of truth.
Such M editor ought TO drape the legs,
or, perhaps | should say limbs, of his
writing desk, lest their baroness offend
his delicate sonl.
Last week, ! saw tile queen of The
lobby. There have been many queens
of the lobby and their reign has been
disputed by jealous aspirants OF their
own sex; but refer TO the present
rcigning queen. Her regal title is not
disputed by either house of Congress,
but in many ways privately acknowl-
edged by both. She is employed by Il
powerful railroad corporation, furnish
cd with an almost inexhaustible cx-
chequcr, and a carriage in which she
has taken more than one member OF
Congress from his scat Mt the Capitol TO
her luxurious palace. Ii need not be
presumed that when members or scna-
tors cannot be rallied to vote on an i'm
mincnt question, they always have
pneumonia. may state that the pol
Icy Of the reign of the above mentioned
queen is not favorable TO the Texas
Pacific Railroad, There may be seen
every day an eX-qucen of the lobby,
or, rather, she was Il princess, for her
sway was never quite regal in its abso-
luteness, but she was wonderfully sue
ccssful in making her own fortune
and, having acquired wealth, she is
now lighting bravely for social foot
hold. She has long possessed power
full attraction for a distinguished wes-
tern senator, and the fact is known
that, Notwithstanding The presence OF
his wife in the city, the greater portion
of his leisure is spent at the house OF
this Young woman, c.Es.