Claiborne guardian. [volume] (Homer, La.) 1877-188?, 1879-04-09
A disgeaCeful Affair.

During the last ' ongItsN lllt ''H /
ate remaincd7in session all night, |
though for tour or five hours there /
was no quorum. In It's comments /
of the session the New York sun
says:
"An 'all night session Of any leg
islatlve body is likely III the nature
of things to be II carnival OF humoug.
Either one side must he trying To
sit out the other in the interest OF
some partisan scheme or some job OF
the lobby, or else both sides must
be trying to persuade the public
that they are pressing important
business TO a head, when i'll fact
they are doing nothing of the kind.
Nobody ever heard o: any real bust.
ness being dispatched at an all night
session. An allnight session of the
United States Senate IN particular
has always been a pitlable ana
humiliating spectacle, when 1t Is not
rs il has too often been and as II
seems to have been on Monday
night. a scaudalous spectacle. Men
well advanced in years, rs many
Senators are. and of regular habits.
rs all Senators not from Michigan
must be presumed To be, cannot
possibly stand such an unusual
strain upon their constitutions with.
out experiencing injury, ply steal or
moral, which is bad, or without
showing it, which is WORSE. One
too famous all.night session held
last year furnished painful proofs ol
this truth. And the session of night
before last was marked 10y an lHCl
dent equally novel, illustrative,
degrading and absurd. The Ser
Ceant at. Arms was actually ordered
to compel the attendance of absent
Senators. He went ont in quest ot
them as if they had been school boy
playing trnant, and he returned
from this truly rcmarkabl report:
ITO the President of the Senate:
"Sir:-ln obedience 10 the second
order of the Senate III regard To the
attendance of absent members, mes
sengers communicating the com
mand of the Senate have waited up
on Senators Davis (of West Virgin
ia), Conkling. Salisbury, Blaine,
Mcdonald, Morrill,, Dawes, An.
thony and Patterson.
"Senators Davis, Morrill,. Dawes
and Anthony have reported iii per
son; Senator Blaine promised immc
diate attendance.
"Senator Conklin would give no
assurance of attendance.
"Senators Mcdonald aud pattcr
son were found at their lodgings
sick.
"Senators Bayard, Butler, lIamlln
Barnum and Chandler did not open
their doors. Other messengers
have not reported.
John Il. French,
Sergeant. Arms
If anything could tie more scanda
lousthan dispatching Sergeant. at
Arms on such IA mission il would bo
his coming back with such a report
Some Senators came in like truants
who had been pounced npon and
dragged in; some locked their doors
like truants no had gained friend
~ shelter, and one bold delinquent
hurled back defiance. like an impu
dent truant chuckllng at his pur
suers and prOctors from the SAT,
side OF a garden wall crowned with
broken bottles. No wonder tina,
Senator Thurman should have ex
pressed his disgust at an exposure
like this made in the one Legislative
body which has been supposed Il
retain some consciousness at least o.
What ought to be its own dignity
How long will it be before We shall
have a Sergeant-at-Arms, like the
Virginia sheriff in the old story, run
ming his Senators with dogs'7