Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1879-06-25
Washington Letter,
Washington, D, O., J4He 49, 1912
Iron our regular correspondent,


such q scene as occurred Ia the senate
on the occasion Of the night session last
Wednesday night has not been witnessed
there since ante,belium days, and may
never DO witnessed again, Senator Hos
coe Conkling IL chiefly responsible Tor
the proceedings and difficulties OF that
uight, and for the disgrace that attaches
thereto, Ito entered upon the session IN
vicious frame OF MUD, aud for several
hours conducted himself In the most In
soent, sneerlng aud dogged manner
The army bill was about 10 come UP, aud
the Democrats, anxious TO bring the ses'
sion 10 an end a. soon As possible, deslr'
cd to come 10 al agreement ~ 10 when 4
vote would be taken, The Republicans
were mostly willing to come TO such an
agreement, but permitted themselves TO
be led ConkiIng, who would agree 10 poti''
Ing, except to filibuster aud obslruet bnsl'
ness, Ito claimed that the minority de-
sired TO debate the bill without Limitation,
The Democrats SAID Take ~ much
time as you require for debate, but ix q
tIme-One, two, or three days hence
when we can vote" IN the House debate
can be limited by tho operation or the
previous question but In th' Senate q
mutual agreement Is the only way to avoid
sitting It out. All these propositions
oonKnng insulting rejected, navorlng his
remarks with uustlnted abuse OF tho DEM
ocrats In a general way, Senator Davis,
In his amlable way, expressed wish that
the Senator from New York might be
pacIaed, but his attempt 10 effect an un'
Outstanding was 80 snecringly received by
Conkilng that no felt insulted and left the
chamber, SO fur oil OF Conkllng's abusive
talk had been so general In its character
that, though all were indignant, no Sen
ator felt called upon TO make q personal
matter Of It, But when he finally accus'
ed Senator Lamar of bad faith, he went a
step too far, for the eloquent Mississip-
plan told him he uttered falseho cd, and
he repealed II with all the contempt he felt
for Its author, Lamar was cool and de-
llberate, but his manner, as he turned
toward Conkllng, conveyed the full mean
Ing of his words. After Conkllng had re-
piled, In his bullying manner, that the
Senator meant TO say ho lied, and " II
were not In the Senate chamber, he should
call him blackguard, liar and coward,
Lamar again arose and said 81 have
only to say to the Senator from New York
that he und srstood me correctly. ! said
precisely tho word he understood me-
My language was harsh and unparliament-
airy, and beg pardon OF the Senate for 1t ;
but my language was such as no good
man would deserve, and no good man
would wear" This was applauded, and
as Lamar sat down, the presiding officer
waited apparently for Conkllng to reply
but he was silent.
Ifthere S any one man whom this eX'
ira session, or say the last year Of Con.
gress, has shown to the country in his
true colors, 1t is Roscoe Conkling. An
utterly selfish, unstatesmanlike politician,
he possesses none of those redeeming per.
soma! qualities which attract men or win
their respect. Witness his course In the
Custom.house contest last year. He
fairly begged the Democrats to aid him,
but after they had done so and he sup
posed the fight was all over, he became
more abusive and insolent than ever
The result should have taught him les
son, for when he once more needed their
help, much as they despised Hayes they
respected themselves too much to aid
Conkling, and he was beaten. He is now
cavorting and paving dirt like a mad bull.
Maddened by his loss Of influence and de-
feat by the Administration, and the loss
of power by his party in the Senate, he
attempts to ride rough shod over every
thing. He hates John Sherman, and he
hates every living thing l think, except
himself and Mrs. Kate Sprague.
And right here may say word against
the system Of pairing SO prevalent among
congressman, and the absenteeism so
prevalent this session. More than one
hundred members Of the two houses are
now absent, with or without leave-some
in Europe, some at home attending to
their private business, and few sick
1t is great wrong, and the constituents
of these unfaithful servants ought to take
them in hand. II there had been no abb
sent Democratic Senators Wednesday
night, the Democrats would have had a
quorum without the Republicans, who re-
fused to vote, and could have forced a
vote on the army bill. Seven Democratic
Sena tors are out of the city. They have
been telegraphed for, and it is to be hoped
they will remain until the session closes,
or resign and let better men take their
places. PHoNo.