The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1879-02-03
MAS THE SENATE DErER1oRATEDS
The Zen OF To-Day Exhibited in the Light
OF the Ilustrious Past.

| capacity ana acquaintance WIN puDnc uhhlIS'
| There was ample space and pressing need for
| improvement and 1t is to be regretted that
| both political parties did not embrace the op-
portunity to invigorate this important branch
of the Government with larger amount Of
mental ability and moral worth.
The Senate has sadly dctcriorated since tho
! civil war. Perhaps 1t had begun to fall away
previous to the rebellion but not inIany marked
| degree. The bitter and protracted controversy
| over slavery that followed the Mexican war i'm
| polled both parties to send their ablest cham
| pions to tho Senate during the Administrations
| Of Taylor Fillmore. Pierce. and Buchanan. VI
| course. and for obvious reasons. the Democratic
strength in the Senate sustained severe loss
when the Southern States seeded. but the Re
publican side Of the chamber never displayed
moro talent Of varied kinds than in the four
| subsequent sanguinary years.
| As soon ns the war was over deterioration set
| in like a flood Reconstruction foaied in the
| raft Of carpet baggers from the Illuminated
| Southern States. There were fourteen Of these
| adventures in tho Senate at one time. Some
| pious people. who held firmly to the Wostmin-
| stcr Confession. and clearly understood the
carpct-b bag character, regarded the Senatorial
! inncton as n judgment upon the South Tor It's
/ sins in the days OF slavery However THIS may
/ b. the carpet baggers were curse to the SEN
| ht'. lutD IhNt uINIpNu uNh) pho ~ 'hN' INV
when the Capitol clock tolls the hour OF mid
| night on Monday. March g. William Pitt Kellogg
| OF Louisiana will alone remain OF tho motley
! throng. Bruce. the coored Senator from Mis-
sissippi who sits two years longer. is native
| Of Virginia BOASTS Of his Southern blood. and
scorns to DO called u carpet-bagger.
In the recent elections the Democrats have had
an opportunity to supplant six Republicans. ami
Il strugglc is still going on in Arkansas. The re-
suit thus far is that Spencer OF Alabama gives
place to Houston. Patterson Of South Carolinn
to Hampton. Matthews u Ohio to Pendleton.
Conovcr OF Florida to Call. Sargent OF California
to Farley. and Mitchell OF Oregon to Slater.
These changes will help TO make the next Sen
ate somewhat better than the present But
neither party should be content with such cri-
| torion Of improvement. They should look TO
the past.
Contemplate the Senate IN tho first term Of Mr..
Monroe. when great questions agitatcd Con-
Grrss. such as the recognition Of Mexican and
South American Independence. the purchase OF
Florida the Missouri controversy, the power Of
the general Government to construct roads and
canals in the States. the tariff. and SO on.
Jeremiah Mason; was u senator from New
HAMPSHIRE. Daniel Webster said he was the
profoundcst lawyer he ever knew. Retiring
from the Senate. Mason removed to Boston.
whore he achieved memorable victories In the
forum. Harrison Gray Otis. the most eloquent
oratorof Massachusetts. represented that State.
Rufus King and Nathan Sanford were the Sem
ators from New York. King was ono Of the
trainers OF the Federal Constitution. and
had long ranked among the foremost men
II the Union. Sanford was subsequently dis
tiuEuishel rs Chancellor Of the State. pass bv
even such men as David Dnggett. the ornament
81 the Connecticut bench. Mahlon Dickerson Of
y "a. l.
bcrs Of Jackson's Cabinet. and name only such
as everybody familiar with tho history Of those
times will recognize ms eminent statesmen.
Look at some Of the Southern Senators In the
first half Of Monroc's Administration. William
pinGncy Of Maryland stood at the head Of the
American bar, both as rcnsoncr AID an
orator. and had won celebrity at tho Court
Of ST. Jamoss and ihe Court OF Napoleon
as n dipomntist. There was James Barbour.
long Governor Of Nirgnia. and atterward Score
tary 81 War under JOHN Quincy Adams and Min
lster 10 England. He ranked high among the
denaters Ia the Senat" when tho chamber shone
| WIN rsplcnd"nt talents. William smith and
John CiUilinrd sat Tor South Carolina The latter
was fourteen years the President pro T. m. Of
the Senate. Tho former was ono OF the ON mt
lawyers in the South. He declined an appoint
mrnt to the bench OF the United States Sn-
pr"me Court Though among the youngest
members John Forsyth ot Georgia soon reached
the front rank of orators ;Hud having achieved
rare DISTINCTION as l"els lgtor. b" Administered
seven wears under Jackson aud Van Burru
But the wsrst man from the south was Ma
lhnnicl Macon ~ North Carolina. Entering the
House AZ mo opening Of the second Congress
under Washington. ne was three times It's
speaker. Transferred tO the senate NJ the close
ul the war with Eugnni. he was often it, pre-
siding officer. ON ~uitube occnsi1us h. deliv-
erred short. Wcighty sprcrhrs Mr. Bnntun tcs-
titles that he never sad foolish thug in hts
liic. When he arrived az the AZ, 90 three score
aud ten he voluntarily retired from the halls II
the Capitol. whore his navy blue suit. cut in the
style 81 the revolutionary fathers had been n
familiar spectacle for thirty-~nyen cunseeufi yo
ycars-thc longest service IN the annals Of Con-
J gross.
At the West takc no note Of such persons rs
Gen Eaton of Tennessee. Col. Dick Johnson II
kcnturky. and GOV. Trimhir 81 ohio. and barely
catch u glimpse Of the rising power and sp!cn-
dor 81 two young men who Just then entered
10" Senute-IhOmas Ii. Benton aud john j.
Crucnden.
4 have named seventeen men who were in the
senate about sixty years ago. when il was
barely half as large rs II now is II we double
tAr seventeen. is there ANYBODY So blind as not
90 So" that the present senate drops lar below
q thht If the Monroe epochf
Let us come down TO fifteen years ln'cr
II when Congress and the country were shaken
with dis. u~slous over South Carolina NulliHcn-
ton. H." rc'har.crinr oi u national bank tnc
l. ]