New-York tribune., 1879-05-17

inactivity, and this bill is to give the States
impunity in these proceedings.
AN ENJOYABLE SPEECH BY EATON.
THE SENATE MUCH ENTERTAINED BY THE EFFORTS
or The CONNECTVCUr SENATOR TO APPEAR
TERRIBLE.
ICY TELEGRAPH TO THE TRIBUNHI
WASHINGTON May Ex-senator Eaton made his
great speech to-day. Hedid not Jump on Blaine"
according tOadyertlsement, and the whole perform
ouee was therefore a fraud He drew back after the
manner Of his prototype of the saw dust arena
and made a tremendous run, but when he came to
the jumping place he merely threw his hat over, and
amoment later turned up rimacing and cracking
his Jokes on the other side.
The Connecticut Senator is an odd little man in
0ppearance and has created for himself an odd little
sphere all his own. An nveterate joker his facial
expression has moulded itself that his serious
efforts are laughabe, while his occasional attempts
10 appear terrible are irresistible. He can by virtue
of this fact provoke an outburst of merrlment with
the expenditure of less real wit than other per-
son holding a seat in the Senate. His sales are,
however, often pertinent and enjoyable, and to no
one moro enjoyable than TO the Senator himself.
The chuckle with which he greets one of his own
good things is not the least comic feature of such an
affair, and will "bring down" the galleries, with
Z a
not appreciated.
Now a man even a Senator, cannot be great in all
things and it viii be considered no dsparagement
TO the honorable gentleman to say that there are
better orators and soundeT lOgcians than he is on
either side Of the Senate. Nevertheless his speech
to-day was very good one-for Democrat. He
did not prove as he promised 10 do, that Daniel
Webster once called this Union a confederacy of
States but he did prove, to the undoubted satisfac
ton of his party friends from the South, that Mr..
Webster might have called 1t so, and ought to have
called it so. In fact, he confessed that he was mis-
taken in supposng that Mr. Webster ever did use
the words in question, and he boasted of his candor
In making such an admission. This would have
been praisewOrthy if he had not attempted to deny
that he ever attributed such statement to Daniel
Webster He said he only asked Mr.. Dawes if he
did not know that Mr.. Webster had called the
Union a confederacy of States, and he thought the
Senator from Maine, Mr.. Blame, lacking i'll
good taste when he took up the matter so sharply.
No one enjoyed this ingeniOos evasion more than
did Mr.. Blaine himself.
With regard TO the present political deadlock, Mr.
Eaton said he had not been in favor of the method
adopted by the Democratic managers He thor
oughly believed the objects aimed at were mertOrl-
ous but he had advised that the political measures be
sent to the President in separate bills, and IN that
shape he still believed they would have been aD-
proved; wisermen than he had counseled different
course and it had been adopted; the President had
thrown down the gage of battle to Congress he had
sald 81 will if choose use the Army at the polls
Mr. rEatondid not know how any other Senator would
act but for himself he would take up the gage of
battle. He would inscrlbe on the banner OF
the great Democratic party in lines of
living light: Free polls! Free elections !!
Free ballots ~ Suppressed applause from
81 with hpnf
an army but free institutions have never
existed can never exist, when under the blghting
control ola standing army" This was hurled out
with tremendous gesticuatiOn but il was remem-
bered that the speaker only spoke for himself and
not for the caucus, and therefore its effect was
rather inadequate the effort.
Mr. Eaton's treatment of the test-Oath business
was only commonplace. He was interrupted by
Senator Conkling who under the pretence of asking
question made little speech of four or five min
utes in length, which made sad havoc OF the pre-
misses and argument of the Senator from COnnecti-
cut In fact 1t spoiled the whole speech This
cruel and the sympathetic portion Of the audience
generally agreed with Mr.. Eaton when he collected
himself together and pronounced it unfair 1t will
compel the printing of entire separate edition of
Mr. Eatou's speech for circulation among his con-
stituents What Mr. Conkling said about tho test
cath will be placed IN this article; ana 1t ought, by
parliamentary courtesy, 10 nave Deen piaceu Ill tue
debate after Mr. EatOn's speech.
MIR Eatons point in regard to the supervisor and
dcputy-narshal business consisted III certain quo
tatiOns from a speech found III Ibe CoR9reSSiondt
Globe which was made by Senator Nickers. of Mary
land, in 1871. The portions quoted by Mr. Eaton
gave the names and characters OF NUMBER OF the
deputy narshals employed by the Republicans to
manage elections previous to that date. Some Of the
names had several aliases, and the men were repre-
scuted as gamblers thieves burglars and keepers
Of houses of prostitution. Mr.. Eat0ns running
commentary upon these characters, his sharp hrusts
az the Republicans, and the sotto Noce parres ana
return tbTusts made for short time a very ENJOY
able diversion for the boys on the floor and III the
galleries.
The speech contains very fair materials for Dem
ocratic document, and ii properly dressed up may
do good service III communities not reached by the
daily papers. 1t Should have been said earlier IN
this dispatch that the Senator made the most candid
and emphatic assertion of his adherence 10 the doc
trne of the absolute superiority OF he States 10 te
General Government and quoted many authorities
IL support of his position.