, 1880-04-25
somewhat extraordinary bill was In the fol

lowing words:
walls Uf Of the National Capitol.
The Go
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord;
| the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius PLATE:
was cr,iciiled, dead. and buried; He descended
into hell; the third day he rose IRON ne 81 aoaa;
Hc assembled into heaven and StEteLn on ING
right hand of God the Father Almiehty. From
thence He shall come to Judge the quick ana the ne
dead; and believe In the Aoly Gnost in5e tHI nGs ~
forgiveness Of sins, the resurrection OF L9e oooy'
| and the life everlasting. Amen; Ihereiore.
.etatuss saS! of He DB He sstts ses or 9 n
0ress assembled: That the sum OF 65NMO, or sc SO
much thereof as may be necessary, be ana tne 9
same is hereby appropriated out OF any 1nnas ~ IN N
the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to oe
expended under the direction Of the architect OF
the Capitol, to commemorate IN suitAple pa1nl-
tngs BIZ the great living artists Of this century,
upon the walls Of the National Capitol the birth,
life, death, and resurrection OF our savior Jesus
Christ, as told in the four Gospels OF Mattne",
Mark, Luke, and John.
Having delivered himself Of this bill, the
gentleman asked and obtained leave to file
speech in support Of it. The next that was
heard Of the matter was the appearance on
Thursday of the Record with the argument
or speech of Mr.. Downey in support OF his
bill; and this speech consisted Of poem con-
tanning 3,60O lines of blank verse, at the head
Of which was notice that the same had been
copyrighted by the author, and that "all
rights are reserved"
The House, or a portion Of the members,
seem to have become Indignant Men who
for twenty years had been witnesses to or
participants in the great frauds perpetrated
in the matter of publishing unspoken speeches
seemed to regard the publication Of purely
original document, eyinclng scholarship and
intellectual ability, as an insult to the House,
particularly as it had been copyrighted. The
members Of the Ways and Means COMMITTEES
thought it an insult to free trade for mem-
Der to protect the product Of his own labor
by a copyright Of his own poem; and Gen.
Garfield directed an inquiry as to the ex-
pediency Of prohibiting any member copy
righting his speeches delivered or not
in the House. It Is to be hoped this
Committee will require that hereafter
not one word shall be printed in the Record
save what has been actually delivered in the
House; but that every member be at liberty
to copyright anything he may deliver, in
which case the copyrighted production shall
all be omitted.
Never was the monstrosity Of this abuse
so conspicuously presented to public atten-
tion as it has been by 1fr. Downey. It is
true the thing he has published has some
literary merit, and is therefore far above the
ordinary character Of what appears In the
papers; but it Is wholly inappropriate as part !
Of legislative proceedings, and, not having
ever been delivered in the House, is dis
graceful abuse Of even most disgraceful
practice tolerated in the House. It may lead
in fact, ought to lead, and, if the House is
not wholly lost to all shame, will 1ead-to the
prohibition in the future Of all undelivered
speeches; and the reform, now made SO glar-
ingly necessary, should be extended to the
curtailment of the Record by the exclusion
therefrom Of all matter extraneous and for
eign to the specific purpose Of a register Of
debates. A judicious editor could, as we
have said, reduce the trash now pu 5lished 50
per cent, and greatly improve the value and |
character of the Record. II Mr.. Downey's |
inconsiderate exaggeration Of an old and dis
graceful abuse shall have the effect uf ac-
complishing these reforms his defense Of the |
Christian religion will not have been made
altogether in vain.