The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1883-11-30
WASHINGTON LETTER.
From our regular Correspondence
WASHINGTON, November 9th. 1889

From our regular orrespondent,
WASHINGTON, November 9th. 1889.
The Senate Chamber in the United
States Capitol at Washington is un.
doubtedly the most interesting room
in the country. 1t is a superb apart
ment in itself. Its marble walls, decor.
ated with some of the finest pictures
aud historical paintings and portraits
in America; its superb stained glass
roof admitting a modified light; the
elegant stairway and balustrades lead.
ing to it Of Tennessee marble on one
side, and the pure white marble OF
Genoa on the other; the tiled flooring,
the rich hangIngs, and the semi circular
row OF polished mahogany chairs and
desks, to say nothing of the elegant Sen
storlal lobby, and thewonderful Marble
Room, in the rear, makes an ensemble
which il at snce magnificent
aud imposing; room which is Il fit
ting place for the meetings of the "mOst
potent grave and reverend SENIORS Of
the Republic. But aside f0m the rich
garniture which makes this room the
wonder and delight of visitors, some
Of whom go SO far as to say that it is
the most beautiful in the wOrld-lt is
coming to have historical and per-
sonal interest Of rare and peculiar
nature. Ours is such a young nation
that our history, though exciting
enough, is too recent for veneration.
Pride in our national career and in our
men of the past seems to be Il thing of
growth. Perhaps We are too busy with
matters of the present or the future to
think much about it. Certain it Is
that we have Westminster Abbey-nO
place peculiarly sacred to the great of
our nation. tell to thinking of this
the other day as | looked from the gal
lery of the Senate Chamber down into
the room below. A woman was engage
ed in putting the scattered furniture to
rights but it was not occupied by any
other at the time, save the ghosts and
spirits of those one might call into
place by an effort of the memory. A
quarter Of century ago witnessed, in
this room, the preliminary contests be-
tween slavery and freedom. CHARTS
Summer, Thad. Stevens, Lyman Trum.
bull, WIN. Pitt Fessenden and few
Others fought their parliamentary bat
ties with Toombs, Davis, Walker, Hun
ter, and other southern leaders here.
Then followed the war period when
Hamlin, Morton, Harlan, Wilson,
Washburn, Boutwell,, Trumbull, and
Others represented the Republican side,
and, next, the long contests of recon-
struction, and the trial of President
Johnson, which took place in this stor-
led room. All these are its historical
treasures and associations. They cling
to it and are part Of it, and make the
United States Senate Chamber u histori.
Cal room peculiarly associated with the
greatest acts and epochs of our history.
AS time goes by and veneration sue
ceeds familiarity, and when the ordi.
nary heroes and statesmen whom we
meet to day come to be remembered in
the peril and grandeur Of the times, in
which they lived, we shall have here in
this chamber the most vital and endur
ing realization of the history of the
great civil war.
But the memories of the past must
yield precedence to the immediate in
terests, which surround the meeting OF
the Senate on the second Tuesday in
December. The Senate is continuous
parliamentary assembly. The House is
elected every two years, but the Senate
never expires. Hence the changes from
one session to another are not very OBJ
servable. But this coming session will
he rather remarkable in this respect.
1t will make it wildly evident that
many of the recent leaders of the Re-
publican side are gone. Blaine, Conk.
ling, Morton, Window, David Davis
Carpenter, Burnside, and not few
more have dropped out, ard their places
know them no more. Their successors
are linked with more recent events.
Most OF their regulations have been
made since the war, and emphasize the
fact that new epoch has succeeded
the old. Their procIivIties are of new
order and date. They are not attached
to the past; but to the present, and their
political battles are not to fight over
again the memories OF the war, but to
grapple with the industrial and eco.
nomic questions of the hour. There is
no such tendency towards following the
of one superior political
leader as there used to be when the Grip.
pied giant Morton would rise and whip
into place with his terrible scorn and
fiery satire the recalcitrants. The "pol-
icy" does not exist much now. Party
is very dilapidated struc.
ture In the Senate. 1t is more of GO
as-you please match in which the Sena-
tors take part. Whether tins is to the
advantage and gain Of politics in gener.
al or of the Republican party in purtic-
ular leave to the reader to determine
for himself.