The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1883-12-01
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.
From our Regular Correspondent

Inc CIIdnS uioA CoheCoe INV going
on oyer the nomination of speaker.
though wholly confined to one party,
calls up some reflections concerning
past speakership contests. The long
est of these in our history occurred in
the XXXIVth Congress, which met
on the first Monday in December,
1856, and wrangled every day, Sun
days excepted, until February 1856.
when Gen. Banks succeeded in get
ting the vote necessary to choice.
Party lines were not strictly drawn
at that time either in Congress or
out, for the Republican organization
was just being perfected upon the
ruins of the old Wing party, and the
Democratic ranks were being deci.
mated by the exodus of the free.soil
element which had been kicking in
the traces since 1949. 1t was this
Congress too, that contained the rem.
nants of another ephemeral political
organization which had, however,
elected its candidate for governor in
Massachusetts by a good hundIed
thousand majority, and Banks had
been elected to the House with Bur-
lingame, Buffinton and others of the
order of X. Ms, while Henry Wilson
had just the winter previous been
elected to the Senate over Robert G.
Winthrop. 1t was in the same Con-
gress, too, that Henry A. Wise, OF
Virginia, in a six hours speech in
the Senate poured terrific fusilade
into the Know-Nothing organization,
which he termed the dark lantern OIL
igarchy. Whether Wise's speech had
the effect to wipe out the new party
or not, it is certain that it never car
ried another election, and it required
an expert officer with search war
rant to find anybody who had ever
affiliated with the obnoxious party.
1t was in this same Congress that
Preston S. Brooks, a member of the
House from South Carolina, conceiv-
ing himself aggrieved over an attack
made upon Senator Butler of the same
State by Sumner, went over to the
Senate chamber and proceeded to re-
ply to Mr.. Summers speech by rain
ing terrible blows upon Mr.. Summers
head. Brooks was promptly expelled
from his seat in the House, but his
district as promptly returned him by
an almost unanimous vote. Politi.
cal bad blood seemed to have been a
distinguishing feature of this Con-
gress, for following this affair came
two of the most famous duels-or
challenge, thereto-in the country's
history. Mr.. Burlingame in speech
on the condition OF the country refer
red 10 Brooks assault in an uncom-
plimentary manner, and upon being
challenged by the latter named Nj
agara Falls as the place and shot guns
as the weapons. Shortly after, Roger
A. Pryor. of Virginia, now well
known lawyer of New York, and
counsel for O'Donnell in England,
took offense at some structures of
John F. Potter, of Wisconsin, in a
speech concerning the passage of GER
tain political measures, and as Potter
refused to apologize he was challeng-
ed, and accepted, STIMULATING that the
duel should be fought with bowie
knives in dark room. 1t is super
fuous to say that neither of these
duels were fought. Why Potter re-
tired from politics at the end of this
his first term in Congress, I never
knew, but there are those who insist
that his peculiar choice of weapons
and the place to fight with them was
such an indication of cowardice on
his part that he was ever after asham-
ed to enter political life.
l have been glancing over some of
the figures in the forthcoming report
of the Postmaster General, simply
for the purpose of contrasting the
magnitude of the present with the
insignificance of the past. How few
have correct idea of the immense
strides we have made in our post Of
flee operations. The entire receipts
of the department in 1923 were ST.
O5S,2O4 q, while last year they had
swollen to more than $45, 00O, 900. The
State of New York then yielded but
S232, S75 As. while last year she con-
tributed 1882, S99,07. and the net
profit earned by the Government in
the Empire State over the expense of
operating the mail system were last
year S2.500,000. Ohio in 1928 gave 10
the Government a revenue from the
post offices, of the enormous sum of
S36.473! Michigan gave S2,3S5 Ia.
and Illinois Clipped in the astonish-
ing amount of SO, OO9 %! Where was
the great Chicago in those days ? The
New York post Office emnloved aioht