Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-01-16
THE FEDERAL CAPITAL,
STATESMEN SACRIFICING THEIR
LEISURE.

The New Departure as to the Hour of
Meeting-What a Funny Man has to |
Pay for Fame-The Land Grant Rail- /
roads - Brunswick's Boom Copying /
Senator Browns Accumulation.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 14.-BOth houses of Con-
gress now meet at eleven in the morning. The |
House has been doing this for some time past /
within few days after the beginning of the /
session. The Senate is, however, proverbially
a conservative body, and hesitates before /
changing the existing order of things. 1t was /
only the other day that the proposition for the
Senate to meet at eleven was introduced. The |
! Senate was willing to meet an hour earlier /
than usual, but it was some time before a Sena- |
tor was found who had courage enough to |
propose such thing When il was proposed |
the Senate voted for the early hour of eleven |
with but very few nays. Members of neither /
House have become wholly accustomed to the /
new order of things They do not get the hang |
of, it,. They either do not get up early |
enough, or after they get up do not conclude |
to come to the capitol until twelve. Not more |
than thirty or forty members of the House or |
ten or fifteen OF the Senate are in their seats /
when the respective gavels fall. But still it is |
a good thing. A good deal of routine business |
Is disposed OF before twelve O'Clock which /
would otherwise delay more important mat |
ter after that hour.
FUNNY MEN
That it is not well for public men to acquire I
lOpuN0llOIb DSluB Iun0y auu1Or nothing /
else OF late years has bee4a most aptly Illus /
trated. Cox, of New York, ,sa couple OF years |
or more ago was known only because he |
was very drOll. Cox began to lose his grin
He saw the real cause of his decaving power |
! and applied remedy. He took hold of seri- |
GUS and important legislation. He developed |
strength and faculties for real business, which |
ne was not supposed to possess. He has made |
justly as great reputation for himself as an |
able, practical man as he ever made as funny !
man: The knowledge among public men of |
not mos nlars
strength is fully illustrated just now. Proctor /
Knott, whose celebrated Duluth speech is one /
of the rarest bits Ofreal humOr and gentle satire
IN literature, Is candidate for the Governor |
ship of Kentucky. The opposition to him is |
principally because he is generally regarded, |
even in his native State, as a very humorous |
man, and a wag with no equal as a story /
teller. That weakens him. Now Knott has |
written Table ON civil service reform, and he |
has illustrated it. The whole product is said |
by those who have been fortunate enough to |
read it to be by far better than even the Du-
luth speech Numerous newspaper men have
made application for copies of the fable to
print. Even the illustrated papers, which are
generally about a month or so beforehand, |
have asked for the fable, and offered to pay
lished. Why? Simply because he fears that |
1t would interfere with his chances for the |
Gubernatorlal nomination, and it would.
TO man who wants practical advancement |
in public reputation as = very funny indi-
vidual IS a drawback, not an advancement, no
matter how much notoriety the funny bust
SENATOR BROWNS SPEECH.
The speech of Senator Brown on the civil
service reform bill certainly met with the ap-
proval of large number of people in the
country. The Senator had printed a small
edition of the speech, when he began to re-
ceve requests for copies of it. The demand
became SO SO great that he ordered an edition of
10000. That is nearly all exhausted. 1t looks
as If to supply the big demand that another
edition would have to be struck off
THE LAND GRANT ROADS,
We are to be disappointed again, 1t would
seem, IN the important matter of making land
their charters. AS You well remem-
Der, the House Committee on Pa
cfc Railroads succeeded last session in
squelching all measures intended to forfeit the
land grants, which by nOn-fulfillment of their
contracts with the government, the roads
nave tailed to earn. When similar measures
this session were referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary instead of the Committee on
Pacific Railroads there was hope that some
IN mInlnS would he done. But 1t seems otherwise.
The Judiciary Committee has just had before
it resolution declaring forfeited the unearned
lands of the Northern Pacific Railroad, the most
1agrant of all these railroad offenders After
mOnkeying around for long time over the
resolution, the committee has decided by a
vote OF SIX Republicans to five Democrats, to
lay it on the table. This leaves but very little
hope of any healthy legislation on this subject
being adopted this session. The wealthy rail-
ROAD corporations possess very firm grip
when they want to advance or check legisla-
ton.
BRUNswICK's BOOM
The bill to erect public building at Bruns-
wick has been referred by the House Commit
tee on Public Buildings and Grounds to a sub
committee, consisting of Representative
Scranton, Beach and Ford. Colonel Dart,
who is showing Brunswick's interests along
without tagging, has already talked intelli-
gently and forcibly to the full committee
about the necessity for the new building. Next
week he viii appear before the sub-cOmmit-
tee, and tell them in minor detail the where
fores that exist for Brunswicks demand
being granted.
CONVERTING THEM.
believe you know that Senator Brown pro-
nounces it judgment He also says Mr.. Presi-
dent when addressing the Chair. He just pro-
nounces words of that kind with big old ac-
cent on the last syllable. recolleet his saying
not long ago: ''Mr. President, IN my judgment
this amendment should not be adopted" He |
happened to strike sentence where he could
give full play to his peculiarites of prOnunci-
alton. When Senator Brown first came to the
Senate his pronunciation used to cause good
deal OF smiling on the floor and plenty of joe
allar remarks in the gallerles-especially in
fishes, all hands have got used TO it, More
than that: Senator Brown has not in the
slightest degree ameliorated his marked
method of pronOuncing. But he has won |
over several converts to his way of utterance. |
There's HOar, of Massachusetts. for instance. |
He, of Boston's bluest blood and most ad-
yanced couture" now says Mr.. PFesdeRt.
lie didn't use to. And Aldrich of Rhode Is
land, does the same thing. And so does War
ner Miller, of New York. And-wOuld you
believe Ex-senator Edmunds of Vermont,
actually said amendne1t. If Senator Brown |
goes on in this way, he will in a few years |
completely revolutionize Senatorial pr0nun-
citation.
THE MEXICAN TREATY.
The treaty between the United States and
Mexico, which General Grant and SignOr Ro-
nero have framed, is now before the Senate |
Foreign Relations Committee. At no late day
it will be before the Senate for ratification by
that body Grave doubts about its being rati
fed are entertained. The treaty is as you
know, of reciprocal nature. BY it we are to
admit free of duty Mexican sugar, hemp and
most other agricultural products. In return,
Mexico is to let in free our mining and other
There is good deal of |
opposition to the treaty. It is claimed that
with what we would give. Nobody doubts,
however, that trade between us and Mexico
would be greatly increased under such trea-
ty. Our Mexican trade is but bucket-full
as compared with what Great Britain and Ger
manydO.
RELIEF.
Mr.. Davidson has introduced in the House |
the petition of d. II. Woodlee, of Florida, for
relief Mr.. WOOdlee was a resident Of Jack
son county, Alabama, in 1852, and then
ties certain products and animals For
them he now claims $l3,4S5
SUGAR CONSUMERS.
While the sugar manufacturers working
to secure the abrogation of the reciprocity ;
treaty with Hawaii and beginning to attack
the proposed treaty with Mexico, the con- !
sumers of sugar, who want that article cheap
er, are beginning to get up movement in
their behalf. / should not gay E'begnning,"
for the movement is already well on foot.
Daily there pour into the House hundreds {
upon hundreds of petitions for a reduction of
the duty on sugar. The petition clerk told me
to-day that there must be at least thousand
of such petitions now on file, and the pour has
not ceased. From all parts of the country do
they come. Some of them have only few ,
inches of paper upon which the signatures
are; Others have feet and others have yards of !
signatures. Three of them measure twenty !
feet by the rule. POF0MAC. [
France, England and Egypt. :
PARIS, Jan. 15.-In the Chamber of 7
Deputies to-day NJ. Duclerc, the Prime {
Minister, presented the yellow book. He /
stated that during the Egyptian hostili- :