The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1884-07-12
Correspondence Baltimore County n on,O"'
rprTER FROM WASHINGTON.
co,o,ress Adiourned-A Sunday Session
0ons I.on~ Seige and Nothing Ac'
complished-An Apt Illus
tration, &c., &c,


w,su,NcvoN. D. c., July Sth, 1884.
,,..... Ed;tors Both Houses OF Congress nu
;onrned sine die yesterday afternoon, a. e the
tbus ending the first or "long session a;ther
Forty eighth Congress. on oa.u,uI - con-
If",.sa adjourned the session OF each peins ~
nousS eli n;cht until early Sunday morning. wnen
unuea NOS taken until about $40 O'Clock III en0
o eo.uoon Then both assembled again anu W.
s.a ~ sess;on until 730 o'clock MONDAY NUN
tinuoo a,otber recess was taken until IN ciocA'
OF which hour they again assembled ane g .Lc
Saturdays session was made to extend over until
Monday, and although it cannot perhaps be tech
nically said that they had Sunday sessions, and
the Record will not show that they had, yet, in
fact, Congress was in session on last Sunday and
transacted business as though it were but week.
day.
Many scrupulous and religious people, no doubt,
will object greatly to this mode of profaning the
Sabbath day by the National Legislature, and
Congressman Wallace, of Ohio, who was but re-
Gently unjustly seated in the place of Mr.. McKin-
ley in the House, made quite speech full of con-
triton for such sin, in which he said that he did
not believe that such conduct on the part Of Con-
gress could be justified before the country. Well,
if this Congress had other sins to answer for,
both of omission and commission, it might per-
haps be we'll to take notice of one of such small
dimensions as that here committed. But proba-
what good acts it has done or what circumstances
and emergencies have been in its way that made
it necessary justified it in being in session and
doing work on Sunday. And there will be the
rub. Other Congresses have held sessions on
Sundays, notably during the perlous times of the
late war, when the loyal Congress and the patriotic
Executive were straining every nerve to devise
means and discover ways to put down the gigan-
tic rebellion that was threatening the Nations
Ire; ana perhaps other Republican Congresses at
other times have been in session that day, but
there was always some exigency or necessity re-
curing and astfy5ns it d RHi y t6fs Congress in
doing so? What is its record? Was there any
great emergency or exigency pressing upon it,
that it should postpone all its duties to the end of
the session, adjournment not even then necessary,
and sit on Sunday? As I said in my last letter,
it had been in session about seven months The
additional time of the session madeit seven months
and four days, in fact the actual time it was in
session was just l65 days; and it had been con-
spicuous for having done nothing all that time,
and for having left undone all the great measures
or acts that would have been for the good of the
country such as the Naval fertilization bill, the
bill to regulate the Presidential succession, the
electoral count and dozen or more others equal
ly important And what had it done or tried to
| do in the place of these? How had the whole
seven months and four days of its session been
employed so that when it came to its close it
could be justified in saying that it had been so
| busy in the transaction of other important bust
ness that it did not have time to give attention to
the regular appropriation bills, the passage OF
which occupied almost exclusively its attention
for the last few days and hours of its existence,
and to accomplish which it was necessary to be in
| session on last Sunday? And also it may be
| asked as Congressman Wallace did in his speech
how the country is to be made to understand that
it was extremely urgent that Congress should
adjourn yesterday, and not continue in session an
! other week a month or even till next December
when the next session begins, and not necessitate
their laboring on Sunday? But just here the
other Congressman might have reminded Mr.
Wallace that he had not been in his seat in the
| House during the long, dreary seven months past
and doing nothing, as they had, and therefore he
could not appreciate the tiresomeness and anxiety
to get away which they felt; for "doing nothing
| is the most tiresome work in the word and nc
doubt every member of the late Congress felt it If
its extreme. Also, it might have been suspected
| by the other Congressman that Mr.. Wallace, like
| most persons just installed in some new position
| or employment, was so fond of his new honor
that he was 10th to leave them behind, and there
fore was opposed to an adjournment of Congress
| so soon after he had taken his seat.
| The way that Congress postponed all business
to the end of the late session, ard then was 81
rushed and pressed to get the necessary appropri
| alton bills through reminded one of the hi ed maj
that was once left by his employer to pick flax
patch. 1t was Monday morning and he went GU
to look at the patch, and soliloquized, "Why any
one can pick that in a day I will como and do i
Tomorrow" He did the same the next day, and
so on till Saturday. He then went out again ant
looked at the patch and began solioquizing thus
"No one can pick that patch in day and l an
not going to try" And the patch went unpicked
So with the late Congressional "lax- patch"
has virtually .snRisksdI The Snly sta 1
| ance by the Democrats OF the HOUSE was 10 pas
the Morrison tariff bill at the early part OF tn
session, and after its defeat, in part by member
of their own party, they seemed seized by a per
feet state of lethargy, and was not afterwards ca
pable of doing anything Would such party
capable of conducting the Government were the
to come into power by winning the Presdenta
election this fall
The first lesson to be learned from the late dila
tory session of Congress is that the importan
work of no legislative body should be wholly post
poned till the closing hours of session. And tn
second is that the people ought to endeavor t
elect better class of Representatives to futur
Congresses.
Theinterest just now in the Democratic conven
ton at Chicago may obscure for time the short
comings of the Democratic members at the lat
session, but undoubtedly the people will remem
Der them when they come to elect new Congress
which shall be Republican, as well as Republi
can President this fall. 1t is believed that bot
Messrs Holton and McComas, the two Repubca
Representatives from Maryland acquitted them
selves quite creditably and made good record
durino the session. ANON.
Correspondence Baltimore County Union.
THE COUNTY POLICE AND THE BEL