Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1886-04-03
The United Statcs Senate.

the members of the House OF Rep
resentatives eNpirecveIy twoyears.
The Senate does Its work with that
prodigality of leisure which only an
immortal body can assume to have
and with a dignity that is the DIES
pair of the boiSterouS body which
sits in the other end OF the Capitol.
The Senate Chamber, with only
seventy six members. is not crowd
cd rs the House is with three hun
dred and twenty-five. The seats
are further apart, the aiSles are
never jammcd, as the aiSleS of the
House always are, and Senators
move about from one side OF the
Chamber to the other with free
dom. without causing confusion or
detracting from the dignity of the
proceedings. Groups of them car.
~ on conversations in an under
tone while mere routine business
engages the Senate, and sometimes
as many as half the seats are va
cant, when all the Senators are
within hearing Of the Clerk if he
should call the roll. Nor does the
Senate have to cramp itself with a
multiplicity of rules which restrict
individual! liberty OF Senators.
AS a rule, dehherative bodies
never find time for deliberation,and
TO this rule the Senate is one OF
the few exceptions. Senators not
only deliver set speeches on sub
jrcts under consideration without
a limit on their time, but if there
be any other subject OH which Il
Senator wishes to be heard, he can
make occasion for Il speech by in
Producing resolution and speak
ing to it. There is therefore all the
opportunity for oratory that the
popular tradition associates with
legislative botliesin general. There
are always several Senators who
seldom rise from their seats eX-
cept to deliver carefully prepared
orationS. Others are 'working"
Senators. who seldom give formal
notice, as the orators do, that '.to-
morrow ! shall ask leave TO address
the Senate" on such and such a
subject. Nearly all the set orationS
are thus announced in advance,and
aStlangel' can always know by the
number of persons in the galleries
on any morning whether Il great
speech is TO be delivered Oh that
day.
Tie rules of the Senate exclude
all persons from the floor While it
is in SEES ion, except members.
Of the House, and other high
officers. but Senator's can admit
their private secretaries by card
If the phrase, ''private secretaries"
includes newspaper correspondents
friends OF Senators, and prominent
visitors to the Capitol, this is simp-
~ an evidence Of the elasticity OF
parliamentary pllraseoiogy. When
DR.. Oliver Wendell Holmes entered
the Chamber one day just before
the holiday recess, some one asked
how he gained admission. "Oh,"
said Senator Evarts, she is my pri-
waite secretary" When the Sen
ate goes into executive session to
discuss treaties or nominations
made by the President, no one but
Senators is admitted either 10 the
floor or to the galleries.
On the left side Of the Chamber,
which is the Republican side, SEN
ator Edmunds is the most notable
figure. He occupies one of the
seats in the front row little to the
left of the centre. The late Sena
tor Anthony occupied the adjacent
seat OH one side, and Senator Lo
gan occupies the one on the other
side. Mr.. Edmunds las now had
longer continuous term OF the ser
vice than any of his associates
In 1866 lie was appointed to fill an
uneXpired term, and he has been
returned at every successive SEN
sltorial election. Mr.. Sherman en-.
tered the Senate five years, during
which he was secretary OF the
Treasury under President Hayes.
It is noteworthy that he is the only
member Of theeSclate who was a
member during the war There
are several Senators, however, who
were members of the House before
1851 and between 1861 and 1865.
Mr.. Salisbury, of Delaware, has
been a member of the Senate con-
secutiyely since 1871 and Mr.. Lo-
gan's first term began at the same
time, but for two years, 1879, he
was not member. The youngest
member of the Senate is Senator
Kenna, of West Virginia, who,
when lie took his seat in 1883, was
only thirty five years of age. Of
the members Oh the Democratic
side Of the Chamber, Senator Voor.
hees and Senator Beck, by the
Statue and By the frequency of
their speaking, are among the nTSt
to become familiar to visitors
Senator Brown occupies the most
conspicuous seat on that side, the
first one directly in front OF the
chair, and Senator Hampton, who
has one Of the most imposing and
familiar faces iii the whole Cham
Der, sits i'll the hindmost scat Of
all.
The digni1ied formu!se of the
Senatorial speech are not always
rigidly used III the committee
rooms and coat.rooms. While one
Senator's delivering Il philosophic-
al or statistical Grafton to the coun-