Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-05-01

His First Inaugural His Memorable Journey to the Ohio His Death
and His Ancestry.

ing of bells, but the glory Of its dying mo-
ments was one to which it had long been a
stranger. More like ragged outcast than
anything else had this Congress been for
many months. Driven from city to city,
hooted at and abused, its resolutions disre-
garded, its appropriations unpaid, it had
become the object of contempt and ridicule.
'Not worth q continental had become the
common saying of the common people, who
once had said mot worth farthing."
In Philadelphia a band of ploughmen
had gathered nnder tie windows of the hall
where Congress was sitting, and had broken
up the meeting with taunts and threats, and
not a man had been fc--nd to defend it. 1t
had gone to Princeto1, to Annapolis and to
Trenton, and finally, in 1888, having been
driven from Philadelphia by a band of
mutinous soldiers, it had come to New
York. Here it sat in almost royal state, in
large room in the old City Hall, then
standing on the corner of Nassau and Wall
streets. There was in the Congress room
rallied platform where the President sat, the
chair of state, the polished mahogany tables
and the rich crimson hangings of damask.
Then there was the
LONG LINE OF PORTRAITS.
being those of the great soldiers of the war.
The King and Queen of France were there,
looking life-like enough to step out of their
frames at any moment. The provincial
visitor who gaEed about on this magnifi-
cence went away impressed, but rather with
the hall than with the members For the
peoples representatives who sat there in
those days came only long enough in the
morning to register their names, and then
went away to the taverns.
Thus on the 18th of September but nine
States were present, on the 18th there were
but six, and on the 14th of October there
were only two. 1t had been decided, how
ever, that on the first Wednesday in JAM
uary, 1889, the States should meet and
choose the electors; that on the first Wednes-
day in February the electors should cast
their votes, and that the new Congress
should meet in the city of New York on the
first Wednesday in March.
The 4th Of March arrived, the old Con-
greSs having ceased to exist and the new
one having been summoned, there were
great expectations in the hearts of the peo-
pie, but by II o'clock there were present
but s Senators and 13 Representatives.
DAYS went by and none came. The weather
was bad, the few who struggled into New
York reported bad condition of the roads,
and the necessity sometimes of going 100
miles up along the river before crossing
could be made. This accounted for much
of the delay, but the waiting members were
impatient. A letter dated March IL was
sent out. Each day stragglers came in. On
April 8 the arrival of Richard Henry Lee.
Virginia, made quorum in the Senate,
that of the House had been made on April 1.
WhsHTNcTo,r ANN ANUS
The subject uppermost in the mind of
Congress was the choice of President and
Vice President for the United States. As
to General Washington there was but one
voice. Ali the 90 votes were cast for him.
About the Vice President Congress differed,
Adams was regarded as snob, and as hay-
ing been affected by contact with foreign
courts, and sentences from his book, like
this. 1.-THE rich, the well-born and the able
will acquire an influence among the people
that will soon be too much for simple hon
esty and plain sense in House of Repre-
sentatives," were quoted against him; not
withstanding, he carried the day against
General Clinton, the favorite candidate. As
the Constitution then read, the duty of each
elecpor was to vote in this way He wrote
upon piece Of paper two names, without in
dication which one of the two was to be
President. The one receiving the greatest
number of votes was to be President, the
next in order Vice President. Had Adams
name been written on every piece of paper
containing that of Washington, neither
would have been elected, and the House of
Representative would then have had to de-
clde.