The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-10-12
BETTER THAN II WAS.
Congress is Now I Compare
lively Respectable Body.
RuFFlANs or oLDEN TIMES
Gambling. Drunkenness, Duslins and
Violent L.nssarR shas Used 70 Pre-
vail-sobristy the Rule Now.

New York world. Washington City Letter.
On the whole. said . senator in nv
presence recently, "the House is composed
OF the hardest lot Of fellows have ever
seen together. Such an assault a. KEN
nedys was never made before In the his
tory Of our government"
Ihessenator was wrong / fud that
there has been an average 81 considerably
more than one personal encounter ON the
moor during every congress.
In 1888 the first occurred and greatly dis
gusted Washington. Roger Griswold, of
Connecticut, had violent contention with
Matthew Lyon. Of Vermont. which ended
in quarrel
Lyon abused the Connecticut members
for their position on certain bill, and
said: Il have mind to come back there
and teach You good manners"
II you come, Lyon" cried Griswold,
don't forget to bring your wooden
swordl" abiding to the fact that the YER
monter was drummed out Of the army dur
ing the Revolution. Lyon. without word,
but in frenzy Of rage. crossed the room
and deliberately spat in Griswold's face
There was = motion to expel him, and
during its tendency the offender made
speech in seIf-deienss. which was 20 inde-
cent that the newspapers OF even that free
and easy time could not indicate its pur-
port. The motion to expel was defeated,
whereupon Griswold ran over TO Lyons
seat, ierksd him out of it. threw him
down and beat him upon the door Of the
House. Lyon escaped to the fireplace and
defended himself with the tongs, but was
beaten again. Friends Of both rushed into
the melee, and the battle came to an end
only after considerable damage had been
done.
After that scene Lyons method of as.
sault became q fashionable method of
beginning fracas. At least one president
suffered the indignity.
GENERAL JAcKsoN's EXAMPLE.
When General jackson came to Wash.
ington he brought with him q quarrelsome
reputation. He had wounded two men in
duels and killed one, and had received two
wounds in street fracases, one of which.
from the hand of Thomas H. Benton, he
bore all his life. 1t was said that s.Old
Hickory" had been in dozen duels and q
hundred personal fights when he entered
the White House.
mon, but were not often deadly. Men be-
lieved that if they were called "liarsn or
''cowardsn only blood would wipe out the
stain of dishonor. and it seemed to make
no difference whether the fluid was con-
or the person whom he had injured. Any.
body's blood would do.
This spirit has weIl-nigh passed away. I
= A~f Ill L
duel by or between congressman. Even
gentlemen from the Gulf states regard it
as prep0sterous and imbecile method of
settling disputes. In reply to my question
Congressman Breckinridge, of Arkansas,
said:
Il shall never fight If tits avoidable. II
attacked, suppose l should try to get
away, or defend myself as best could, but
had good deal rather be thrashed than
draw . revolver on . man, and had
rather be kicked down Pennsylvania ave-
nue. than to shoot man."
introduced this topic in General Banks
presence the other day.
"Ahp' sighed the venerable man, "this
congress lacks the selfe-poise and the self
respecting dignity of the congress from
1855 to $780,"
The old gentleman's kindly memory mis-
leads him. Was it not in those two con-
crosses that Grow knocked Keitt down un-
der the reporters table; that Washburn
scalped Barksdale; that Wilson defied But
Ter; that Burlingame and Brooks arranged
to kill each other with rifles. and that Pot
ter and Pryor selected locked-up room
for their duel with bowie-knives?
NOT MANY HARD DRINKERS.
Never since Washington saluted the first
congr ess have there been so many total
abstainers and so few drunkards in that
body as now. For the first time it is
highly respectable and rather fashionable
to say II do not drink" Probably q ma
jority of members in both houses take q
drink occasionally, at least of beer, but
only two or three members of the Senate
and half dozen members of the House
are conspicuous as hard drinkers.
Our grandfathers saw the time when
drunkenness was as common as sobriety
is now; when it was expected that guests
at dinner would end by rolling
upon the floor. and when it was the
duty of eyery bachelor who gave q
party TO persist in his conviviality UNI
Ill every man was helplessly drunk. There
were such festive scenes here during
our early congresses. when unanimous in
ebriety was the end attained, and when all
and yelling until standing and yelling
longer became impossible.
Henry A. Wise records maudlin scene
here, at public dinner in 1888, where Dam
lei Webster hiccoughed speech in favor
OF Union forever, and a Kentucky member
jumped on the table, yelled Liberty or
death ~ and frantically flung champagne
bottle at the head OF the great expounder
of the constitution.
No such thing could happen now. Oc-
casionaliy still senator or representative
loses his self-control in public, but he keeps
out of sight as much as possible. and the
correspondents agree not to say anything
about il. with the tacit understanding that
the exhibition is not to be repeated.
The scene that took place in the presence
OF the committee of Wings who called on
Henry Clay in 1S40 to announce that Gen.
eral Harrison had been nominated for presi-
dent instead of himself is enough to excite
our incredulous wonder. They were his
best, bravest and most distinguished friends
calling to express their sympathy and re-
greet. The great Kentuckian, saws an eve
witness. ragged and tore, raved and swore. de-
nounced them as feeble and pusillanimous.
declared that all his friends were towards
or traitors to him, stamped on the floor
and reinforced his mad Invective with
vulgar and profane imprecations and con-
Quoted himself generally like q spoiled
child gone insane.
CONGRESSIONAL GAMBLERS.
1t is in regard to gambling that the
greatest revolution has been worked among
congressman within the memory of suc6
veterans as Banks, Morrill,, Buckalew and
Edmunds.
Forty years ago. and even less than that.
there were gambling saloons on every block
from the capitol to the White House and
on the five blocks between the National
hotel and the capitol were q dozen faro